Tejada Has Had His Fill of Washburn

If the Angels face the Oakland Athletics in the American League championship series, here’s a statistic to remember: Miguel Tejada, the engine in the Oakland offense and a leading candidate for most valuable player, is one for 30 against Angel ace Jarrod Washburn.

“I don’t want to face him again this year,” Tejada said Wednesday. “I’d rather wait for next year.”

Washburn pitched eight shutout innings Tuesday, holding Tejada hitless.

“For me, he looked like the Cy Young pitcher. He’s that good,” Tejada said. “He gets me out with fastballs, and I’m a fastball hitter.”

Tejada said he would vote for teammate Barry Zito for Cy Young but said he considered Washburn in the same class. In turn, Washburn said he would vote for teammate Garret Anderson for MVP but otherwise would favor Tejada over Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

“All the talk about A-Rod, I don’t buy that,” Washburn said. “The most valuable player should go to the most valuable player, not the best player. They’re in last place. Take him off the team, and they’re still in last place.”

Washburn, who rarely throws anything besides a fastball, said he was “baffled” by his success against Tejada.

“I’ve always wondered about that,” Washburn said. “He’s a great fastball hitter.”

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Mo Vaughn didn’t do much for the Angels’ attendance during the three years he played in Anaheim, but the Angels are counting on him to help draw fans to Edison Field next year.

Under the tentative 2003 schedule, Vaughn and the New York Mets will visit Anaheim for an interleague series. The Angels, facing the National League East in interleague play next year, also are scheduled to welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Anaheim and play at Florida and at Montreal.

The Angels are delighted with the home schedule, which features the series against the Mets, the now-traditional series against the Dodgers and two series rather than one against the New York Yankees. The Angels hope that the attractive schedule, combined with the momentum of a playoff appearance this season, can boost attendance next season toward 2.5 million, a total hit just once since 1990. With three home games left this season, the Angels will finish close to 2.3 million.

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The Angels have eight scouts on the road, preparing reports on possible AL playoff opponents. They’ll later assign some of those scouts to NL playoff teams in preparation for a potential World Series.... The MVP ballot extends to 10 names, and Angel Manager Mike Scioscia lobbied not only for Anderson but for shortstop David Eckstein. “If you don’t have Eck in the top 10, you’re looking in the wrong league,” Scioscia said.... Since the All-Star break, the Yankees’ Bernie Williams leads the league with a .358 batting average, with Adam Kennedy of the Angels at .357.

TODAY

ANGELS’

KEVIN APPIER

(14-10, 3.63 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’

TIM HUDSON

(13-9, 3.14 ERA)

Oakland Coliseum, 12:30 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Hudson is 7-0 with a 1.59 earned-run average in his last nine starts and is 10-3 with a 3.22 ERA in his career against the Angels.