Now with Angels, Abreu happy Phillies won World Series

TEMPE, Ariz. - On the night the Phillies won the World Series, he sat in his apartment high above the streets of New York, eyes fixed on the high-definition screen. He'd been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"I was rooting for them. I was screaming, 'Let's go!' at the television whenever they made a great play or scored some runs," he said.

And when it was over, when Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske and the celebration began, Bobby Abreu admits that tears came to his eyes.

"I was crying in a happy way because I know how hard they worked for that and how important it is to win the World Series. A lot of things were crossing my mind," Abreu, the Phillies' regular rightfielder from 1998 until he was traded in the middle of the 2006 season, said yesterday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

On the day the Phillies parade went down Broad Street, Abreu flew home to his native Venezuela.

Coming off a year when he batted .296 for the Yankees with his customary 100 runs scored and 100 RBI, still just 34 years old, becoming a free agent for the first time, he expected that it wouldn't take long for him to find out where he would be playing this year.

Instead, he waited again. And waited and waited and waited.

It wasn't until last week, as spring-training camps were opening, that he agreed to a 1-year contract with the Angels that will pay him $5 million plus incentives. That's a big comedown from the $18 million he made in the Bronx last season, from the 3-year, $48 million deal he was reportedly seeking.

Then again, he wasn't alone. Several big-name stars were still looking for work. One, in fact, is Garret Anderson, who the Angels chose not to re-sign and is still on the market. Now Abreu will take his place.

The Angels had said they weren't going to add any more players before the season started. But the chance to pick up a lifetime .300 career who has a career .405 on-base percentage for relative chump change proved too much to pass up.

Abreu will have to make the adjustment to playing left in a four-man outfield/designated hitter rotation that also includes Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera. He also will bat second instead of his customary third.

Hunter, the centerfielder, had been keeping a close eye on the list of still-unemployed stars and was thrilled when he learned that Abreu had been added to the lineup.