Spring Training / Angels : John Is Sharp but Doesn’t Expect to Be Around

Ken Forsch pitched three hitless innings and Tommy John pitched three shutout innings as the Angels opened their exhibition schedule Wednesday with a 9-3 win over Seattle.

It seems certain that Forsch, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in his second start last year and did not pitch again, has recaptured a berth in the five man rotation. He said that Wednesday’s performance removed his own final doubt about the health of his shoulder.

John, by contrast, remains convinced that the Angels, on the basis of their new philosophy, are determined to trade his $700,000 a year salary and give the No. 5 spot in a rotation of Mike Witt, Ron Romanick, Geoff Zahn and Forsch to a young pitcher.

He said he doesn’t think it matters how well he pitches this spring because he probably won’t be with the club when the season opens.

His attorney, Bob Cohen of Los Angeles, put it this way:

“Tommy wants to be traded if he’s not going to pitch regularly.

“In light of what they’ve told him, I don’t think he’s going to open the season in the rotation, so there’s no sense wasting time about it.”

Cohen added that John, 18-26 over the last two seasons, will waive his no trade clause only if a contending club is involved, and that a person with significant influence on Angel direction has already asked him to relinquish the clause.

Asked Wednesday if the club has received trade inquiries regarding John, Angel General Manager Mike Port responded negatively. He also said it is too early for a decision to have been made on John’s fate.

“At this point,” Port said, “he has the same equal chance as the young pitchers. At this point, nobody has been disqualified.”

The John situation has been chronicled, but the 41-year-old left-hander exposed more of his feelings on a day when the three young pitchers vying with him for the No. 5 starting spot--Kirk McCaskill, Bob Kipper and Rafael Lugo--combined to pitch a four hit, 5-1 ‘B’ game win over Chicago.

Asked if he thought he would be with the Angels on opening day, John said: “I think the odds are pretty good that I won’t be. I don’t want to be traded, but I want to pitch. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish with the time I have left in baseball. And I’ve told Mike that if I’m going to ride off into the sunset, let me ride off pitching rather than sitting.”

John said that he and Cohen have had periodic conversations with Port in an attempt to stay on top of the situation.

“I don’t want something to come up at the last minute and be caught off base,” he said. “I know that if I pitch like I did today, someone will be interested in me. I mean, pitching like this won’t hurt me, but I don’t think it will help me as far as the Angels are concerned.

“If the kids have a great spring, I don’t think it makes a difference what I do. My feelings from the conversations I’ve had with Mike Port is that he’s looking for another Romanick to come out of spring training.”

Asked if a continuation of John’s Wednesday form would assure him of a rotation berth, Manager Gene Mauch said: “I can’t answer that. I’m not interested in controversy, only outs. I will say that someone would have to pitch phenomenally to pitch better than Tommy has in the two times we’ve seen him this spring. I also know that he’ll probably have a bad one along the way, just like everyone else.”

Preparing for his 21st major-league season, John has said he can’t afford the luxury of one bad outing. He reflected Wednesday and said: “I’m trying to throw the best I can and improve each game. I like the challenge. I like proving people wrong. I’ve done it before and can do it again.”

Angel Notes

Ken Forsch said he experienced normal spring tenderness in his elbow but no discomfort in his shoulder. It was his first competitive effort since he suffered the dislocation April 7. “So what if it didn’t hurt,” Forsch said. “It was more important that I got my mind into a game situation and had good stuff. I didn’t have real good velocity, but I did have good movement. They were hitting only half the ball. I don’t expect any problems at all after this.” . . . Bob Kipper, the 20-year-old left-hander who was 18-8 for Class A Redwood, was the most impressive of the three young pitchers working the ‘B’ game. He pitched three hitless innings and picked off the only base runner, who had walked. . . . Second baseman Mark McLemore, ticketed at 20 for another year of minor-league seasoning but making a big impression in his first varsity camp, had a three-run triple off Mike Stanton in the ‘A’ game and combined with a right fielder named Reggie Jackson to throw out a runner going from first to third on a ‘B’ game single into the corner. . . . Reggie had a triple and single in the ‘B’ game while Gary Pettis drove in two runs with a triple and single in the ‘A’ game. . . . The missing Daryl Sconiers has now been fined $3,185 based on $245 for each of 13 absences. . . .