SNOW STORMS ANAHEIM ANGELS LOSE GAME 1, RIGHT ON SCHEDULE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

ANAHEIM - Wait more than four decades for a particular deliverance and when the big moment finally arrives, you expect - what?

A certain magic? Electricity that never ends? Pixie dust in the outfield? Maybe a measly victory?

The Angels finally appeared in their first World Series on Saturday, all excited like a kid on his first day at school. Remember, final grades are not handed out on opening day.

Yeah, they lost a game they easily could have won, 4-3. Lost the home- field advantage to the Giants. Lost with their ace on the mound and their monkey leaping on the scoreboard and celebrities being cool in the luxury boxes.

Yeah, their fans all came decked out in red, all breathless in anticipation, still bubbling over after capturing the American League pennant.

And you're wondering, ``We waited 42 years for this?''

Fear not, it's become the Angels' modus operandi. Their standard postseason script.

The Angels started the first game of the division series with a loss to the Yankees, and then never lost again. Opened the American League Championship Series with a loss to the Twins, and never lost again.

The Angels' biggest concern right now might be overconfidence. Got 'em right where they want 'em, up 1-0.

``It's obviously not our blueprint to go out and lose Game 1 of any series,'' said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. ``We didn't help ourselves. But we'll bounce back and play a good game (tonight).''

That's one of the things the Angels have done best all season, shake off painful losses. Keep their heads up. Return the next day playing their game.

One of the things the Angels have done best in the postseason is to come back. Overcome early deficits. Play their little ball, utilize their brand of situational hitting, until the almost inevitable rally.

But it never really materialized Saturday, at least not in that fully developed way with which the Angels have spoiled their fans the past three weeks.

The evening began with a stealth bomber flying visibly overhead but unseen on radar, with Jackie Autry throwing out the first pitch to ex-Angels left-hander Chuck Finley, and with one major traffic jam in the skies overhead.

Every small plane in Southern California must have rented itself out to drag a banner over Edison Field. There were ads for a gym, ice cream, a politician, a pub, pizza, beer, a Chinese restaurant, a network, a local radio station, a car dealer, a car buyer and one that was just too small to read.

Think it read: Don't pitch to Barry Bonds.

Understand, the worst part of the way Anaheim lost wasn't that it was beaten by an ex-Angel (J.T. Snow) or a player (Reggie Sanders) who was 1-for-16 in the National League Championship Series. Snow hit a game-winning, two-run homer; Sanders a solo shot.

Nope, the absolute worst part was that Barry ``Puffy'' Bonds set the whole home-run hitting tempo of the day when he homered for the game's first run, in the second inning.

Some fans in the sellout crowd of 44,603 serenaded Bonds with chants of ``ster-roids,'' but a certain tone had been established with the blast that doesn't figure to aid the Anaheim cause over the course of this 98th World Series.

Angels third baseman Troy Glaus hit a pair of solo home runs - just as he had in that losing cause in Game 1 against the Yankees - and all the runs but one came via the long ball.

But this losing the opener has hardly proved a serious problem in the Angels' previous two playoff series. Granted, they started the other two on the road, but Saturday's game felt very familiar.

After losing Game 1 to the Twins, the Angels came back to average seven runs and 14 hits per game in sweeping the next four games. After losing the opener to the Yankees, the Angels averaged nine runs and 15 hits per game.

San Francisco right-hander Jason Schmidt kept the Angels from ever mounting their big inning Saturday. Some balls hit hard went right to fielders. Some balls were popped up. Too many runners weren't advanced.

``A couple of at-bats hurt us a bit, but for the most part I thought offensively we pressured them, which usually gets us a breakthrough,'' Scioscia said.

The celebs - Tim Allen, Bonnie Hunt, John Travolta, Sylvester Stallone, jumping on the Angels bandwagon, which hardly makes them unique - no doubt expected more: something dramatic, something befitting Orange County's first World Series game, something to make the Cowboy proud.

Maybe they haven't really checked out the Angels' script. Saturday was minor disappointment. For the Angels, it was another familiar opening.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) J.T. Snow of the Giants gestures to the Anaheim crowd after hitting a home run in Saturday's World Series opener.

Steven Georges/Staff Photographer

(2) San Francisco's Barry Bonds celebrates with his teammates after his second-inning home run in Game 1 of the World Series at Edison International Field in Anaheim.

Stephen Carr/Staff Photographer