And they were not alone in the dead zone.

Electricity should be no problem at a place called Edison Field, but it is. The Angels generate none from their fans. While that wasn't the reason they got clubbed mercilessly by Texas, they deserve more love than they're getting. After everything they've invested, body and soul, in this summer behind their excellent manager, Terry Collins, the Angels at least are entitled to some genuine support.

What they got instead was stone silence, followed by cheers of derision when they finally scored to make it 9-1.

"I was expecting more people, more noise," Rangers leadoff man Luis Alicea said. "I thought it would be a big, playoff-type game, with the place rocking. It wasn't that way at all. It never rocked."

The ex-Angel buried his former team with a three-run homer in the eighth inning on rookie reliever Jarrod Washburn's first delivery. It was the signal for malcontents to exit, venting verbally on the way to the parking lot.

"Maybe they would've gotten worked up, but we didn't give them a chance," Alicea said. "Our pitcher (Rick Helling) kept everybody quiet. That's what it comes down to -- pitching and defense. Because we know we're going to score. With this offense, we're always in striking distance."

In San Diego last week, the Padres moaned about how their fans turned on them to celebrate Sammy Sosa's 63rd homer. The NL West champs came off as small and defensive, their whining soaked in sour grapes.

The Angels have reason to feel neglected.

All the elements were in place Tuesday night for a playoff atmosphere -- the AL West lead at stake, both clubs throwing their aces, every pitch heavy with meaning. But in the stands it felt like mid-June, the crowd emotionally detached.

It wasn't a question of size; there's nothing wrong with 38,987 paying customers. It's a matter of attitude. There was no buzz, no energy, no hint of something dramatic about to take place here. "I wasn't aware of the crowd at all," said Helling, who worked through upper-back pain to become the third Ranger in franchise history to reach 20 victories in a season. "I don't hear anything when I'm focused on the game. Guys can be screaming at me from 10 feet away, and I won't even hear it."

There was no screaming here. Not Tuesday night, maybe not again this season.

Perhaps the heartbreak of Septembers past has drained all belief and optimism from what passes as the Angels' faithful. Maybe they haven't gotten over the colossal flop of '95, to say nothing of '86. But come on, this isn't New England. Next to the Red Sox, cursed since the sale of Babe Ruth almost 80 years ago, the Angels are strictly minor-league disappointments.

The problem can't be the ballpark or the product. Edison is a gorgeous facility, lacking only the fan-generated passion of the dazzling new yards in Baltimore, Cleveland, Colorado, Texas. And the Angels have played as close to their potential as any club in either league.

The Rangers have scored 139 more runs than Collins' guys, producing 49 more homers. Their on-base average is 19 points higher than Anaheim's. Texas owns two starters -- Helling and Todd Stottlemyre -- you'd take over any of Collins' in a short series. Finley, with three victories to show for his past 16 starts, hasn't resembled a No. 1 guy.

On talent, the Angels don't belong in this race with the Rangers. In four head-to-head games the past week, that has been painfully evident.

Texas invested heavily, filling its clubhouse with millionaires. The trade deadline acquisitions of Todd Zeile and Royce Clayton on the left side of the infield and Stottlemyre in the rotation should have swung the race in Texas' favor, decisively.

The Angels, on Disney's call, stuck with the less pricey talent Collins guided marvelously through a summer of travail. The one expensive import, Gregg Jefferies, left after one at-bat Tuesday night, pulling up lame running out a ground ball.

With Helling pitching like Roger Clemens, a man he resembles in body and form, Finley was majoring in crisis management.

"You know, facing a pitcher like Finley, one run might be the difference," Helling said. "I think he did a heck of a job, getting in and out of jams."

Helling was much better, ignoring pain in his upper back that struck last week before he got hammered by the Angels in Arlington, a game the Rangers won anyway.

"He was hurting bad, but he put that behind him tonight," Will Clark said. "You gotta overcome injuries this time of year."

Texas looked capable of doing some damage in October. The Angels, playing in a quiet house that felt nothing like home, had that haunted September look we've come to know all too well.

Press-Enterprise columnist Lyle Spencer can be contacted by mail at P.O. Box 792, Riverside CA 92502, by fax at (909) 782-6009, or by e-mail at sports@pe.com.

Published 9/23/1998