TEMPE, Ariz. — It seems Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds' only problem is that he is not Dave Hollins or Darin Erstad.
Edmonds has tried walking around the clubhouse with a scowl and acting all serious during batting practice. He has tried being quieter, more reserved.
"Every time I do something like that, people say, 'What's wrong with you?' " Edmonds said. "So I've made up my mind I'm not going to change my personality."
Oh, well, it looks as if the Angels are just going to have to live with Edmonds and his spectacular diving catches, his superb throwing arm, his ability to hit for both average and power, and, yes, his knack for driving some coaches bananas.
Edmonds has what Manager Terry Collins calls "a gait of confidence," which some might construe more negatively as a pro glide. He has so much natural ability and such a carefree, almost happy-go-lucky, approach to the game that everything seems easy for him.
He will laugh at himself after looking silly waving at two curveballs in the dirt, then drill a fastball over the wall. He will hobble off the field with a pained expression after a hard slide, then race 40 yards into the gap, chasing down a long fly ball.
"Some guys have to grind it out every day," Collins said. "Others are so skilled they sometimes give the impression they're not trying, even though they are."
Anyone who has seen Edmonds crash into a wall, dive onto the warning track or run from first to third on a single knows that Edmonds exerts himself every day.
But between those plays will be an occasional at-bat where it appears Edmonds didn't have much of a plan, or a night when, perhaps because of injury or fatigue, he will mope around for a few innings as if he didn't really want to be out there.
"I don't think in the 2,200 games I played I could count on two hands the number of nights I felt great," said Angel third base coach Larry Bowa, a former Philadelphia Phillie shortstop. "But that's what separates the good players from the superstars; they're able to grind it out.
"Jimmy has the chance to be a superstar with the way he hits and plays defense. But there are games when it looks like he's not mentally where he should be. . . . Sometimes because of his mannerisms--he'll drop his head or something--you get the perception that maybe he doesn't feel like playing."
