ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Long after the game had ended, long after the final home run, long after his teammates had removed their jerseys and pants and gold necklaces to dress for the team flight, Tim Salmon still wore his Angels uniform. Which was appropriate. Salmon has worn the Angels uniform longer than anyone else on the team, so it only made sense he wore it longer on the biggest night of his career, the night the Angels finally won a World Series game.

"That was something I've been dreaming about doing for a long time and watching it being done from my couch for a long time,'' Salmon said. "You wonder what it would be like in that situation. You wonder if the guy throws a pitch to you in that situation whether you could do something like that.''

	Tim Salmon enjoys his two-run homer in the eighth inning that lifted the Angels to an 11-10 victory.

Wonder no longer. Salmon has been with the Angels since 1992, when Bert Blyleven still played here, and Sunday night he gave them their first World Series victory with one of the biggest nights in Series history. Salmon went 4-for-4 with two home runs, including a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth that lifted Anaheim to an 11-10 victory over the Giants. He still was so excited an hour later that the Angels could have climbed on his back and flown him to San Franciso for Game 3.

"I can't put it into words what this means to me,'' Salmon said. "I won't be able to until January.''

While he said this, reliever Francisco Rodriguez tried his best to dress in the next locker despite being so crowded by reporters spilling over from Salmon's locker that he had to walk away at one point. Which also was appropriate. Rodriguez, after all, is a rookie and rookies must always give way to veterans, even if that rookie throws mid-90s gas and filthy sliders and has more postseason victories than Sandy Koufax.

Rodriguez is 20 years old. He was in the minor leagues five weeks ago. He pitched exactly 5 2/3 innings in the regular season for the Angels. At this time last year, he was watching the World Series on TV and telling his family, "Hey, one of these days I'm going to be there.'' And sure enough, here he is, pitching so well it's as if he's been doing this since Troy Percival had 20-20 vision.

"I just go out there and pitch like it's just another game," Rodriguez said. "I don't put any pressure on myself.''

This kid is incredible. One month after making his major-league debut, Rodriguez won his fifth postseason game with three perfect innings Sunday. On a night when everyone else gave up so many hits and home runs Percival insisted the World Series balls are juiced -- "They can say whatever they want, but when they throw them to us out of nowhere, pitchers are saying, 'What are these?' -- Rodriguez provided his own personal deadball era.

After the Giants drove starter Kevin Appier out of the game in the third inning and knocked John Lackey and Ben Weber around in the fifth, Rodriguez came in and stopped San Francisco cold. Continuing his postseason dominance, Rodriguez retired all nine batters he faced, striking out four and allowing only one ball out of the infield.

"For him to step up and pitch like that and give us three innings that was incredible,'' Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "That was the game right there. If we don't get the game settled down a little bit, there's not going to be much chance to come back.''

With Rodriguez shutting down the Giants, Salmon walked in the sixth, the same inning in which the Angels tied the score at 9-9. Then, he came up with two outs and David Eckstein on first base in the eighth inning. Felix Rodriguez threw him a fastball and Salmon knew it was the instant he hit it.

	“	It was like a mosh pit. I just wanted to jump in there and crush everybody. ”
		— Tim Salmon, on the celebration in the Angels' dugout after his game-winning home run

"You knew it was huge as soon as it happened,'' Salmon said. "I didn't even know what I was doing out there (on the home run trot). You're flying around the bases and you don't even know if you touched second base. I got in the dugout and thought, 'I hope I touched first base.' "

Salmon is 6-3 and about 240 pounds, so when he came storming into the dugout, people didn't know whether to congratulate him or duck.

"It was like a mosh pit,'' Salmon said. "I just wanted to jump in there and crush everybody. I mean, I guess it was like a mosh pit. I've never been in one.''

Of course, this whole postseason is unfamiliar territory for Salmon who has known only one team, his career. The Angels have changed their uniform, changed their stadium, changed their owners and changed their name (going from California to Anaheim) since he played his first game here in 1992. He was part of the 1995 club that blew a 13½ game lead. He was part of the 2001 team that finished 41 games out of first place.

Well, he was somewhat part of that 2001 club. Last year was the worst of Salmon's career. He hit .227 with 49 home runs and 17 home runs, all career lows, then he opened this season by hitting .192.

He stuck with it though, and wound up raising his average to .286 with 22 home runs and 88 RBI while helping the Angels turn around their season as well.

"It's one of those life lessons,'' he said. "From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. What's the difference? You perservere and it's a new season. A new season of baseball and a new season of life. And nothing would happen unless you keep trying and give yourself a chance.''

Prior to this month, no other active major leaguer had played more games without reaching the postseason than Salmon (1,388). Almost no one else had played fewer innings than Rodriguez. They make an odd pair. An aging veteran from up the road in Long Beach who's been playing more than a decade for this moment and a 20-year-old kid from Venezuela who's been in the majors for 35 days.

But thanks to this October, the only thing now separating the two of them is the thin panel of wood between their lockers.

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at cuffscaple@hotmail.com.