KMAX: Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) The Anaheim Angels spent their last day in uniform as World Series champions.

They'll spend the next six months healing from bruised egos and an inordinate rash of injuries that turned them into also-rans.

``I thought we'd play a lot better, but I wasn't anticipating injuries and I wasn't anticipating us getting off to a slow start,'' said first baseman Scott Spiezio, who had a two-run single Sunday in a season-ending 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers.

``I think it's a totally different season if everybody's healthy the whole year.''

The Angels' 77-85 record was 22 games worse than last season, when they earned the AL wild-card berth with a franchise-record 99 victories, won their first AL pennant and beat San Francisco in seven games for their first World Series title.

``The feeling of 2002 is something that will never leave us, but you hope to recreate it and make new memories,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``That's what we're going to set our sights on in 2004.''

Anaheim's Scot Shields (5-6) allowed a run and five hits in seven innings and Brendan Donnelly pitched the ninth for his third save, finishing with a 1.58 ERA.

Barry Wesson, one of about a dozen prospects getting valuable big league exposure because of the injuries, hit his first career home run and had an RBI single.

``The guys who came up from the minor leagues did a terrific job and played as well as they could,'' Scioscia said. ``But those voids that were created by some All-Star players are just impossible to hold together for four months of the season.''

The Angels played .500 ball for most of the first half before putting themselves out of the running with a 5-20 slide after the All-Star break. They staggered across the finish line with Troy Glaus, Darin Erstad, Bengie Molina and designated hitter Brad Fullmer missing substantial time.

Erstad, who caught the final out of the World Series, didn't play after Aug. 6 because of tendinitis in his right hamstring. He and Glaus who was sidelined since July 22 because of a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder both have decided against offseason surgery.

The only regular position players who avoided the DL were Spiezio, right fielder Tim Salmon and team MVP Garret Anderson, who finished with 29 homers, 116 RBIs and a .315 average.

``I think everybody in this room knows that we just had too much to overcome this year,'' pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. ``We really didn't play that well in the beginning, and then guys started dropping like flies.

``At that point we kind of had to say to ourselves, `Well, I guess it's not our year.' But I think that having won the championship actually makes it easier to deal with this because we know that this is not the team we are.''

Texas, 71-91 in Buck Showalter's first season as manager, became the third AL franchise since divisional play began in 1969 to finish last in its division in four or more consecutive seasons.

Pitching help is a priority for the Rangers, whose 5.67 team ERA was the worst in the majors and their second-worst since the franchise moved from Washington to Texas in 1972.

``It's all about pitching and defense,'' AL home run champ Alex Rodriguez said. ``You have to look at the guys drinking champagne now like the Cubs, Oakland and the Marlins. I think Oakland was 29th in major league baseball in hitting, but yet they almost won 100 games. So there's no secret.''

John Thomson (13-14) allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings. He was the only pitcher on the Texas staff to average at least six innings per start, recording at least 200 innings for the first time in his big league career.< ^Notes:@ The Angels drew a franchise-record 3,061,094 fans to Edison Field. As they left the field a number of the players tossed their caps to fans seated behind the third base dugout. ... Rodriguez will go into next season needing one homer to tie Cal Ripken Jr. (345) for the most by a shortstop.