8So you think you can dance? Torii Hunter does, and the center fielder showed off some slick hip-hop moves in the middle of the Angels' wild champagne-and-beer-soaked, American League West-clinching celebration Wednesday.
It didn't matter that the Angels had run away with their fourth division title in five years, that the combination of their 4-2 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday and Seattle's win over Texas pushed their AL West lead to a whopping 17 1/2 games.
This team overcame a number of injuries, many to key players, and needed just about every last drop of its 40-man roster to secure a playoff berth, and nothing was about to diminish that accomplishment.
Which is why Hunter, soaked from head to toe and reeking of alcohol, was dancing in the middle of a horde of Angels chanting his name, bringing in teammates one by one to join him while others showered him in booze.
"You know what? This never gets old," Hunter said. "You work so hard during the season, you grind it out, you play hard, you sacrifice your body on the field . . . you have a right to celebrate."
The Angels were deprived of the traditional on-field dog pile, because as they beat the Yankees, with Francisco Rodriguez notching his 56th save to move to within one of baseball's single-season record, Seattle and Texas were only in the sixth inning.
A little more than an hour later, the Mariners beat the Rangers, 8-7, and the Angels were playoff bound, their Sept. 10 clinch date the earliest in AL West history, which dates back to 1969.
Several thousand fans remained in Angel Stadium watching the end of the Seattle-Texas game, and the Angels rewarded them by bringing a little of their party onto the field.
Rookie reliever Jose Arredondo grabbed a hose used to water the infield and began dousing his teammates and fans.
The Angels were just getting warmed up. In the clubhouse, players drenched owner Arte Moreno and General Manager Tony Reagins, and they didn't hold back on each other, the party every bit as intense as if they had clinched on the last day of the season.
More than an hour after the game, it was still going strong.
"Look at these guys, swimming and dancing and going crazy, and it's lasted a long time," said Hunter, who wore protective goggles. "These guys don't want to go home. People think, you have a 17-game lead, why celebrate? We worked hard for this."
