Guerrero seeks playoff pop at plate

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Center fielder Torii Hunter, in his first season with the Los Angeles Angels, likes to kid about the pressure inherent in hitting behind cleanup man Vladimir Guerrero.

It's not so much protecting Guerrero from getting walked intentionally on a regular basis that Hunter finds challenging, but rather following in his highly entertaining, if unorthodox, act.

"Vladdy hits balls off his shoelaces, doubles, line drives," Hunter says with a smile. "Vladdy will hit a ball over the top of his head or right at him, and then you have to follow up behind that? People are going, 'Let's see what he does.' I'm going, 'No, I'm taking that pitch.' I know I can't hit it."

Few can match Guerrero's skill at the batter's box. Even in his least productive full season since he was a rookie in 1997, this year he became the only player other than Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig to register at least a .300 average and 25 home runs 11 seasons in a row.

Guerrero remains the centerpiece of the Angels offense as they enter the playoffs with the best record in baseball at 100-62. However, this is a different attack than those of recent vintage, which relied heavily on manufacturing runs and often sputtered in the postseason.

The addition of Hunter and switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira, acquired in a July 29 trade, have balanced the offensive load. Consequently, the always pitching-rich Angels seem positioned to make their deepest postseason run since winning the 2002 World Series.

"The lineup is more tilted to batter's-box offense than some of the situational things we've done in the past," manager Mike Scioscia says. "We may have Howie Kendrick (a career .306 hitter) and Juan Rivera hitting seventh and eighth. That's deep."

The Angels hope the improved lineup helps Guerrero wipe off the one glaring stain in his Hall of Fame-worthy resume - a dismal history of playoff performances.

Guerrero, 32, has led the Angels to the playoffs four times his five years in Anaheim, finishing at least third in AL MVP voting three times and winning the award in 2004. But the Angels' last three postseason trips fell short of the World Series - two ending in first-round sweeps against the Boston Red Sox, this year's opponents - as they averaged more than four runs only once in four series.

Guerrero has hit .183 with seven RBIs in 16 playoff games, and he managed just one single in 20 at-bats (a .050 average) as the Angels lost the 2005 AL Championship Series in five games to the Chicago White Sox.

In his last 48 playoff at-bats, he has driven in one run.