Angels Living Fast Life

Baseball trivia buffs fondly recall Herb Washington, the world-class sprinter signed by Oakland Athletic owner Charlie Finley as a designated runner three decades ago. He never picked up a bat or glove, and yet he appeared in the World Series.

Chone Figgins has won two games for the Angels, without the use of a bat or glove. That could be reason enough for the Angels to include him on their playoff roster.

Figgins staged another electrifying baserunning performance in the 10th inning Saturday, manufacturing the winning run as the Angels extended their winning streak to nine games with a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The winning streak is the Angels’ longest in four years, two shy of the club record. The Angels (87-54) are 33 games over .500, this for a franchise never more than 27 games above .500 before this season.

And another day without defeat is another day closer to the Angels’ first playoff appearance since 1986. With 21 games to play, the Angels stay two games behind first-place Oakland in the American League West, with the Angels and A’s starting a four-game series Monday in Anaheim. The Angels also stay four games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the wild-card derby.

The Angels lost a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning, blowing Mickey Callaway’s shutout bid by making two errors that led to two unearned runs. They had one out in the 10th inning when Troy Glaus walked and Figgins ran for him. In his major league debut two weeks ago in Boston, Figgins went from first to third on a single to left field and scored the winning run on a squeeze.

This time, with the score tied 2-2, Figgins stole second, outrunning a strong throw from Baltimore catcher Geronimo Gil.

“He can fly,” Baltimore Manager Mike Hargrove said. “Everybody in the ballpark knew he was going to run, and Gil made a tremendous throw. But, my God, he is fast.”

Tim Salmon then singled to left field, where Larry Bigbie got to the ball about the time Figgins got to third base. Surely he could not make it home on the play.

But there was third base coach Ron Roenicke waving frantically, and there was Figgins speeding home.

“We were all sending him from the dugout,” shortstop David Eckstein said.

Figgins made it, giving the Angels a 3-2 lead. Adam Kennedy doubled home an insurance run, and the Orioles were left to wonder what went wrong.

“A walk shouldn’t hurt,” Angel infielder Scott Spiezio said. “All of a sudden, he’s on second base with a steal, and he scores pretty easily on a one-bouncer to the outfield.”

That extra dimension--the ability to run nothing into something--could be invaluable in the playoffs, when runs are at a premium. The Angels don’t figure to need 11 or 12 pitchers in a playoff series. As a pinch-runner, Figgins could fill one of those spots and make the postseason roster as a rookie.

“That would be a very special moment,” he said. “That’s a childhood dream. That’s what everybody thinks about when they’re playing on a Little League field.”

This is not simply about pure speed. In the 1974 World Series, the Dodgers neutralized Washington because he was a sprinter and not a ballplayer.

The A’s sent him in to run for Joe Rudi in the ninth inning, representing the tying run, and Mike Marshall picked him off.

Washington could run, but he could not read a pickoff move. Figgins can do both, not a track star posing as a baseball player but a career ballplayer who runs the bases with speed and guts and smarts.

When Figgins ran for Glaus on Saturday, Manager Mike Scioscia trusted him enough to let him pick the pitch to steal.

And Figgins was experienced enough to judge that Salmon’s fly ball would drop, allowing him to get enough of a jump off second base that he didn’t consider stopping at third.

“Unless it’s a rocket hit right to the guy, I’m going to score 99% of the time,” Figgins said.

Roenicke said the Angels would “absolutely” consider Figgins for a potential playoff roster.

“He’s a valuable guy,” Roenicke said. “He’s already helped us win two games, and he hasn’t really played.”