Angels order fan to take paper bag off his head

Henry Bouldin could not bear to watch the Angels, not after the team was swept by the lowly Houston Astros.

So, as he sat behind home plate for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, the Angels fan wore a paper bag over his head.

Until the seventh inning, that is, when the Angels ordered him to take it off.

“Security just showed up out of nowhere,” Bouldin said Wednesday. “They said you can’t wear anything over your head.”

That indeed is the Angels’ policy, team spokesman Tim Mead said. During last week’s series against the Dodgers, Mead said security officials asked a fan dressed in a monkey suit to remove his monkey mask.

Bouldin said he had worn the paper bag on and off during the game and suspected the Angels might have acted only after he — and the bag — had appeared on TV.

Mead said the Angels spotted the bag on stadium security cameras and would have asked Bouldin to remove the bag even if he were not sitting within range of television cameras. For safety’s sake, Mead said, the Angels want to be able to make a facial identification of any fan if necessary.

Bouldin referred to the Angels’ payroll when he wrote on the bag: “$127 million + all I got was this bag. Go Angels?” But Mead said that was not why the Angels demanded he remove the bag.

“If it had said, ‘Go Angels,’ it would have been the same thing,” Mead said.

Williams to bullpen

Jerome Williams has the lowest earned-run average among the Angels starters at 2.56. He ranks fourth in the league, just ahead of Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. The only AL starters with a lower ERA are Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox, Hisashi Iwakuma of the Mariners and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.

On Wednesday, the Angels moved Williams back to the bullpen.

“If you were in my shoes, would you be disappointed? Of course I’m disappointed,” Williams said. “That’s their decision.

“I’ll do anything I have to do to have a winning team. If that means going to the bullpen, I’ll go to the bullpen.”

Williams shined in the rotation during the absences of Jered Weaver and Tommy Hanson. Williams has an ERA of 3.08 in six starts — by itself lower than any of the other Angels’ starters — and 1.66 in nine relief appearances.

“His versatility can definitely help us patch some leaks,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The five guys we have in our rotation are really the original look.”

Weaver and Hanson never have appeared in relief in the major leagues, and C.J. Wilson and Jason Vargas have not done so since 2009.

Joe Blanton, who made eight relief appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, remained in the rotation despite leading the major leagues in losses and hits allowed. Blanton is 1-9 with a 5.53 ERA, which ranks 45th among the 47 qualifying AL starters.

Roster move

The Angels optioned reliever Dane De La Rosa to triple-A Salt Lake. Scioscia would not say who would replace De La Rosa when the Angels open a series in Boston on Friday, but he did say outfielder Peter Bourjos would remain on his minor league rehab assignment.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

Twitter: @BillShaikin