All Field, No Hit, at Least Until Now : Pettis and Schofield Caught the Ball a Lot Better Than They Hit It for Angels Last Season, but Mauch Has Called for Better Connections : Shortstop’s Bat Can’t Be as Quiet as the Shortstop

These were Dick Schofield’s rookie statistics:

--A .982 fielding average, best among regular American League shortstops.

--A .193 batting average, worst among regular American League shortstops.

There was one other statistic that may have given Schofield an all-time record: fewest words spoken by a regular American League shortstop.

Said Ron Fairly, the Angels’ 1984 hitting instructor: “It was frustrating working with Dick because it was tough to get him to even talk. It was tough to know what he was thinking or feeling. He keeps everything in to the extent that it was difficult to know if he understood the point you were trying to make.”

Fairly finally called Schofield’s father, Ducky Schofield, a former major league infielder who lives in Springfield, Ill.

“I thought I might be able to get some insights from his dad,” Fairly said. “But his dad said, ‘Ron, we can’t even get Dick to talk when he calls home.’ ”

The burden now is on Moose Stubing, the club’s new hitting instructor who managed Schofield at Edmonton in 1983, when Schofield hit .284 with 94 runs batted in, and on Manager Gene Mauch, who smiled when asked if it is difficult to communicate with Schofield.

“Not for me,” Mauch said. “I just sit there and talk to him until he looks at me. I got a 10-minute conversation out of him the other day, and it only took me an hour and a half.”

Said Stubing: “Dick’s exceptionally quiet, but there’s different ways of communicating besides talking.”

Such as charades.

“I just point to his hips or hands, demonstrate what I want and let him take it from there,” Stubing said.

“Dick is definitely not going to fill a column for you. You’ll be lucky to fill a paragraph. Even then it may be only ‘yep’ and ‘nope.’ ”

A writer interviewing Schofield still has to struggle. But at 22, in the spring of his sophomore year, Schofield seems to be improving.

The Angels think he is also improving at the plate, employing a program that is as important to their success as the new program being employed by center fielder Gary Pettis.

Mauch’s goal is to get 100 points of combined improvement from Pettis (.227), Schofield and Bob Boone (.202), enabling the Angels to hit for nine innings rather than six.

The intent with Schofield is to get him hitting to all fields.

Mauch said: “Schofield can be like (Detroit shortstop) Alan Trammell with the bat, but Trammell had to learn to walk first, too.

“You hit big league pitching like you can, not like you want to.

“Last year, Dick was committed to pulling the ball. I presume it was because he had always been successful that way. I presume it was because he may have been overanxious and pressing some.

“Dick has the ability to hit for a high average with gap power and eventually pull power, but he’s going to have to work like hell at it and he’s going to have to go up there with the idea of using the entire field.”

Fairly put it another way.

He said that Schofield needs a game plan, that he has to learn how to look for either the fastball or curve so he’s not caught in a never-never land, as he was last year.

“He was behind on the fastball and ahead of the curve,” Fairly said, because he wasn’t looking for either.

He said Schofield has to be willing to adjust, relax, and grind out one hit a day rather than looking for 10 a day.

Fairly played 21 years in the majors.

“You have to go up there with an idea or you’re dead,” he said. “You have to be able to adjust or you’re dead.

“Schofield and Pettis have the tools to be good hitters. Whether they’ll take advantage of them, I don’t know.”

It is only natural, of course, that a 21-year-old rookie conditioned to success is likely to display resistance to change.

He is likely to react to adversity by digging deeper into old habits, thinking it will come around as it always has without need for an hour of extra hitting now and then.

His stubbornness and confusion are likely to mount as he hears different things from different people.

It is likely that he will ultimately begin to press, trying to do more than his ability allows him to.

All of that was part of Schofield’s 1984 experience.

He reflected and said: “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”

The statement was tantamount to a filibuster, but it was just the beginning.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, but once I got off bad, I kept thinking it had to come, but it didn’t,” Schofield said. “I had a few good days, but I never hit like I know I can.

“The last month, I was hoping I could do something that might help us win, but I was also just trying to survive. It was a relief when the season was over because I could try to put it out of my mind and start thinking about this year.”

Schofield said that he wasn’t committed to pulling the ball last year, that he was trying to hit it to all fields, as the Angels say he must.

“I’ve always been that type of hitter,” he said. “I just didn’t get it done last year.

“More than anything, I wasn’t thinking of just going up there and trying to get one hit. I was trying to hit it hard enough to get two. I was thinking too much and trying too hard. The more I pressed, the more confidence I lost.

“Everybody tried to help, which is great because it shows they care, but then you get all those thoughts running through your head and it gets confusing.

“But I’m not blaming anyone. It’s nobody’s fault except my own. I’m the guy up there with the bat.”

Schofield said the experience should provide insight in the future. He said having that first year under his belt has left him more comfortable.

Schofield also said his failures at the plate had made him more determined to contribute on defense.

“I’ve never seen a player do a better job of separating the two,” Mauch said. “Dick is not going to get to as many balls as (Cleveland shortstop) Julio Franco, but he’ll make more outs on balls that should be outs.

“Every manager wants one thing from his shortstop: Make the outs outs. Dick does that as well as anyone.”

Said third baseman Doug DeCinces, talking about Schofield’s defensive play: “For a kid his age, struggling the way he did at bat, it was very impressive.

“It usually takes a veteran to deal with the pressure he went through.”

It’s a new year, though, and Schofield still must prove he’s not just another good-field, no-hit shortstop.

The Angels believe that having Stubing at Schofield’s side will help. Schofield is known to have called his former minor league manager at times last year in an effort to sort out his problems.

“Moose has his confidence,” Fairly said. “Moose will help.”

Will the new program?

Said Mauch: “I think he’s enthralled about it. He may even smile once in a while.”