California Angels Baseball Team

The baby was born on the 12th month, 15th day, at 12:15 a.m., with the father praying for one more bit of symmetry. "I was scared to death," he says. The baby was born while the father was counting. Two arms. Two legs. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Then she was here, all of her, Madeleine Destiny, as beautiful as her name. Which might explain why the father is walking around these days as if he has just witnessed a miracle. Throwing like it too. "She's perfect," Jim Abbott says. "Just perfect."

The accolades bestowed on Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson in 1995--they were hailed as one of baseball's best young outfields--disappeared like Anaheim Stadium's outfield bleachers in '96. Salmon, the right fielder, finished with very good numbers (.286 average, 30 home runs, 98 runs batted in), but his .257 average with runners in scoring position was a reminder of how much better a season it could have been. Edmonds, the center fielder, hit .

There are Type-A personalities, and then there are Type-AAA personalities, and Angel Manager Terry Collins definitely falls into the latter class. People tend to get defensive when they're accused of being workaholics, but Collins embraces the label like an old friend. "Yep," he says proudly, when asked if he's a workaholic. "I don't know if that's healthy, but I enjoy this, and it may not last that long . . . I want to be at the park."

It's not often you can tune into the Classic Sports network to watch a 1979 baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees and see a guy whose locker is next to yours. And it's not often you can begin a clubhouse conversation with a teammate by saying, "Yeah, I remember going to a game in elementary school and you were. . . .

Angel Manager John McNamara, who spent his third day in a New York hospital because of a blood clot in his right calf, said Friday that "everything was fine," but he expressed some doubt about returning to the team. "I have to wait and see what the doctors say," McNamara, 64, said. "Heck, the way [interim manager] Joe Maddon is going, they might not want me back." Maddon improved to 3-0 in McNamara's absence with Friday night's 2-0 victory over the Orioles.

Sweat was dripping off Shawn Boskie's hands. The intense heat and humidity of a sweltering, 95-degree evening had drained the Angel pitcher. And that was before Boskie shut out one of baseball's hottest teams, giving up four hits in 6 1/3 innings Friday night to lead the Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles before a sellout crowd of 47,291 in Camden Yards.

Sweat was dripping off Shawn Boskie's hands. The intense heat and humidity of a sweltering, 95-degree evening had drained the Angel pitcher. And that was before Boskie shut out one of baseball's hottest teams, giving up four hits in 6 1/3 innings Friday night to lead the Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in front of a sellout crowd of 47,291 in Camden Yards.

It took Orel Hershiser all of three weeks at the end of his first season in an Indians' uniform to set the Cleveland all-time record for most postseason victories. He allowed a total of five earned runs in 29 1/3 innings, beating the Red Sox in Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series, the Mariners in Games 2 and 5 of the ALCS and the Braves in Game 5 of the World Series.

John McNamara has felt a bit claustrophobic during the past two games, but he says managing via walkie-talkie from his Angel clubhouse office does have its advantages. "The thing about watching the game on television, especially with this club," he said, "is you can get up and go to another room."

Whatever Jim Abbott was looking to rediscover in his first minor league appearance, he didn't find it in the sweltering heat of Arizona on Saturday night. Abbott, who was 1-15 with a 7.79 earned-run average before being sent down by the Angels to triple-A Vancouver on Wednesday, looked like a pitcher still searching for his control, his fastball and his confidence.