Robb Quinlan

Robb Quinlan, at right, had his 21-game hitting streak stopped Wednesday night against Baltimore. Longest hitting streaks in Angel history: * -- Rookie *--* 28 Garret Anderson 1998 25 Rod Carew 1982 23 Jim Edmonds 1995 22 Sandy Alomar 1970 21 Robb Quinlan 2004* 21 Randy Velarde 1996 21 Bobby Grich 1981 20 Tim Salmon 2003 20 Bobby Grich 1979 *--*

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. — No athlete wants to make the list of "dumbest sports injuries," but like it or not, Kendry Morales was added to it Saturday when he fractured a bone above his left ankle while jumping into home plate in celebration of his walk-off grand slam against Seattle. The Angels first baseman, who will undergo surgery and could miss the rest of the season, can take some solace in the fact he won't replace former NFL kicker Bill Gramatica at the top of that list.

Not that the Dodgerville Press is terribly interested in rants from Angel fans, especially with all those captivating stories of whether Jeff Kent said hi to Milton Bradley, but someone from your paper needs to take Mike Scioscia to task for some of the most confounding moves I have ever seen a manager make. The worst example is batting Steve Finley for Robb Quinlan in the biggest at-bat of a winnable game against Boston on Tuesday. He was facing the starting pitcher. If Finley should bat for Quinlan there, he should have started the game (actually, he shouldn't be allowed on the plane)

Who's on first? For the Angels, it could be a lot of different people in the coming weeks. Mike Napoli manned first base Sunday in the first game since Kendry Morales fractured his lower left leg in a freak accident during a home-plate celebration. Other alternatives on the current roster include Robb Quinlan , Michael Ryan and Howie Kendrick . General Manager Tony Reagins said the Angels would assess their options within the organization in the short term while also exploring the possibility of adding a player via trade or free agency.

So let me get this straight: Juan Rivera's absence needed to be addressed, so Shea Hillenbrand is a solution? $6.5 million for a first baseman who's never slugged .500 or hit 20 homers, doesn't draw walks, is eight years older than Casey Kotchman and Kendry Morales, and has a problem with authority? If Vladimir Guerrero hadn't fallen in Bill Stoneman's lap before 2004, he'd be fired by now. DAVID PENGLos Angeles As an avid Angels fan, I've found countless ways to rationalize and even justify many of Bill Stoneman's moves -- or lack thereof -- but this one is impossible even for me. The Angels already have a better, younger version of Hillenbrand in Robb Quinlan.

Even though he committed two errors in his first four games and was replaced in the Angels' lineup by Maicer Izturis on Saturday, Robb Quinlan said he was satisfied with his progress defensively as a third baseman. "I'm still learning," said Quinlan, a converted first baseman who had played the position only sparingly and never at the major league level before last June. "I'm still enjoying going out there and playing it and trying to become a better third baseman."

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The only thing Robb Quinlan is guaranteed of this season is the $1.05 million he will receive in the second year of the two-year, $1.85-million deal he signed before the 2007 season. Otherwise, the Angels utility player, a 30-year-old corner infielder and outfielder who made several key contributions to the team's three division titles in the last four years, has no idea how much he will play or even if he'll make the team.

The fact that Robb Quinlan did not start against a left-handed pitcher Friday night does not bode well for the reserve infielder's short-term future with the Angels. The team will need a roster spot when catcher Bengie Molina (strained right thigh) comes off the disabled list this week, and Quinlan, who was expected to platoon with third baseman Dallas McPherson but had only three at-bats in 15 games before Saturday night, appears vulnerable.

Contracts no longer guarantee salvation. After the Angels released their highest-salaried player Wednesday, cutting pitcher Kevin Appier a farewell check for $15.67 million, pitcher Jarrod Washburn summarized the moral of the story in five words. "Play well or you're gone," Washburn said. However, it is unlikely any dismissals will result from Wednesday's 8-0 loss to the New York Yankees.

The Angels' hottest hitter since the All-Star break went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. No, it wasn't Vladimir Guerrero. Or Jose Guillen. Or Garret Anderson. Or Darin Erstad. It was third baseman Robb Quinlan, an afterthought in the first half but a rookie who had become an integral part of the offense during a 21-game hit streak in which he batted .425 with three home runs and 17 runs batted in from July 20 to Aug. 10.

Three key Angels headed for free agency -- Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero -- have publicly expressed a desire to return to Anaheim, and center fielder Torii Hunter, after talking to free-agent pitcher John Lackey, is convinced the right-hander wants to remain an Angel. Gary Matthews Jr.? Not so much. The disgruntled outfielder with two years and $23 million left on his contract wants no part of the Angels in 2010, and he reiterated his request to be traded -- or released -- while cleaning out his Angel Stadium locker Tuesday.

There will be few relievers in the playoffs with as impressive credentials as a starter as Matt Palmer 's . The Angels right-hander capped an improbable regular season with his final and perhaps most memorable start Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, uniting with four relievers for a combined one-hitter during a 5-0 victory over Texas. Julio Borbon led off the game with a single to right-center, and the only other Rangers to reach base did so via five walks. Palmer, Darren Oliver , Jose Arredondo , Kevin Jepsen and Rafael Rodriguez gave the Angels their first combined one-hitter since July 27, 2004, against Texas.

Mike Scioscia once said of utility player Robb Quinlan, "He makes the plays he makes," which sounds like a back-handed compliment but wasn't meant to be. Quinlan, who plays the corner infield and outfield spots, is not the world's most gifted athlete, but he makes the plays within his grasp, which is the point the Angels manager was trying to make when he made his Quinlan quip.

John Lackey was in an 0-for-7 slump when he stepped to the plate in the fourth inning Monday night in AT&T Park. Not 0 for 7 at-bats, 0 for 7 years. In 26 career at-bats in National League parks since 2003, the Angels right-hander did not have a hit. Then, after Giants left-hander Barry Zito got ahead of Lackey one-and-two, batting coach Mickey Hatcher hollered some advice from the Angels dugout. "I told him to get in the crab crouch," Hatcher said, "and don't strike out."

CHICAGO -- No wonder Angels center fielder Torii Hunter felt a little disoriented Saturday night. His team threw everything it had at the Chicago White Sox -- a successful five-man infield to escape a first-and-third, none-out jam in the 10th inning; four home runs, including one from a rookie shortstop to break a ninth-inning tie; and three perfect innings from a reliever who got about two hours' sleep the night before. And what did the Angels have to show for it? Nothing after Jim Thome crushed a walk-off home run against Justin Speier an estimated 438 feet to right field in the 15th inning to lift the White Sox to a dramatic 7-6 win in U.S. Cellular Field.

CHICAGO -- The Angels' magic number to clinch the American League West championship was reduced to five Friday night, thanks in no part to the Angels. Despite a clunker of a 10-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, the Angels moved closer to their fourth division title in five years because the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, their closest pursuers, who remained 17 games back. A Chicago club that leads the AL Central but lost Carlos Quentin, the league's home run leader, to a fractured wrist earlier Friday showed it still has plenty of pop, racking up 15 hits, including three homers, two by No. 9 hitter Juan Uribe.

No one expects Robb Quinlan to turn into Scott Rolen overnight, but the Angels are confident he'll be capable on defense at third base in place of the injured Dallas McPherson -- as long as Quinlan, a converted first baseman, doesn't think too much. "Last year, he wasn't thinking, he was just playing," Angel first-base coach Alfredo Griffin said. "It's easy to play that way because if you mess up, you say, 'It's OK, because I'm not supposed to be here.'

Cheers erupted throughout the Angels' clubhouse Saturday afternoon when Ray Durham hit a three-run walkoff home run to lift the San Francisco Giants to a come-from-behind victory over the Oakland Athletics. The Angels, duly inspired, went out and staged a comeback of their own Saturday night, scoring four runs in the seventh inning to tie the score and twice in the 13th to win it when Robb Quinlan hit a pinch-hit, two-out, two-run home run for a 6-4 victory over Arizona in Chase Field.

DETROIT -- You remember Gary Matthews Jr. Switch-hitter. Pretty good center fielder. Used to play for the Angels. OK, that last part is an exaggeration, but not much of one. Matthews has virtually disappeared in the second half, his playing time drastically curtailed by a knee injury, a bruised batting average and the summer emergence of Juan Rivera. But there was Matthews in Comerica Park on Thursday afternoon, doubling to left field to open the game and scoring the Angels' first run. Then he singled and scored in the third inning, doubled in the fourth and reached on an infield single in the seventh.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The only thing Robb Quinlan is guaranteed of this season is the $1.05 million he will receive in the second year of the two-year, $1.85-million deal he signed before the 2007 season. Otherwise, the Angels utility player, a 30-year-old corner infielder and outfielder who made several key contributions to the team's three division titles in the last four years, has no idea how much he will play or even if he'll make the team.