Mark Teixeira stood slightly apart from his Angels teammates, smiling almost wistfully while they danced and sprayed each other with beer and champagne and turned their clubhouse into a sodden mess of popped corks and empty bottles.
Though relatively early in the season it was late in the day to be celebrating: The Angels had beaten the New York Yankees, 4-2, but had to wait for the result of Texas' game at Seattle to learn whether they had clinched a tie for the American League West title or had won it outright.
Their patience was tested for nearly an hour and a quarter, and they spent most of it sprawled on the couches in the clubhouse watching on TV while the Rangers and Mariners traded the lead and pounded each other's pitchers.
For Teixeira, the wait was far longer. He had put up impressive numbers for five seasons but went home when the playoffs began, and those statistics brought him little comfort.
Maybe because he hasn't been an Angel for long -- he was acquired from Atlanta on July 29 by rookie General Manager Tony Reagins, the bold move that previous GM Bill Stoneman wouldn't make -- he had a unique perspective on what unfolded around him after Texas lost and the Angels earned their fifth playoff berth in seven seasons.
Teixeira, who sat out Wednesday's game because of a low-grade fever, learned two key lessons:
That champagne stings when it drips into your eyes, and that the Angels are determined not to be a one-round-and-out flash, as they were a year ago.
"I knew this team was so good that all we had to do was keep playing well. I'm not surprised that it's so early," Teixeira said after the Angels won the division in their 145th game, the earliest they have ever secured a playoff berth.
"This is a great team. We have everything we need. This team is built for a full-season run and that's what we're going to focus on."
There will be no slacking off, players said between champagne shampoos and beery face washes and gleefully wet blasts at one another, Manager Mike Scioscia and owner Arte Moreno.
They won't lose their sharpness in the three weeks between their rowdy celebration and their playoff opener, they insisted, often shouting to be heard over the loud music and shrieks that filled the clubhouse.
"No," infielder Chone Figgins said, "because our guys come to play every day. We're not going to sit a lot of guys every day. Guys are still going to come to play."
