This Could Be a Case of Halo and Goodbye

He will live forever in the hearts of Angel fans. He hit the most memorable and meaningful home run in franchise history, the one that stirred the Angels’ legendary comeback in Game 6 of the World Series.

Yet the Angel career of Scott Spiezio -- World Series hero, part-time musician, all-around good guy -- could be over in three months. So could the careers of several players who helped paint the town red last year, and this year too.

As the Angels’ popularity soared, cash registers overflowed, and so the team invited virtually the entire roster to return and defend the World Series championship. Nothing short of another championship figures to keep this team intact again, so these last three months of the season could be your last chance to enjoy these guys together -- and their last chance to play together.

“It was a unique situation, to be able to bring everybody back,” outfielder Tim Salmon said.

“It’s somewhat rare in today’s game,” Spiezio said. “Everybody thought we had to give it a shot again. We’ve still got a good shot to repeat.

“If we win, there’ll be more of a chance to stick with this team. If we don’t, there’ll be more of a chance to let some guys go.”

The Angels start the second half in third place -- in the American League West, 8 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners, and in the wild-card standings, 5 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox. In each race, the Oakland Athletics are in second place.

At the All-Star break last season, the Angels trailed Seattle by three games in the AL West and Boston by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race. Neither the Mariners nor the Red Sox qualified for the playoffs.

The Angels did, of course, and fans responded to the first championship in franchise history by cleaning out the shelves in the team store and snapping up tickets at unprecedented rates, and prices. The Angels sold a record number of season tickets, set a record for sellouts halfway through this season and should shatter the record for total attendance.

In order to bring back the championship roster, the Angels increased the player payroll by $15 million. No problem, because their revenues increased by more than $15 million.

However, if the Angels fail to return to the playoffs, who knows how many of those new customers hop off the bandwagon and take their dollars with them?

“If we stay in the race all the way through and we come up just a hair short, we’ve still got a lot of positive momentum going, so we’d hope we could retain them,” said Kevin Uhlich, the Angels’ senior vice president for business operations. “But we haven’t given up hope we’ll be back in the playoffs.”

The prospect of declining revenues contrasts with contractual commitments that guarantee a total of $7 million in raises to Salmon, third baseman Troy Glaus, catcher Bengie Molina, outfielders Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad and pitchers Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz, Troy Percival and Aaron Sele.

The Angels would have to grant another $7 million in raises, and probably more, to retain all the players eligible for salary arbitration -- infielders David Eckstein and Adam Kennedy, designated hitters Brad Fullmer and Shawn Wooten and pitchers Jarrod Washburn, Ben Weber and Scott Schoeneweis.

Fullmer, coming off season-ending knee surgery, probably will not be offered a contract. Benji Gil and Eric Owens probably will be granted free agency. The Angels could decide Schoeneweis and/or Weber could be replaced with minimum-wage rookies. So could Eckstein or Kennedy, or even Appier or Washburn, given the right trade.

And then there is Spiezio, the first baseman eligible for free agency. Wooten could play first base. So could Robb Quinlan, hitting .327 at triple-A Salt Lake and playing mostly first base this year after playing mostly outfield last year.

“I’d like to stay,” Spiezio said. “The biggest thing is, you want to have a chance to win, and we have that here. You want to like your teammates, the coaching staff, the front office and the fans.

“Do I wish I could play 162 games? Yeah. Besides that, there’s nothing to complain about. I definitely don’t like sitting on the bench. So, if they ask me back as a utility guy, it would be a tough decision.”

If the Angels somehow win again, the decisions would be tougher in the front office.

Biggest First-Half Surprise: Outfielder Jeff DaVanon played briefly -- and poorly -- with the Angels in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In spring training, the Angels cut him in favor of Julio Ramirez. But granted another chance in the wake of the injury to Erstad, DaVanon seized the day -- most notably three days in June, when he went 10 for 16 with six home runs. He is hitting .344 with 11 stolen bases, one shy of Kennedy for the team lead.

Biggest First-Half Disappointment: The rally monkey must be withholding his magic powers until he gets his fair share of bananas from all the money generated by the sale of stuffed monkeys. The Angels won 22 games in their final at-bat last season. They have won once in their final at-bat this season.

Defining Moment: Salmon generally sits quietly in the corner of the clubhouse, more elder statesman than team leader. Erstad usually does the talking. But when the Angels crashed to a season-high 13 1/2 games behind Seattle June 19, Salmon called a players-only meeting and told his teammates to stop calculating how many games must be won in June and stop worrying who might be traded in July. Ortiz beat All-Star Jamie Moyer that day, and the Angels have cut five games off the Mariners’ lead since then.

At This Pace: Brendan Donnelly will not give up a home run all season. Ortiz will win 19 games, the most by an Angel since Mark Langston won 19 in 1991 and the most by an Angel right-hander since Nolan Ryan won 19 in 1977. Anderson will post his first 200-hit season and challenge Don Baylor’s club record of 139 RBIs. Percival will save 30 games for the sixth consecutive season.

Reason to Be Excited: Glaus, the guy thought most likely to carry the team, hit .263 with 13 home runs in August and September last season, after hitting .198 with six homers in June and July. He is hitting .215 with four homers since June 1. Anderson could carry the team too, with 15 homers since June 1. Spiezio, dormant much of the season, is batting .324 this month. The resurgence of the starting pitchers -- a 2.94 ERA in the past 16 games -- offers hope for an extended winning streak.

Reason to Be Concerned: Eckstein, the leadoff hitter, has the lowest on-base percentage among the regulars -- .315, with the go-go combo of Kennedy and Erstad at .319 and .327, respectively. Donnelly and Weber are on pace to pitch in 70 and 69 games, respectively; the team record is 72. An injury to a starting pitcher could be devastating, because Scot Shields hasn’t started since May 3, Schoeneweis has not pitched more than two innings all season and there is no help in the minor leagues.

Moves to Ponder: Some within the organization would endorse bidding for Juan Gonzalez, but trading for a big-bucks player eligible for free agency isn’t the style of General Manager Bill Stoneman. The Angels would like to add a bat, but Stoneman’s history suggests an addition would be modest, given his two trade-deadline moves: Ron Gant for Kent Bottenfield in 2000 and Alex Ochoa for Jorge Fabregas in 2002.

See You in September: The Angels have played 11 games against the AL Central -- they’re 10-1 -- while the Mariners and A’s have played 30 and the Red Sox 26. The Angels play 30 consecutive games against the AL Central from Aug. 8-Sept. 7, and the results of that stretch could determine whether September at Edison Field tilts to a reprise of pennant fever or auditions for Shields in the rotation, Quinlan at first base and a possible double-play combination of Eckstein at second base and Alfredo Amezaga at shortstop.

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Break It Down

Comparing the Angels at the All-Star break this year to last year:

*--* Category 2003 2002 Record 49-43 51-35 Runs per game 4.9 5.3 Doubles 148 190 Homers 105 75 Walks 267 244 Strikeouts 470 428 Steals 74 69 Avg 270 278 OB% 332 337 SLG% 431 429 H/9IP 8.8 8.7 BB/9IP 2.9 3.2 SO/9IP 6.1 6.1 Saves 24 26 ERA 3.91 3.98

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*--* AL WEST RACE Team W L GB Seattle 58 35 -- Oakland 54 39 4 Angels 49 43 8 1/2

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