"I've been playing with a great group of guys here," Kendrick says. "Brandon Wood, Reggie Willits, Terry Evans, Bobby Wilson. When I walked in the clubhouse and saw those guys having fun, I knew it was going to turn around for me. If you're not careful, you start to press too much. I look at Shaquille O'Neal. He has fun all the time. He's one of the funniest guys in the NBA. You have to learn to brush things off and keep going at it. You have to be disciplined and play the game hard. You have to stay focussed. But in the end, baseball reminds you of what it was like being a kid."

The statistics seem to confirm Kendrick's optimism. He has hit safely in six of his last seven games and his hitting .308 for the Bees. In the field, he looks like his old self again.

"He won't be down long," says his good friend, Chuck Barber. "He's a pure hitter. I've seen a lot of .320 hitters go sour for a spell, but they're soon back hitting .320 again."

Still, for a professional athlete, doubt and confusion can be a nightmarish thing.

Losing your game feels like losing yourself.

"It's hard to come back down," Kendrick says. "Everybody has their pride, you know. So it kind of hits you."

At such times, character, hard work, patience and support are vital. And that's where all those "baseball ties" Kendrick has forged make the difference. Along with friends and relatives, Kendrick says the tie that keeps him afloat is the one with his wife and son.

"Owen's 6 months old and he's a joy," he says. "He's always happy. Having him has been a blessing."

The name Owen was his idea, Kendrick says. He read it meant "bold and strong." His wife said he'd change his mind, but he didn't.

"I did think about Luke," he says. "But Luke Kendrick kind of runs together. So it was Owen."

As he talks about his boy, his mood grows lighter and the world seems to rise from his shoulders. He's found perspective.

As he and the Angels hoped, he is indeed "finding himself."

He peers out of the Bees dugout as low clouds skim the Wasatch Mountains.

"It really is beautiful around here," he says.

He doesn't say it, but he could.

Utah's almost as beautiful as the lights of Angel Stadium glowing in the California dusk.

E-MAIL: jerjohn@desnews.com