SALT LAKE CITY — The Bees, after jumping out to an early three-run lead, fell to the Isotopes 9-4 Monday night at Smith’s Ballpark. Albuquerque struggled early on against Bees starter Nate Smith, who racked up eight strikeouts in six innings pitched, but the Isotopes turned things around in the final five innings. The Isotopes scored at least one run in each of the final five frames. Their offense improved in each inning, culminating in a three-run ninth, thanks to a three-run homer by Chris Nelson that put the game away.
The highlight of Monday night’s game for Salt Lake was the induction of Angels great Tim Salmon into the PCL Hall of Fame.
“It’s a little surreal,” Salmon said of his most recent honor. “It’s never on the radar when these things (Hall of Fame inductions) happen. I missed out on the MLB Hall of Fame, and then I got into the (Los Angeles) Angels Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 2015 alongside pitchers Dean Chance and Mike Witt). I didn’t know there were any more Hall of Fames,” Salmon said laughingly.
The Kingfish, as he was known during his major league playing days, played only one season at the Triple-A level, but what a season. In 1992, as a member of the Edmonton Trappers, Salmon led all of Triple-A in RBIs (105), on-base percentage (.469), slugging percentage (.672), total bases (275), and OPS (1.141). The following year Salmon won the Rookie of the Year award with the California Angels.
“It was huge,” Salmon said of the role his Triple-A stint played in his development as a player. “It’s that step before the big leagues. Triple-A was the first time in my career that my game really came together. I mean you get to play against players that have been in the big leagues and you get the chance to size yourself up against them. The different successes I had in Triple-A really built my confidence and made the dream of playing in the majors seem like reality.”
Salmon played all 14 of his major league seasons with the Angels, almost 1,700 games, and finished his career with a .282 batting average, 299 home runs and 1,016 RBIs. In addition to his Rookie of the Year award, Salmon won the Silver Slugger Award (1995), and finished seventh twice in AL MVP voting (1995, 1997). He also was an integral part of the Angels' 2002 championship team, which won the only World Series title in team history.
“I had a lot of great experiences in the PCL. I really think the biggest thing for me was I felt ready for the big leagues after my time in Edmonton,” said Salmon.
EDMONTON TO SALT LAKE: The Trappers were the major league affiliate of the California Angels from 1983-1992 and again with the Anaheim Angels from 1999-2000. In total, Edmonton was affiliated with six different major league franchises until 2004, when the team was moved to Round Rock, Texas.
The Bees became the Angels affiliate in 2001 and have remained so ever since. Because Edmonton no longer has a club, and Salt Lake is the Triple-A affiliate of the Angels, Salmon was inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame in Salt Lake.
FOND MEMORIES: Salmon had more than a few things to say when asked about Edmonton. “I have a lot of great memories from my time there. I bought my dog there. I remember playing in the snow in June,” said Salmon. “I remember playing in Calgary, it was Back to the Beach day. It was a Friday night and there was a major storm coming through, but we had to play the game because it was a promotional night. If people came to the park in their bathing suits they would get in free,” Salmon recalled. “It was a packed house and it was an absolute sleet storm. That is one of my favorite memories. Only in the minor leagues.”
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BEELINES
Isotopes — 9
Bees — 4
In short: The Isotopes scored at least a run in each of the five final innings to run away with the victory.
Record: 59-75
Up next: Albuquerque LHP Harrison Musgrave (8-6, 4.15) at Salt Lake RHP Tim Lincecum (0-3, 4.31), Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.
Email; twood@bonneville.com