Salmon Is Ready to Make Amends

For a star with a national profile that borders on the invisible, Tim Salmon attracted plenty of attention last year. The Angels signed him to a four-year, $40-million contract extension last spring, just before he embarked on the worst season of his career, and national analysts wondered whether the fiscally conservative team had wasted its limited cash on a player suddenly and inexplicably past his prime.

Salmon, 33, couldn’t get around on the fastball as quickly. He missed plays in right field that he usually made with ease. Some players lose their skills gradually, some suddenly, and here was a career .290 hitter struggling to keep his batting average above .200. Had his skills eroded that rapidly?

“You weren’t talking about a healthy Tim Salmon that had a bad year,” Salmon said. “When I have a healthy year and play that bad, you can talk about it.”

Not that Salmon didn’t ask himself that question at times last summer. He tried everything he could think of to right himself--extra batting practice, no batting practice, video sessions until his eyes blurred--because he refused to admit that he could not play through a series of injuries. It wasn’t until the winter, when he resumed batting practice and effortlessly rediscovered his old swing, that he fully realized the impact of his injuries.

In the weeks following the 2000 season, he underwent foot surgery, then shoulder surgery, so rehabilitation preempted his usual off-season workouts. He suffered a groin injury last spring, and he never developed full strength because slow healing in the shoulder prevented him from his usual in-season weightlifting.

But the Angels needed him to play, and he didn’t want to let them down, so he played rather than volunteer for the disabled list. The Angels finally put him on the DL in July, after the franchise’s all-time leader in home runs had gone four weeks without hitting one.

“Am I ever going to learn? You’re pretty stupid putting yourself through that,” Salmon said. “You’re only kidding yourself and everybody else if you think you can play with the same level of success you expect and everybody else expects if you’re not 100%.”

History suggests the Angels cannot win if Salmon is not healthy and productive. In 2001, with Salmon, Darin Erstad and Mo Vaughn hampered by injury, the Angels finished 41 games out of first place. In 1999, a season interrupted by Salmon’s wrist injury and Jim Edmonds’ shoulder injury, the Angels finished in last place and lost manager Terry Collins and general manager Bill Bavasi in the process. “That was the year everything imploded,” Salmon said. “You can’t just lose your No. 3 and No. 4 hitters.”

Salmon says he is fine now and expects to deliver his “benchmark” season of 30 home runs, 100 walks, 100 runs scored and 100 runs batted in. He had all winter to stare at his 2001 numbers--.227 with 17 homers and 49 RBIs.

“That’s motivation,” he said. “I find myself more motivated.”

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Infielders and outfielders reported Wednesday, joining pitchers and catchers in a training camp with 63 players.... Although the Angels added veterans Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele to their starting rotation, Manager Mike Scioscia said he would not commit to starting one of the two right-handers on opening day. If the Angels decide they would be better off with a left-hander against the Cleveland Indians, Jarrod Washburn could start the opener.

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Comeback Player

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