Salmon’s Missing One Thing

Tim Salmon is thankful he no longer has the dubious distinction of having played in the most regular-season games without a postseason appearance.

The Angels’ World Series championship erased that annoying bit of trivia. And it might change the right fielder’s similar run of bad luck when it comes to making an All-Star game roster.

In his 11th season, Salmon has never appeared in an All-Star game. His slow starts each season were the primary reason fans ignored him as a starter and managers passed on him as a reserve.

This season has been different. Salmon is hitting .302 with five home runs.

Just as important, perhaps, Mike Scioscia will manage the American League All-Stars, a privilege earned by guiding the Angels to their first World Series title. So even if Salmon can’t maintain his current pace, Scioscia might add the veteran to his lineup as a reserve.

“It seems like I’ve been in the position a lot of times where the manager has picked someone else,” said Salmon, the Angels’ all-time leader in home runs, runs batted in and extra-base hits. “This go-around, [making the team] may be something that happens.”

Salmon said he no longer needed an All-Star selection to validate his career.

“To be in the World Series, I’ve kind of been able to accomplish that and more,” he said. “Being on that stage and being successful and accomplishing a goal as a team -- that, to me, means more than any All-Star selection I could have gotten.”

Salmon said he could not pinpoint specific reasons for his hot start, but guessed that part of it might have to do with a shorter off-season in the wake of a month-long playoff season.

Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said Salmon’s success was a result of determination.

“He wants to prove to people that he can still hit, and he’s worked harder than anyone else on his game,” Hatcher said. “He’s one of the first guys to the park; he makes sure that he does his routine every day. That’s great to see.”

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RANGERS 4, ANGELS 0

*--* Angels AB R H BI BB SO Avg Eckstein ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 200 Erstad cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 298 Salmon rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 302 Anderson lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 429 Glaus 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 273 Fullmer dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 344 Spiezio 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 154 BMolina c 3 0 1 0 0 0 227 Figgins 2b 2 0 1 0 0 0 300 a-Owens 1 0 0 0 0 0 300 BGil 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 Totals 31 0 6 0 2 7

*--*

*--* Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg Glanville cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 200 Clark cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 Blalock 3b 4 1 2 1 0 0 386 Rodriguez ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 300 Palmeiro 1b 2 0 0 0 2 0 238 Gonzalez rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 231 Sierra dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 235 Everett lf 4 2 2 2 0 0 270 Young 2b 2 1 1 0 1 0 326 Diaz c 2 0 1 1 1 0 259 Totals 30 4 7 4 4 4

*--*

*--* Angels 000 000 000 -- 0 6 2 Texas 110 000 20x -- 4 7 0

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a-grounded into fielder’s choice for Figgins in the 8th.

E--Salmon (3), Spiezio (2). LOB--Angels 6, Texas 6. HR--Everett 2 (3) off Appier 2; Blalock (4) off Appier. RBIs--Blalock (8), Everett 2 (4), Diaz (1). SB--Palmeiro (1), Diaz (1). GIDP--Salmon. Runners left in scoring position--Angels 2 (Erstad, Anderson); Texas 4 (Blalock, Gonzalez 2, Everett). Runners moved up--Eckstein, Glanville. DP--Angels 1 (Glaus and Spiezio); Texas 1 (Rodriguez, Young and Palmeiro).

*--* Angels IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Appier L, 1-2...6 1/3 5 4 3 3 3 103 6.06 Weber...1 2/3 2 0 0 1 1 36 1.08

*--*

*--* Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Valdes W, 2-1...8 5 0 0 2 7 119 5.09 FCordero...1 1 0 0 0 0 17 1.93

*--*

Inherited runners-scored--Weber 1-1. WP--Appier.

U-- Dan Iassogna, Dana DeMuth, Marvin Hudson, Greg Gibson. T--2:39. Tickets sold--24,296 (49,115).

HOW THEY SCORED

FIRST INNING: Rangers 1, Angels 0 -- With one out, Blalock homered to right, his fourth. Rodriguez flied to right. Palmeiro walked. Palmeiro stole second. Gonzalez flied to center. One run, one hit, one left.

SECOND INNING: Rangers 2, Angels 0 -- With one out, Everett homered to right, his second. Young walked. Diaz lined into a double play. One run, one hit.

SEVENTH INNING: Rangers 4, Angels 0 -- With one out, Everett homered to right, his third. Young singled to right and took third on Salmon’s error. Weber replaced Appier. Diaz singled to left, Young scored. Diaz stole second. Glanville grounded to second, Diaz taking third. Blalock grounded to the pitcher. Two runs (one unearned), three hits, one error, one left.

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ANGELS TONIGHT

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ANGELS’

JARROD WASHBURN

vs.

RANGERS’

COLBY LEWIS

*--* THE MATCHUPS 20 03 TEAM 2002 VS OPP TEAMS/PITCHERS W-L ERA REC W-L IP ERA ANGELS/Washburn (L) 1-1 2.45 1-1 2-0 20.0 2.25 Texas/Lewis (R) 1-0 6.10 2-0 0-1 5.1 8.44

*--*

The Ballpark in Arlington, 5 PDT

TV -- Channel 9.

Radio -- KSPN (710), KWKU (1220).

Update -- Washburn turned in the best performance by an Angel starter this season when he pitched eight shutout innings while picking up a victory last Thursday against Seattle. He gave up five hits while walking one and striking out one. Lewis was 0-1 with an 8.44 earned-run average in two games against the Angels last year.

-- Ben Bolch