COLON'S BODY IS YOUNG ENOUGH DESPITE INJURIES, ANGELS RIGHT-HANDER WINS AL'S TOP PITCHING AWARD.

Byline: Keven Chavez Staff Writer

Angels pitcher Bartolo Colon will never be confused with a bodybuilder. He's generously listed at 5 feet, 11 inches and 250 pounds and hardly resembles a staff ace.

But after a rocky first season with the Angels, Colon this season found a way to harness the best from his less-than-perfect body until it could handle no more.

Colon helped carry the Angels to their second consecutive American League West division championship, and despite nagging back pain, dominated opposing hitters all the way into the postseason.

On Tuesday, Colon was selected as the AL's Cy Young Award winner by a surprisingly one-sided vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Colon is the first Angel since Dean Chance in 1964 to win the award. He's also the second native of the Dominican Republic (along with three-time honoree Pedro Martinez) to win baseball's top pitching honor.

``You can't even imagine what the scene is around here, people stopping by my house,'' Colon said through an interpreter from his home in Altamira, D.R. ``Loco, loco, loco. It's the first time they've ever celebrated something like this. Truly it's a real crazy environment.''

Colon's body finally succumbed to the heavy workload when he badly strained his pitching shoulder in the AL Division Series, but not before the 32-year-old right-hander won a career-high and AL-best 21 games, validating the four-year, $51 million contract he signed with the Angels before the 2004 season.

``Unless you've seen Bart work day in, day out and some of the pain he pitched through and how well he performed,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, ``you don't get the full picture of what he accomplished this year.

``We would not have been in the position we were without the year Bartolo had.''

Colon (21-8) finished with a total of 118 points in the balloting process, including 17 first-place votes and 11 second-place votes. Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees (68 points; eight first place votes and seven second place votes) finished second. Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins was third.

In 2004, his first season in Anaheim, Colon was inconsistent and he nearly lost his spot in the starting rotation before the All-Star break. A decent second half allowed him to finish with an 18-12 record and 5.01 ERA.

This season, Colon first injured his back in spring training and aggravated the injury several other times, somewhat limiting the reliance on his high-90 mph fastball. Still, Colon was solid through the entire season, did not miss a start, threw a team-high 222 2/3 innings and had a 3.48 ERA.

``I stopped being a village boy, thinking I can throw any stone through any wall ... mixing up pitches made me a more complete pitcher,'' Colon said.

Colon receives a $500,000 bonus for winning the award.

Colon left Game 5 of the Division Series with a strained right shoulder and was inactive for the AL Championship Series against the Chicago White Sox.

``About my back, (Scioscia) can tell you how bad it was,'' Colon said. ``It did not get to the point like my shoulder against the Yankees when I had to shut it down.

``(Winning the award) doesn't take away the pain I felt (in the playoffs),'' he added. ``There's a sour taste in mouth the way the season ended. We still wanted to go further; Our team was hoping to go win the World Series.''

Keven Chavez, [phone], ext. 2239

keven.chavez(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Bartolo Colon (21-8, 3.48 ERA) becomes the Angels' first Cy Young award winner since Dean Chance in 1964.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

(2) JON GARLAND 

Box:

(1) ANGELS' ACES

(2) AL CY YOUNG VOTING