June Low to October High for Kendrick

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Howie Kendrick smiled the smile of a man who had not a care in the world, a guy who had won the lottery and married a supermodel on the same day.

Good things, as it turns out, come to those who get angry. At least, that's the perspective of the guy whose locker is next to Kendrick's in the Angels clubhouse.

"He's playing [ticked] off," Torii Hunter said, actually using a word that rhymes with missed. Kendrick hasn't missed much. Not since his season took a turn for the worst, toward Salt Lake City, of all places.

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The story of redemption -- don't ya love those? -- hit its climax on Monday afternoon in the Angels' 5-4 victory over the Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. Kendrick homered, to restart the Angels' heartbeat after they were down, 3-0. He tripled and scored the go-ahead run in seventh, and then he singled and scored the winning run in the 11th.

Welcome back, Howie. You're not in Salt Lake City anymore.

"Ever since I came back from the minor leagues, I've been playing hungry," Kendrick said. "Early in the year, I kind of got out of my routine. I was pressing, not myself. Getting back to the minor leagues made me play a little more hungry. It made me want to compete."

Hungry? Angry? Just different perspectives on the same changed man.

"I saw a lot of fire and determination," Hunter said. "It showed the second half of the season. He's not slowing down. We always knew he could hit. We could see that forever. It's all about confidence, and I think he's got that now."

The Angels had been trying to make Kendrick their everyday second baseman for a few years. There was always something missing, and he could never grab hold of the job. He ended up sharing it with Maicer Izturis. Finally in June, he got the ultimate humbling news. The Angels were so fed up with his inconsistency that they sent him and his .231 average to the minor leagues.

The move, coupled with a demotion for struggling setup man Jose Arredondo, served as an announcement from the front office that they'd had enough of mediocrity in a season seemingly going nowhere. It was a wake-up call to the players left in the Angels clubhouse, but mostly to Kendrick himself.

"I wasn't happy about being sent down, but there wasn't anything I could do to change it," he said. "I just wanted to play hard and get back as soon as possible."

"I kind of got out of my routine. I was pressing, not myself. Getting back to the minor leagues made me play a little more hungry. It made me want to compete."
-- Howie Kendrick Kendrick returned three weeks later, and all he did was hit .351 over the final three months of the season.

Three-fifty-one.

"When he went down to the minors, maybe it was a little reality check," catcher Mike Napoli said. "When he went down there, he just locked in."

Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said that Kendrick needed simply to become more disciplined, which he did. Kendrick said that mostly it was a matter of relaxing and letting his natural abilities take over, rather than forcing the issue, putting pressure on himself.

If ever there was a situation that might lead you to feel pressure, it's being down 2-0 in a best-of-seven series to the Yankees, and trailing 3-0 in the fifth inning of Game 3. Angel Stadium, full of red-clad fans with their flapping inflatable Thunder Sticks, was getting quiet. Certainly they were starting to count down the number of outs until Mariano Rivera. Even the Angels were feeling it.

"It's getting late in the game and you start worrying about getting to Mariano, down three runs," catcher Mike Napoli said. "That's not good."

But just then, Kendrick belted a solo homer off Andy Pettitte, bringing the Angels within 3-1 and giving hope that there would be a ballgame, and maybe a series.

"It gave us a little life," said catcher Jeff Mathis. "It was big."

By the time Kendrick got to the plate again in the seventh, the Angels had tied the game on a two-run homer by not-quite-dead Vladimir Guerrero. (Redemption for him too, after leaving 10 runners on base in the first two games.) Kendrick poked an opposite field blast off the right-field wall, steaming into third with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Izturis. (More redemption for Mr. 13th-inning what-were-you-thinking?)


The Angels blew that lead, allowing Jorge Posada's homer, and then they blew a chance to win it, leaving the bases loaded in the 10th. All in all, it could have been a pretty ugly afternoon, but Kendrick had one more big swing left. His two-out single in the 11th came just before Mathis' smoked one into the left-center field gap. Sprinting all the way, Kendrick steamed around the bases and slid home without a play, immediately bringing the Angels right back into the series.

In one game, Kendrick had more hits than he did in last year's 2-for-17 postseason disaster. That was a different Kendrick, though.

"I put pressure on myself last year," he said. "I tried to do too much in the playoffs. Now, I'm just having fun."