ANGELS PLAYER INSIDE LOOK: LONG TIME COMING FOR SALMON.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - It all came out of Tim Salmon as he sprayed a champagne bottle: the decade of frustration, the heartbreak of the close calls and the general feeling his stellar career with the Angels might never be completed by a trip to the World Series.

Then Salmon saw it, the American League Championship Series trophy, held by a teammate, and he couldn't resist. Salmon grabbed it, his already bright eyes ablaze.

``Can I take it on the field?'' Salmon exclaimed, as though someone might tell him he couldn't. So Salmon ended up where his teammates knew he belonged, back on the field, taking a victory lap around the warning track Sunday to share his joy with the fans at Edison Field.

``Tim's been here, working hard year in and year out, and to see him fulfill his goals, it's awesome,'' shortstop David Eckstein said.

Tim Salmon, age 34, was the biggest kid in the Angels' clubhouse after they clinched the franchise's first trip to the World Series. He sprayed alcohol on everyone who moved, and he soaked in the atmosphere he waited 12 seasons to experience.

``He's waited a long, long time for this, and I'm glad everybody on this team could help him get there,'' third baseman Troy Glaus said. ``He deserves it.''

As Salmon bellowed in joy - at one point, he yelled, ``Am I dreaming? Am I really here?'' - a woman crept up behind him and poured champagne down the back of his shirt. Salmon turned around to see the smiling face of Jackie Autry, widow of longtime team owner Gene Autry.

The pair embraced, and Autry said: ``I'm so happy for you. This is for all the years, all the players who deserved to get there but didn't.''

Nobody in the Angels' clubhouse deserved it, or enjoyed it, more than Salmon, who played 1,388 regular-season games before experiencing playoff baseball for the first time. He had a poor ALCS against the Minnesota Twins before his three hits in Game 5.

Salmon didn't have to be here. He could have signed elsewhere as a free agent, with a contending team, but he chose to stick it out in Anaheim.

``There's obviously times when you're renegotiating and you're looking around and thinking, `Where is our team going?' '' Salmon said. ``But when (general manager Bill) Stoneman came in, we had a talk and you could just see the groundwork being set. I know so many good people in this organization, and I wanted to make it happen here.