Erstad Votes for Rodriguez

When he’s not otherwise occupied managing the Angels, Mike Scioscia campaigns for baseball writers to vote for left fielder Darin Erstad as the American League most valuable player.

Erstad has declined to endorse himself. If he had a vote, he said, he would cast his ballot for shortstop Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners.

“Of all the guys, I think Alex Rodriguez is the most valuable to his team,� Erstad said. “I have no idea what his stats are, but I know he’s scored a gazillion runs.�

Rodriguez has scored 110 runs, second in the league to Johnny Damon of the Kansas City Royals. Rodriguez is hitting .332 with 32 home runs and 103 runs batted in, edging ahead of Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees and Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox as the premium shortstop in the major leagues.

“Of all the teams in the hunt, his all-around play makes him the most valuable player,� Erstad said.

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When Troy Percival struck out Dave Martinez for the final out of Tuesday’s 9-4 victory, Percival did not punctuate the occasion with his trademark fist pump. It was a non-save situation, after all, and Scioscia has yet to return sole ownership of the closer role to Percival.

Do not confuse Percival’s relative lack of enthusiasm after that last out for a lack of enthusiasm regarding Scioscia’s decision. Percival said he would be happy to pitch “whenever they call me� and said he was thrilled for Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who replaced the injured Percival as closer.

In 1995, all-time save leader Lee Smith groomed Percival as the Angel closer, offering advice on how to handle the mental burden all closers share. Percival said he has offered no such advice to Hasegawa.

“Shige doesn’t need my help mentally,� Percival said. “He’s got the mentality to close. He doesn’t have a blazing fastball, but he’s got three pitches he can throw for strikes at any time, and he’s not scared.�

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Scioscia said Scott Karl, who gave up nine hits and got seven outs in his first Angel start Tuesday, would start again Monday at Detroit. . . . Tim Belcher is scheduled to make a third and final rehabilitation start Friday at double-A Erie. The Angels then plan to activate him, but he must first serve a three-game suspension for heatedly contesting a balk call during a game in Seattle in June. “Then we’ll see whether he’s in the rotation or the bullpen,� Scioscia said. . . . The Angels claimed right-hander Ben Weber off waivers from the San Francisco Giants and assigned him to triple-A Edmonton. Weber, 30, went 4-8 with a 2.42 earned-run average in 38 games at triple-A Fresno. . . . The Chicago White Sox released pitcher Ken Hill Tuesday, three weeks after the Angels released him. Hill, 34 and plagued by an arthritic elbow, gave up five hits, six walks and eight runs in three innings for the White Sox. Said Scioscia: “It’s tough to turn back the clock.�