Posted 9:53 AM by Sean
The Angels generally platoon at a couple of positions - notably second base, with Kennedy and Gil, and DH, with Fullmer and Wooten, and Scioscia has never been afraid to occasionally start a bench player in the outfield or shuffle somebody in at first if he feels like giving somebody the day off. Fortunately, there are several Angels who can play multiple positions - Spiezio can take first, third, one of the corner outfield slots, or even second; Wooten catches and plays first, Gil's taken time all over the infield at various times. This is not an inflexible team.

Still, throughout 2002, the Angels' backbone, their baseline lineup, was Eckstein-Erstad-Salmon-Anderson-Glaus-Fullmer-Spiezio-Molina-Kennedy. Platoons, substitutions, adjustments were made, but that was the standard.

Know when the last time was the Angels fielded that lineup? April 6. For basically the entire season, they've been without one of their regulars or another - starting with Kennedy, then Erstad, then Eckstein (who recovered from his hand injury only to fall victim to the flu). Along the way, Salmon and Percival were sidelined for a while as well.

Supposedly, that ends tonight, against the Mets. Everyone's healthy. Having won four straight series, everyone's starting to find a rhythm. And with Oakland just a game and a half ahead, it's time to move into the passing lane.