A LITTLE IS A LOT FOR HALOS.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

ANAHEIM - It's an identity crisis, just sans the crisis. A witness-protection program, only one that's very public.

These are not the same Angels you used to know and love, or be vaguely aware of and completely ignore.

They do not live for the three-run homer. Do not win because half the team is having career years.

There is no such thing as a typical Angels victory these days, which somehow made Thursday's 5-4 win over the A's feel very typical.

They had 13 hits against the A's, all singles. They came from behind to win for the 30th time this season. They got solid pitching. Ran the bases well. Their league-leading defense did make two errors, though neither proved costly. They even got a little lucky.

Wake up one morning, look in the mirror and feel uncertain who's staring back, and there's a chance you just might struggle with it. But these new and improved Angels are rolling with little ball.

They've won eight of their past nine home games. Halfway into a key 20-game stretch in which they play only the four other teams with the best records in the American League, they are 7-3. They are 20 games over .500 for the first time in seven years.

And they've pulled this off recently with closer Troy Percival on the disabled list and, for most of the past two months, with slugging star Troy Glaus hitting David Eckstein's weight.

These are the versatile Angels, the more-consistent Angels.

``I love to go out there with more weapons,'' Percival said. ``Home runs go into slumps. Pitching, defense and base hits don't.''

When the Angels won in the past, it was more often via an offensive explosion. Two, three guys unloading, all but pounding their chests at the plate before using their bat like some menacing club.

These Angels will pick you to death. They love to hit and run. To advance runners. Executing all of baseball's precious ``little things.'' Even if it takes 13 singles.

``To me that wasn't weird,'' Garret Anderson said. ``Because that's how we're going to beat people, by just putting a bunch of hits together.

``We've got guys on this team who can hit home runs, but if you sit around and wait for the three-run homer, you'll have problems. I think our approach is pretty good. I like to see the game we played today. And that puts more pressure on the defense.''

One day you're playing like the '29 Yankees, the next the '62 Dodgers.

The Angels remain in the top five of most league offensive categories, and their starting pitching - the great equalizer to their offensive might in years past - has led them to the AL's fourth-best ERA.

Do not confuse the Anaheim Angels with the California Angels. These Angels will beat you any way they can, and they can beat you many ways.

``It's different every day,'' Darin Erstad said. ``Pitching, home runs, scratching together runs, getting things to fall. That's why you go up there and compete. Then whatever happens, happens.''

That's one of the qualities of this team that has endeared it to manager Mike Scioscia: The players will not quit.

They trailed the A's 3-0 and 4-2 Thursday but kept chipping away, kept trying to figure out a way to come back.

``We're not going to give up,'' Scioscia said. ``We don't panic. We executed even when we were down by four runs. It's fun to be around.

``We're going to play hard from beginning to end, every game.''

Play hard long enough and sometimes good fortune finds you, as it did the Angels in the eighth inning. With the score tied 4-4, runners at first and second, and two outs, the A's called on hard-throwing closer Billy Koch to face Anderson.

The A's played their outfield deep, real deep. Anderson lifted a soft fly to medium left field. It dropped in front of charging Adam Piatt, and the Angels' 13th single had scored the winning run.

``All I was trying to do was put the ball in play,'' Anderson said. ``Maybe it will trickle through a hole, or something.''

Or something. Get good pitching, play top defense, run the bases and keep playing hard, and more often, something good is going to happen.

Now they go to Seattle to meet the Mariners for a first-place showdown. Last time the teams met, the Angels swept a three-game series.

The Angels are feeling good about themselves. With their great history of self-destruction, this team actually seems built for the long haul.

A division title, a wild-card berth - these are real possibilities. If they actually won the first playoff series in team history, it would only confirm these are not the same Angels.