The Halo Effect

Shortly after the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants in a thrilling seven-game World Series last October, a wealthy family offered to fly Angel right fielder Tim Salmon to Florida in a private jet and pay him $15,000 to appear at a ... bar mitzvah?

Oy vay!

Salmon had committed to represent the Angels at a ceremony honoring Southern California’s sports champions during a USC football game at the Coliseum on the weekend of the bar mitzvah, so he couldn’t travel to Florida for Torah readings.

“But my wife was like, ‘I’d like to go just to see what kind of lifestyle they’re living,’ ” Salmon said. “I think John Elway and Julius Erving were also invited. I was like, ‘Wow.’ That was pretty unique.”

It has been that kind of winter for the Angels, for whom victory has brought a wide variety of spoils. The off-season is usually filled with charity golf tournaments, occasional speaking engagements and card shows, but winning the Series opened doors to a world of new experiences for many Angels.

Shortstop David Eckstein had dinner at the White House with President Bush and a handful of celebrities and dignitaries. Manager Mike Scioscia addressed the California legislature. Salmon flew with the Navy’s Blue Angels precision flying team and traveled to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Salmon, pitchers Troy Percival and John Lackey, first baseman Scott Spiezio and Eckstein appeared on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Spiezio also did the “Late Show With David Letterman.” Center fielder Darin Erstad was given the keys to the city in his hometown of Jamestown, N.D.

“I got asked to speak to the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association,” said pitcher Jarrod Washburn, a Webster, Wis., native and one of a handful of big leaguers who knows that a Holstein is a breed of large black-and-white dairy cattle that produce large quantities of low-fat milk. “That’s the first time they’ve ever called.”

Washburn didn’t milk that one for all it was worth; he’s not much of public speaker, so he turned down the Holstein invitation. But the left-hander has been so busy this winter trying to fill requests for his time that spring training, with all its daily workouts and games and media demands, will provide a respite of sorts when pitchers and catchers hold their first practice Saturday in Tempe, Ariz.

“I think things will settle down when spring training starts,” Washburn said. “My wife and I actually said we’re looking forward to going to Arizona this year because we’ll be able to relax a bit more.”

In his role as the Angels’ vice president of communications, Tim Mead screens many of the requests for players’ and coaches’ time. In 23 years with the organization, Mead has never experienced an off-season like this.

“It started the morning of Oct. 28,” Mead said of the day after the Angels’ Game 7 victory over the Giants at Edison Field. “A lot of national television and radio shows wanted our guys. If he wanted, Mike Scioscia could have been busy for breakfast, lunch and dinner five days a week and dinner seven days a week.

“We try to send guys out to local clubs for speaking appearances, everything from Boy Scouts to church groups to Kiwanis Clubs, but unfortunately, we can’t clone our players. They’ve been great, but they’re also getting ready for the season.”

Scioscia said he could have played in a charity golf tournament “every Monday, all winter long” if he so desired, and there was “definitely” an increase in demands for his time this off-season.

“It’s amazing how much smarter you are after you win,” Scioscia said. “I’m trying to balance [all the requests] with my family life, so I’ve turned down a lot more things than I’ve been able to attend.”

Were there any unusual requests? “I was recently invited to flip the coin before an Avengers football game,” Scioscia said. “That doesn’t come around every day.”

Salmon underwent minor knee surgery after the season, but that hardly slowed the veteran Angel. He had numerous dinner and speaking engagements, filmed a commercial for Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, his alma mater, attended an alumni golf tournament ... the list went on and on.

“My wife and I didn’t take any vacations this winter,” Salmon said. “It seems like every weekend we had a commitment.”

In December, Salmon, coaches Bud Black and Ron Roenicke and former Angels Bobby Grich and Lance Parrish flew on a military transport plane to the USS Nimitz, about 100 miles off the California shore, for a meet-and-greet session with some 5,000 sailors preparing for deployment to the Persian Gulf.

“That was a blast,” Salmon said.

Then last week, Salmon experienced a thrill he will never forget: traveling near the speed of sound in an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet above El Centro, courtesy of the Blue Angels VIP Passenger program.

“It was unbelievable, in between the times I was throwing up,” Salmon said. “It was the best experience in my life, but it was so disappointing because I couldn’t handle the maneuvers. I didn’t eat the whole day because I didn’t want to throw up, but I couldn’t handle the nausea. I was just dry-heaving.”

Salmon also was asked to appear in an episode of “She Spies,” a Charlie’s Angels spoof that airs Sundays at 1 a.m. on NBC, “but I couldn’t do it because I was on crutches,” he said.

His teammates picked up for him. Second baseman Adam Kennedy, Spiezio and Eckstein, baseball’s version of the not-ready-for-prime-time players, spent a few hours in Chatsworth on the set of “She Spies,” a show that, in Kennedy’s words, features “three very attractive girls and a boss.”

The women are convicted felons who are pulled out of jail to work for the government. The show’s Web site touts: “Not since J. Edgar Hoover have crime fighters looked this good in black spiked heels.”

Kennedy, Spiezio and Eckstein play emergency medical technicians in their episode, which is supposed to air soon, but their EMT uniforms have their real names and Angel jersey numbers on the back.

“We treat a guy with a paper cut -- it was kind of a joke thing,” Kennedy said. “We each had six or seven lines. It was fun, because I had never been around a TV set like that. It was pretty cool.”

Must-see TV? Perhaps not, but Kennedy didn’t mind. He was named American League championship series most valuable player for his three-homer performance in a clinching Game 5 victory over the Minnesota Twins, he helped the Angels win the World Series, and he was determined to bask in the afterglow, even if he spread himself a little thin.

“It’s been real hectic, but in a good way,” said Kennedy, who passed on about a dozen charity golf invitations because he doesn’t golf. “I’ve made tons of appearances, talked to a lot of people, received all sorts of recognition. It’s part of the price you pay for everything we’ve achieved, but it hasn’t been hard. That’s what happens when you win, so I went along for the ride.”

So did Mead and the many Angel front-office employees who hashed out the details of several ventures and often accompanied players and coaches, extra responsibilities that helped take the off out of their off-season.

“It’s been hectic for everyone,” said Mead, whose cellular phone rang about 10 times during a 15-minute conversation with a reporter last week. “No one will complain in a negative way, but there hasn’t been much down time.

“We’ve kept a midseason pace all through the off-season, from the sales and ticket and marketing departments, all across the board. It’s very doubtful anyone in the organization has taken his maximum vacation time this winter.

“But you know what? Bring it on again.”