Angels Can Tie One On

Francisco Rodriguez, 20 years old, owner of 5 2/3 innings pitched in the major leagues, was heading to the baseball playoffs and preparing to face the New York Yankees wasn’t the hardest thing he had to do Sunday.

It was tying his necktie.

As a member of the Angel traveling party, Rodriguez needed to wear a suit. And tie. Neatly knotted. Rodriguez couldn’t do it. He fumbled with the necktie and then sneaked around a knot of reporters. He tapped third-string catcher Sal Fasano on the back and whispered to him. Fasano turned around and tied the tie.

As a father would for a son heading to the prom, Fasano tightened the silk tie, stood back, looked, then straightened it.

“I’ll do anything for this team,” said Fasano, a midseason acquisition from Milwaukee who was not included on the playoff roster.

That is what makes this Angel team so special.

Fasano tying the tie. David Eckstein laying down the bunt. Garret Anderson taking an extra base. Scott Spiezio playing four positions. Darin Erstad making a diving catch, into the wall, face first. Tim Salmon never complaining about injuries or losing. Troy Percival walking two batters in the bottom of the ninth, then striking out three.

Troy Glaus getting hot, then cold, then hot and driving in 111 runs. The Molina brothers, Bengie and Jose, happily taking care of the squatting. Adam Kennedy working at finding his batting stroke and always having his fielding hand. Brad Fullmer becoming a solid designated hitter, quiet and powerful.

Orlando Palmeiro coming off the bench and hitting singles. Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz and John Lackey melding into a real starting rotation. Scott Schoeneweis quietly accepting a demotion from starter to reliever.

Whatever it takes. That’s what is most impressive about the Angels. No one cares who gets credit. No one places blame.

Dennis Cook and Aaron Sele, veteran pitchers, men who have appeared in playoffs, were left off the roster for the Angel-Yankee series.

There was no whining. Both have spent quiet minutes with the guys who are going to New York, telling them what to expect.

“Dennis told me that you should take a step back, don’t let the atmosphere overwhelm you,” Eckstein said. “He said he got so caught up in everything the first time he went to the playoffs that he didn’t enjoy the experience.”

Salmon watched Rodriguez get ready for his trip and smiled.

How can Salmon tell the youngster that it might be 10 more years before he pitches for another playoff team? How can Salmon tell Rodriguez to enjoy every moment, from wearing the suit on the airplane to warming up in a Yankee Stadium bullpen while men with frothy beer mustaches call him obscene names, because there might never be another moment like it, that Rodriguez is lucky to have this moment?

“I can’t tell him that,” Salmon said. “I can’t because he’s not going to believe me. A lot of the young guys on this team don’t have a sense of Angel history and sometimes being naive is good. Not knowing all the disappointments here, what this team has gone through to get to this place, that’s great for the young guys. Let them think the best.”

Anderson was a rookie in 1995 when the Angels blew an 11-game August lead and lost a one-game playoff with Seattle.

“I thought I’d be back lots of times,” Anderson said. “I thought it was going to be easy. I thought we had a pretty good team and good things would just keep happening. Unless you’re playing for a very few organizations, it’s not that easy. But I can’t tell any of our guys about that experience. It’s something they’ll find out on their own.”

Salmon played his first major league game at Yankee Stadium and Salmon doesn’t remember much about it. He doesn’t remember who won. “Probably the Yankees,” Salmon says. “We were pretty bad.” Actually, it was the Angels, 9-5.

He said he remembered how he did. “I went 0 for 3,” Salmon said, “with a walk.” It was 0 for 4, actually. But he did walk.

What is the point of remembering the small details of a single win for a bad team at what turned out to be the start of a bad decade?

There is the chance now, finally, to make real memories, ones that would last forever. Since it has taken Salmon 10 years to reach this moment, he sees no reason for the Angels to look for moral victories. Winning three games from the Yankees, that would be a memory. Having the country notice the Angels for something other than ignominy, that would be a memory.

And if young Rodriguez leaves New York having learned how to tie a tie and thinking the future will be nothing but more playoffs and titles and winning, that would be fine too.

Diane Pucin can be reached at [email protected].