The Numbers

2001 record: 75-87, .463 (20th overall) 2001 expected record*: 77-85 Runs scored: 691, 12th in AL Runs allowed: 730, 4th in AL Run differential: -39 (20th overall) Starters' ERA: 4.49, 7th in AL Bullpen ERA: 3.54, 4th in AL Payroll (Opening Day): $46.5 million (21st overall) Local broadcast revenue: $10.9 million (23rd overall) Attendance: 2.0 million (20th overall) 3-year record: 227-259, .467 (tied for 19th overall) 5-year record: 396-414, .489 (18th overall) * based on runs scored and runs allowed

2001 in review
What went right?
Anaheim played the entire season without Mo Vaughn, but the Angels' pitchers were able to offset the power gap. The staff had a 4.20 ERA -- only Boston was better among AL non-playoff teams -- and kept the Angels in games. Starters Jarrod Washburn (11-10) and Ramon Ortiz (13-11) both showed plenty of promise in their first full big-league seasons -- and plenty of durability, too. Along with No. 3 starter Scott Schoeneweis (10-11), the trio of 10-game winners mustered 6.45 innings per start, almost a half an inning over the league average. They should blend nicely with impact free-agent pickups Aaron Sele and Kevin Appier, giving the Angels the only rotation in the majors to boast five double-digit game-winners.

What went wrong
Well, for starters, the Angels were in the wrong division, stuck with the two best teams in baseball, Seattle and Oakland. Even when the Halos were at their hottest -- they rose to 66-58 in mid-August -- they were still six games out of the wild-card spot and 23 hopeless big ones out of first. So they folded, dropping 16 of their last 18 to finish 75-87. Anaheim was handcuffed by season-long slumps by franchise players -- Darin Erstad's batting average slid from .355 to .258, and Tim Salmon's HR output got Ginsu-ed, from 34 to 17.

In retrospect, the critical decisions were:
1. 1. Ticking Troy Percival off. When the closer's confidential contract dealings were leaked to the public near the end of the 2001 season, an incensed Percival decided he wanted out of Orange County when he becomes a free agent after the 2002 season. The Angels, fearful they'd eventually get nothing for the rock-solid closer, began shopping him around for prospects below his market value. But now, with the recent resignation of team president Tony Tavares (whom Percival blamed for the contract gaffe), the fireballer may reconsider and stay put. The Angels better hope he does -- he saved 39 games in 42 chances in 2001, and could have more opportunities this year.

2. Sending Adam Kennedy up for a meaningless March at-bat against the A's. After Mark Guthrie's fastball crushed the second baseman's right index finger, sidelining him for five weeks, it opened a door -- a tiny one -- for 5-8 rookie David Eckstein, who busted out with a .285 batting average and a team-high 29 stolen bases in 2001. When Kennedy healed, manager Mike Scioscia moved Eckstein to short, giving the team a solid middle infield. Who knows -- if Guthrie's pitch hadn't gotten away from him, the Angels' starting shortstop might have gotten away from them.

3. Paying $80 million for Mo Vaughn. Yeah, that was three years ago, but only now is it evident what a mistake that really was. Productive during his first two seasons, Vaughn steadfastly avoided the clubhouse during his rehab from a torn biceps tendon and fell out of favor with his teammates. He also took swipes at SoCal fans, questioning their passion and publicly longing for a return to the East Coast. When the Angels dealt their resident malcontent to the Mets last month, you could hear their sigh of relief all the way to Queens.

Looking ahead to 2002
Three key questions
1. So is it really true that pitching wins championships? Signing Sele and trading for Appier was proof positive that GM Bill Stoneman, himself a former major-league hurler, subscribes to this theory. The Angels learned that they couldn't club their way to the playoffs in 2000 (Vaughn, Garret Anderson, Salmon and Troy Glaus each hit 30-plus homers). Now, with Sele (215 IP) and Appier (206.2) in the mix, the Angels should have one of the most durable staffs in baseball. Sele also has more wins the past four seasons (69) than any other AL pitcher. The bullpen took a hit when the club let Shigetoshi Hasegawa walk and let Mike Holtz become a free agent (he signed with Oakland). But middle relievers Al Levine (2.38 ERA in 75.2 IP) and Ben Weber (6-2, 3.42 ERA in 68.1 IP) should set the table for Percival -- if he's still there.

2. How much will Garret Anderson produce? In his six full major-league seasons, Anderson has never batted below .285 and the 29-year-old had career highs in 2001 with 123 RBI, 194 hits and 13 steals. However, his on-base percentage remains low (just .314) and despite hitting 28 home runs, his slugging percentage was below .500 (.478).

3. Who plays first base? Same question the Angels had last offseason, after they learned Vaughn was out. They auditioned a total of nine players at first in 2001, finally settling on Scott Spiezio. The utilityman performed admirably (.271-13-54), but that's not enough power in a league of slugging first-sackers like Jim Thome and Carlos Delgado. There's talk Erstad could move back to first, where he played before Mo came to town. Could one final free-agent pickup be in the works?

Can expect to play better
Erstad. Not so fast -- nobody is saying Erstad will regain his 2000 form, when his 240 hits, 121 runs and .355 average whited-out the Angels' record book and established him as an instant leadoff legend. But last year Erstad -- batting No. 2 behind Eckstein -- put up such anemic numbers (.258 BA, .331 OBP, .360 SLG) that Stoneman was set to trade him to Chicago for outfielder Chris Singleton, pitcher Jon Garland and some prospects before upper management nixed the deal. Now, even if Erstad has just an average season (his career numbers are .293, .352, .441), it would help generate some much-needed runs. Anaheim managed only 691 last season, which is darn near Devil Rays territory.

Stats Corner
Garret Anderson (above) had 123 RBI last season, the most ever by an Angels' left-handed hitter. Angels first basemen combined to hit .273, but had just 18 homers and 64 RBI, both worst in the AL. Even worse, Anaheim DHs hit just .204 and drove in 38 runs. Every other AL team had at least 74 RBI from the DH spot. Jarrod Washburn went undefeated (8-0) from May 9 until Aug. 2. But the 27-year-old hit a wall later on, losing his last four decisions during which time he also had an ERA of 5.70. In 1998-2000, Tim Salmon hit .481 (13-for-27) with the bases loaded. In 2001, he hit .000 (0-for-14).

Can expect to play worse
Sele. He started 8-0 and finished 15-5 with a career-best 3.60 ERA. But remember, baseball's best offense and defense had his back. Although he now headlines a superb collection of arms, he won't have the endless run support he had from the M's big sticks (5.72 runs per game vs. 4.27.) The 6-5, 215-pounder still has a big curveball, but it isn't a ring-'em-up pitch like earlier in his nine-year career -- Sele's 114 strikeouts in 2001 were his lowest mark since '95. And should the Angels reach the playoffs for the first time since 1986, Sele would still be seeking his first win there. He went 0-3 in 2001, dropping his career postseason mark to 0-6.

Projected lineup
SS David Eckstein
CF Darin Erstad
3B Troy Glaus
LF Garret Anderson
RF Tim Salmon
DH Shawn Wooten
1B Scott Spiezio
C Ben Molina
2B Adam Kennedy

Rotation
Aaron Sele
Kevin Appier
Jarrod Washburn
Ramon Ortiz
Scott Schoeneweis

Closer
Troy Percival

A closer look
It was a rainy afternoon in Texas last summer when Angels manager Mike Scioscia bounded into the clubhouse, grinning ear-to-ear. On the field, the grounds crew was struggling to roll out a balky tarp. Scioscia had just the solution.

"Where's Woot?" Scioscia hollered, finally spying designated hitter Shawn Wooten in the kitchen. "Woot, we need a tarp for the field!" The skipper paused a beat for effect. "Go get your leather jacket!"

Anaheim's rotund rookie could only laugh. "I was even eating a sandwich at the time," he sighs. "How appropriate."

As a 29-year-old rookie without many sharp edges on his 5-10, 225-pound frame, Wooten took seconds on good-natured abuse last season.

The Glendora, Calif., native responded by hitting .312 -- with eight homers and 32 RBI in only 221 at-bats -- before a wrist injury shut him down for the year. (He was on pace to finish as the only Angel north of .300, but had too few ABs to qualify for the leaderboard.) He also hit .333 with runners in scoring position while platooning at DH, first base and catcher.

That didn't spare Wooten the fat jokes. Especially from Scioscia -- a former catcher who moderately resembled a rosin bag himself in his playing days. "He just gives it to me because he got it himself for so long," Wooten reasons.

And Woot can handle it. Considering the winding road he's taken to Edison Field, major-league ribbing is a small price to pay for major-league opportunity.

In 1993, Wooten thought he was on the fast track to the majors. After playing high school ball with Jason Giambi (at South Hills High in West Covina, Calif.), Wooten was the Tigers' 18th-round pick out of Mt. San Antonio Junior College. In his first season of rookie ball, he led the Appalachian League with a .350 average and a .576 slugging percentage. But when his career stalled a few years later, Wooten began loafing. Cadillac-ing, he calls it.

"Everything had always come really easy to me," remembers Wooten, who was demoted from Double-A to Class A in 1995 after hitting .129 in 20 games. "Once I failed miserably, I started moping like a big baby."

Then one night in Lakeland, Fla., Wooten didn't run out a line drive -- the Coupe DeVille of Cadillac-ing. A few days later, he did it again and a funny thing happened. The Tigers released him on the spot. When he asked what he did wrong, his manager's response was stern: "If you don't know by now, you'll never know."

Now, Wooten's only option was an independent Prairie League team in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Still only 23, he had loafed his way into playing baseball in a hockey town where players used their own bats for BP. Some opponents didn't have locker rooms and dressed in the dugouts. For one road game in Green Bay, the Diamond Dogs took a 24-hour bus trek. Each way.

But there was no pressure, and Wooten loved it. "I was just playing baseball with some guys in the middle of nowhere," says Wooten. "I found my confidence and haven't looked back since."

Wooten left Moose Jaw in 1996 (the Prairie League folded a year later) and began climbing the Angels' minor-league ladder. By the time he earned a major-league callup in August of 2000, he was a 28-year-old with a well-worn minor-league passport. He won an everyday job last year, and raised plenty of eyebrows with his bat before the injury brought a premature halt to his season. Wooten had surgery and started swinging the bat again in November. He happily reports the wrist is as good as new.

Good thing, because the Angels are counting on Wooten for more than punchlines in 2002. As a team desperately in need of offensive firepower, the Angels need Wooten to contribute every day at either first base or DH. If you extend his 2001 numbers over the course of a full 600 at-bat season, he would've finished his rookie campaign with 22 homers and 87 RBI -- welcome stats in a run-starved lineup.

Speaking of starving, that's what Wooten's doing this winter, part of his routine to try to shed a few pounds. Sure, he laughed along with the pranks -- especially when teammate Pat Rapp left an article from a men's health magazine, "Ten Reasons You're Still Fat," in front of his locker and Scioscia began reading aloud from it. But Wooten knows there's an ounce of truth in every jest.

"There's definitely a hidden message in there, and the coaches want me to lose weight so I can be more durable," he says. "I'm working hard this offseason to try and look like a baseball player."

That's where he's wrong. Shawn Wooten already looks like a baseball player. Every time he steps in the batter's box.

Andy Latack covers baseball for ESPN The Magazine.