ANGELS UPDATE: SALMON MAKES THE TEAM.

Byline: Ben Villa Staff Writer

Tim Salmon spent the last 17 months rehabbing from painful shoulder and knee operations and at times, his mood soured at the thought of never stepping into the batter's box again.

And while he admits he'll never be mistaken for a saint, on Saturday he became an Angel again.

Officially.

The club's all-time leader in home runs (290), walks (941), runs scored (956) and slugging percentage (.500) learned that he made the Angel's 25-man roster.

Salmon, vying for one of the final spots on the roster, had a terrific spring training, batting .346 entering Saturday's game against the Dodgers with a team-leading four home runs.

``I feel like I have a new lease on life,'' Salmon said. ``I'm excited again and I'm going to cherish every one of these moments this season. It's great being back and one of my main motivations was that this is a great team.

``We have a chance to win it all and it's going to be great contributing to that. You don't make this roster unless you're a piece of the puzzle and you can contribute.''

After missing all of last year rehabbing from surgeries on his left rotator cuff and left knee and watching the Angels make the playoffs the last two seasons without him, Salmon was a long shot to make the team when spring training started.

But from the get-go, Salmon demonstrated that his bat speed was where it needed to be and, lately, the power has returned.

On Friday night at Dodger Stadium, he came off the bench in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter and belted a long home run off Hong-Chih Kuo.

``That was cool,'' Salmon said. ``I came off the bench, hit the first pitch I saw for a home run and my night was over. I was thinking, `This is easy. I could do this for a few more years.' ''

However, despite the fact Salmon had a high batting average, his spot on the team wasn't guaranteed by any measures. In order to make the team, Angels manager Mike Scioscia repeatedly said all spring that there needed to be a role for Salmon.

That role appeared to be in jeopardy as of last week when Garret Anderson was still slowed by a sore left heel.

If Anderson was unable to play left field, he would most likely have started at designated hitter and Juan Rivera would have played left field, leaving Salmon as possibly the odd man out.

But Anderson started in left field on Friday and Saturday and appears ready for Monday's season-opener at Seattle. Rivera, who hit 15 home runs last year, figures to get the bulk of the work at designated hitter this season but Salmon could spell him up to two or three times a week.

Another thing that was in Salmon's favor is the Angels' lack of power. He'll provide depth off the bench and is one of the few players on the team that's capable of changing a game with one swing of the bat.

``I think we're all kind of surprised at how well Tim performed in camp,'' Scioscia said. ``Especially when you consider where he was at in October. But he got in shape and he's had a terrific spring.

``He's passed every test and when we looked at our bench situation, we were leaning toward taking a player who can produce offensively.''

Ben Villa, [phone]

ben.villa(at)presstelegram.com