Angels take it step by step to win

Mark Teixeira learned quickly what it means to play for the Los Angeles Angels. On Thursday night, 12 innings into his tenure with the team - the Angels had traded for him two days before - Teixeira stood on first base, peered at the third-base coach, Dino Ebel, and was given the sign unequivocally: steal. Teixeira, one of the game's top sluggers, who attempts to steal second about as often as your average anvil, did as he was told, and made it safely. "That's the way the game is played here," Teixeira said later, reliving his first stolen base in two years. "I've only got two months, but I'll probably have 30 bags by the time the season's over." Teixeira arrived in Anaheim to hit home runs, but stealing second might as well be a hazing ritual on the Angels. In an era in which walks and home runs rule strategy, the Angels... [read full story]