As right fielder Tim Salmon walked through the Angels clubhouse Saturday morning, he noticed David Eckstein talking to a reporter and said, "Just say no, Eck, just say no.'

The Angels' shortstop gets some good-natured ribbing from his teammates these days, having become the so-called media darling. He gets more media requests than anybody on the club, and at times it's been overwhelming.

Since spring training began, he's done a piece for ESPN called "A day in the life,' in which Eckstein's day is chronicled from sun-up to sun- down. He did a bit for Jay Leno and The Tonight Show, photo shoots for The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated For Kids, a commercial for the Angels' marketing department and endless interviews with TV, radio, newspaper and magazine reporters.

"It's been very busy,' said Eckstein, who is hitting .238 this spring. "You try to separate it from baseball, and you try to have time for everybody without letting it affect your work. That's why I don't do anything when I'm about to get on the field and go to work.'

The requests are not quite as frequent as spring training winds down.

"It's something that needs to slow down,' he said. "It's definitely a lot more than I expected.'

Manager Mike Scioscia said the added media requests his players have encountered after winning the World Series last year was not something he felt needed to be addressed.

"There's no compromising your work, and the guys understand that,' Scioscia said. "They're free to be accessible to the media, but when it's time to go to work, it's time to go to work.'

Pitcher Matt Wise, as expected, has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will require ligament replacement surgery, also known as "Tommy John' surgery. Dr. Lewis Yocum will perform the surgery, tentatively scheduled for March 25. Wise will be out a year to 18 months.

"What's getting through to me now is my daughter (Ashley); I can't look at my three-month old daughter and get upset,' he said. "Things are running through my mind, but I'm a baseball player. Now I have to take the time to get healthy. There's a 120 percent commitment on my part to get back.'

Wise, who began camp in competition for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, said when he first felt a burn in his elbow last Sunday he didn't stop pitching. He threw two more pitches before taking himself out of the game.

"I came into camp doing everything I could to make the team,' he said. "I didn't want to take the chance to lose that just because of a little bit of pain. But (eventually) it was enough to think something seriously was wrong.'

Pitcher Jarrod Washburn will start a Cactus League game today for the first time since March 1. He sprained his left shoulder March 3 when he fell and landed on the shoulder during a fielding drill.

"I don't know if there's a set number of pitches; we'll see how it goes,' Washburn said. "I think the plan is to throw about 40, but if I throw 25 and I'm tired I'll come out. We're going to be on the cautious side.'

It's doubtful Washburn will be ready by opening day, but he should be ready sometime during the first go-around through the rotation, maybe as early as the second game of the season on April 1.

"I'm not looking at opening day; I'm looking toward the season,' he said. "I'm not going to push it to make one start and risk not making 32 or 33 starts.'

The Angels beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 9,786 at Tempe Diablo Stadium. It was the largest crowd here since the Angels began training here in 1992. Angels starting pitcher Chris Bootcheck threw five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit against a lineup that included Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou and Eric Karros.

Jeff DaVanon, vying for a spot on the Angels' bench as the fifth outfielder, hit a two-run home run. Darin Erstad, Shawn Wooten and Scott Spiezio each had two hits.