Former Angels Tim Salmon and Chuck Finley were among the All-Star Legends & Celebrity softball game at Angels Stadium Sunday afternoon. Yes, the glorious past with Salmon and the hopeful future with Trout. Recalling the days of yore with Chuck and peaking ahead to what might be with Hank.
Was it just last Sunday in Anaheim or is it now 3 months shy of a Sunday afternoon 8 years ago that the Kingfish circled the stadium track with the AL championship trophy in 2002 after the Adam Kennedy Game had clinched the pennant for us - that he took the time to let us know we mattered, that he really did it all for us, that it was OUR glory, not just his and his teammates, that it was OUR reward for being loyal all those years, for keeping hope alive and buying tickets to games and tuning into broadcasts or decades upon what seemed like wasted decades... Tim Salmon's gesture of acknowledging all of us, coupled with the fact that a week later when it was all about him, in the World Series, he turned it on and played an integral role in getting that ring in that 7-Game series.
Tim Salmon is the greatest baseball player of all time to never play in an All Star Game. Someone has to be. He is the greatest Angel of all time because someone gets to be. Someone who earned it. On the field and in the stands.