40 Is Just a Number to Him

The Angels opened for business in 1961, and no one--not Reggie Jackson, not Don Baylor, not Bobby Bonds, not Tim Salmon--had hit 40 home runs in a season.

Until Troy Glaus. In 2000, in his second full season in the major leagues, Glaus hit 47. Last season, he hit 41.

It’s not supposed to be that easy. He’s 25, an age at which hitters are far from polished. And, the Angels insist, Glaus is far from polished.

“When he realizes there’s another part of the field out there, he’s going to get better,” batting coach Mickey Hatcher said. “He works on those things hard.

“You haven’t seen what this kid is capable of doing. Right now, he’s a swinger. I really believe this kid can hit for average and be a power hitter.”

Glaus, blessed with the ability to let a bad pitch go and drive a good pitch a long way, still succumbs to the temptation of trying to pull pitches he would be better off volleying into the opposite field. In each of the last two seasons, the third baseman has ranked among the American League top 10 in home runs, walks and strikeouts. The Angels believe he can raise his batting average close to .300 and drive in 130 to 140 runs--he hit .250 and drove in 108 last year--without sacrificing power.

He switched on the power early this year, beating Barry Bonds, Jim Thome and Luis Gonzalez in successive rounds to win the Home Run Challenge in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Yet Glaus says he is not shooting for 50 home runs, or any other number, this season.

“I don’t put goals on myself. The only goal I have is to try to get better every year,” he said.

“I’d rather hit 25 home runs and win the World Series than hit 40 and not win.”

Been there, done that--Glaus hit 40-plus in each of the last two seasons, and the Angels did not win. But his teammates nonetheless watch in awe when he erupts on one of his home run streaks--four homers in seven games last June, four in six games in July, four in seven games in August.

“You get jealous watching that,” center fielder Darin Erstad said. “I’m glad he’s on our team.”

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When General Manager Bill Stoneman suggested the Angels sign Dennis Cook as a left-handed reliever, Manager Mike Scioscia endorsed the move. Scioscia knows all too well how tough Cook can be on left-handed hitters.

Cook, 39, held left-handers to a .215 average last season. He’s been playing so long that he faced Scioscia five times when the Angel manager was the Dodger catcher. Scioscia walked once, but he never got a hit off Cook.

Scioscia insists that his lack of success against Cook was not the determining factor in the Angels signing him.

“If we did that, we’d have a heck of a lot of pitchers in camp, with the way I hit,” Scioscia said.

In his 13-year career, Scioscia batted .259 overall and .235 against left-handers.

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With the thought that a team built around pitching ought to field a defensively gifted shortstop, the Angels have considered signing free-agent shortstop Rey Sanchez. If the Angels add Sanchez, David Eckstein and Adam Kennedy could compete for the second-base job.

Sanchez, 34, has been unable to find a job after splitting last season between the Kansas City Royals, for whom he hit .303, and the Atlanta Braves, for whom he hit .227.

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The post-Sept. 11 visa crackdown revealed another Angel is not as young as his birth certificate claimed: Outfielder Elpidio Guzman turns 25 today, not 23. Guzman, a prospect from the Dominican Republic included on the Angels’ 40-man roster, hit .244 with seven home runs at double-A Arkansas last season.

The Angels learned earlier this month that Dominican pitcher Ramon Ortiz is 28, not 25. More than a dozen Latin players have aged instantly this spring, including Rafael Furcal of the Braves, Rey Ordonez of the New York Mets and Bartolo Colon of the Cleveland Indians.