Angels activate former Brave Andres Galarraga

BOSTON - The Big Cat is back in the big leagues.<br> <br> The Anaheim Angels purchased the contract of 43-year-old Andres Galarraga from Triple-A Salt Lake of the Pacific Coast League on Wednesday. They had signed the former Atlanta first baseman to a minor league contract Aug. 4.<br> <br> Galarraga appeared in 25 games with the Stingers, batting .304 with four homers and 19 RBIs. He was diagnosed with a recurrence of non-Hodgkin&#39;s lymphoma last November, which caused him to miss the entire 1999 season. He underwent surgery in November and had a stem cell transplant in February.<br> <br> Galarraga, who made his big league debut with the Montreal Expos in 1985, hit .301 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 110 games with the San Francisco Giants last season. He has a career average of .288 with 398 homers and 1,423 RBIs in 2,250 games.<br> <br> In 1998 he hit 44 homers and batted in 121 runs for the Braves. He returned after his illness in 2000 and had a 28-homer, 100-RBI season for Atlanta.<br> <br> The Angels also purchased the contract of infielder Shane Halter from Salt Lake and recalled first baseman Casey Kotchman. Big league rosters expanded from 25 to 40 on Wednesday.<br> <br> To make room on their 40-man roster, the Angels designated right-hander Ben Weber for assignment and outrighted right-hander Steve Green to Salt Lake. They also outrighted outfielder Barry Wesson to the Stingers. Wesson was designated for assignment Sunday.<br> <br> Weber was a member of the Angels&#39; World Series championship team two years ago. He began the season in Anaheim, going 0-2 with an 8.06 ERA before being optioned to Salt Lake on June 5. He was 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA in 13 games with the Stingers.

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