#6 10/20/02 – Anaheim Stadium - 2002 World Series Game 2

No active player had played in more games (1,388) than Tim Salmon without making it to the postseason. The ten-year veteran was determined to make the most of it. In Game 2 of the World Series, the Angels desperately needed a win. They’d already lost home field advantage by losing Game 1 to the Giants, and couldn’t afford to lose another.

They got off to a fast start, scoring five runs on six hits in the bottom of the first, including a steal of home by Brad Fullmer – the first such theft in World Series play since 1964. The Giants responded by tagging Kevin Appier for four runs in the top of the second. In their very next at-bat, the Angels scored two more runs when Salmon launched a two run homer off Russ Ortiz for a 7-4 Angels’ lead.

Jeff Kent’s solo shot in the third, followed by a walk to Bonds, chased Appier. San Francisco then scored four more in the fifth to take a 9-7 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Anaheim cut the lead in half when Glaus scored on a sacrifice fly by Spiezio.

In the sixth, the Rally Monkey made his first World Series appearance. Anderson immediately evened the score with single that scored Erstad. Frankie Rodriguez, meanwhile held the Giants at bay with three perfect innings.

In the bottom of the eighth, Salmon stepped to the plate again, with two outs and Eckstein on first. The Kingfish airmailed Felix Rodriguez’s first pitch into the leftfield stands to give the Halos an 11-9 lead. It was his second home run of the night – a 4-for-4 performance with 3 runs, 4 RBI, and a walk.

Percival came in to save the game, despite giving up a mammoth solo shot to Barry Bonds, in the ninth. K-Rod was credited with the Angels’ first ever World Series win – the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game. It was his fifth win of the postseason (tying another ML record) – which ironically were the first five wins of his young Major League career.