Spring Training / Angels : LaCorte, Mustache and All, Trying to Save Face

Frank LaCorte arrived at the Angels’ training base this spring with a new, full mustache, explaining that he needed a disguise after the way he had pitched last year.

How had he pitched?

“Embarrassingly,” he said. “The worst year of my career.”

The Angels had signed the former Houston and Atlanta right-hander to a three-year, $1-million free agent’s contract despite his career record of 22-42.

John McNamara, who was the Angel manager, reportedly pressed for LaCorte’s signing on the recommendation of his former Cincinnati third baseman, Ray Knight, with whom LaCorte had played at Houston.

“The next time I see Ray,” McNamara confided after a LaCorte shelling in late May, “I’m going to strangle him.”

LaCorte reflected Thursday and said his summer began to deteriorate when he pulled a groin muscle in the spring. This led to a breakdown in mechanics, a shoulder injury, a stint on the disabled list, a rehabilitation assignment in Edmonton and a 1-2 record with no saves and an earned-run average of 7.06.

He appeared in just 13 games, pitching 29 innings. His yield of nine home runs--or one every 3 innings--made him the equivalent of a human launching pad.

Now LaCorte is caught in a numbers game that makes his status uncertain. His contract is guaranteed for two more years, but not his seat in a bullpen that is expected to include Donnie Moore, Doug Corbett, Luis Sanchez, Jim Slaton and one left-hander.

The left-hander may be Pat Clements, the UCLA product who was 4-2 with nine saves at Double-A Waterbury last year. Clements worked 2 shutout innings against Milwaukee Thursday, then yielded a two-run homer to Bobby Clark in a 5-4 Angel loss.

If Clements is ultimately returned to the minors and the Angels look to the market for a left-hander, Sanchez or Corbett could be traded, enhancing LaCorte’s situation.

Either way, however, it’s tenuous.

“I’ve got no control over that part of it,” LaCorte said after pitching three shutout innings in a 12-9 B game win over the Brewers Thursday.

“I’m not only pitching for the California Angels right now,” he said, “I’m trying to show other clubs that I’m back, too.

“I’ve got a point to prove, but I’ve got to stay within myself and not let the what-ifs get to me. I mean, I got screwed up enough mentally last year.”

LaCorte said he is confident that he will prove to be a different pitcher this spring. He cited a strengthened shoulder and a mechanical “fine tuning” that he received last winter from former Dodger and Angel pitcher Andy Messersmith, now the baseball coach at Cabrillo Junior College in Santa Cruz.

“Andy and I played together in Atlanta,” LaCorte said. “I told him I was coming off the worst year of my life, and he said, ‘OK, let’s see what the problem is.’

“I feel so good about the things we worked out that I told my wife, ‘I’m back, I can compete again.’ ”

The Angels will have to be shown. General Manager Mike Port said the LaCorte contract will not be an obstacle to the club’s determination to open the season with the 10 best pitchers.

“I know I have protection,” LaCorte said, “but I want to compete, I want to be on a championship team. The only thing the contract has done for me to this point is give me the security of another shot. If I pitch the way I’m capable of pitching, I can remove the Angels’ doubt and gain the manager’s respect.”

Angel Notes Of Frank LaCorte’s Thursday effort, Manager Gene Mauch said: “He pitched better than at any time I saw him last year. He seemed to have more of an idea of what he wanted to do.” . . . About left-hander Pat Clements, Mauch said: “He was outstanding. He got every left-hander out. He did everything we asked of him. He got one ball up, and Bobby Clark wrapped it around the foul pole.” . . . Doug DeCinces hit a two-run homer and Jerry Narron a solo in the A game. . . . Mike Witt made his Cactus debut, yielding three runs in three innings, including a solo homer by Ben Oglivie. Witt said he may have to contact hypnotist Lee Fisher again to get his concentration in gear. “It’s built-in for some guys, but I seem to have a problem with it. I haven’t talk to Lee since the end of the season.” . . . Donnie Moore pitched three hitless innings as the B game starter. . . . Darrel Miller, bidding to retain his reserve role, drove in three runs with a double and two singles. . . . Second baseman Mark McLemore went 3 for 5. . . . General Manager Mike Port said the continued presence of Dodger scout Mel Didier reflects their interest “in some of our young players.” . . . Port added: “It’s my understanding that they’re satisfied with the way Pedro Guerrero is playing third.” . . . The missing Daryl Sconiers has now been fined $3,675, and Port said the Angels are more cognizant now of the possibility that Sconiers will have to be put on the suspended, disqualified or restricted lists. “There are guys on this club we would marshal the National Guard to go after,” Port said, “but we’ve been down this route with Daryl before. He’s apparently all right physically, according to what his attorney (Nick Lamprose) has determined, so I can only conclude that he still does not wish to be found.” . . . Port said that Sconiers would owe both the organization and his teammates an explanation if and when he reports. “It’s also reaching a point where he may have to get in shape at his own expense,” Port said. . . .