SPRING TRAINING 86 : Dodgers Start Out More At Ease Than Angels : For AL West Runners-Up, Little General Mauch Puts Faith in His Army of Arms

October, 1985: After leading the American League West for more than 140 games, the California Angels cough, wither and expire during the last week of the season when their offense produces six runs in four crucial games in Kansas City. This is the same offense that finishes last in the league with a team batting average of .251.

Winter, 1985: The Angels refuse to re-sign Rod Carew, their all-time leading hitter and winner of seven league batting championships. They release Daryl Sconiers, once considered the organization’s best hitting prospect. They sever ties with Juan Beniquez, their only .300 hitter last season.

February, 1986: “Am I excited? Hell, yeah,” Manager Gene Mauch says as he prepares for the opening of spring camp. “I’ve looked at it and last year, Kansas City won as many games as they possibly can. And, we have a chance of winning even more.”

One listens to Mauch and is tempted to throw out the first question of the spring.

Why is this man smiling?

In 1985, Mauch squeezed and coaxed every ounce he could out of an aging lineup, relying on relief pitcher Donnie Moore and a capable starting pitching staff to, remarkably, remain in contention until the final weekend.

During their off-season exercises, designed to close the gap in the West with the World Series champion Royals, the Angels lost two first basemen and an outfielder, and acquired two players, Gary Lucas and Carl Willis, both relief pitchers.

They apparently strengthened their strength and further weakened their weakness.

But it is Mauch’s view that the strength of 10 good arms can lift the Angels above .500 again, albatross attack and all.

The Royals did it. They hit one point higher than the Angels, then won the World Series by stifling the St. Louis Cardinals with suffocating pitching.

“Last year, I thought in spring training that we were going to be good, based on the hope that Donnie Moore would be all right,” Mauch said.

“Now, that’s settled. We know that. And, we’ve added an experienced left-hander (Lucas) to the bullpen. We know now that Kirk McCaskill is capable of being a .500 pitcher. We now have the prospect of a whole season with John Candelaria as our man on the mound.”

Mauch could have gone on, but his point was made.

“This pitching staff has the potential to be the best I’ve ever been associated with,” he said. “By a wide margin.”

Pitchers and catchers have already reported to the Angels’ training complex here, but in terms of competition for roster spots, nothing much is expected to happen in the next six weeks.

“I won’t close the door on anyone who dazzles the coaches,” Mauch said, but even so the Angels’ 1986 pitching staff is virtually set.

Candelaria, 9-7 in 1985; Don Sutton (15-10), Mike Witt (15-9), Ron Romanick (14-9) and McCaskill (12-12) will be the starters. There may be no Nolan Ryan in the bunch, but for the first time in their history, the Angels will begin spring training with reasonable expectations of 15 victories from each of the five starters.

Moore, coming off his 31-save season, signed a three-year contract in January and will head a bullpen consisting of Lucas (6-2), Stewart Cliburn (9-3), Willis and either Jim Slaton or Urbano Lugo, who is recovering from winter arm surgery.

So, don’t look for many surprises on the pitching mound this spring. All of the major questions have already been answered.

But then there’s the offense.

Who will replace Carew at first base? Is George Hendrick, who hit .230 with the Pirates and only .122 with the Angels in ‘85, really the solution in right field? Can the Angels afford to carry .189-hitting shortstop Dick Schofield again in their lineup? Can 38-year-old Bob Boone withstand the rigors of catching another 150 games, the exhausting total he worked last year?

First base first.

At 40, Carew was expendable. His production tapered off in the last three years, from .339 to .295 to .280, and he wasn’t exactly swamped with offers once the Angels cut him loose. Still a man without a team, Carew may be forced into reluctant retirement.

But the fact remains that Carew hit .280 for the Angels in 1985. In Anaheim, .280 hitters should be put on exhibit, displayed under glass.

The Angels are hoping a rookie named Wally Joyner can fill the void. Joyner, 23, has hit elsewhere--.328 at Peoria, .317 at Waterbury, .283 at Edmonton. During the winter, he became only the third player to win the triple crown in Puerto Rico, hitting .356 with 14 home runs and 48 runs batted in.

But he is 0 for 0 as a major leaguer.

“We don’t know if he’s ready,” Mauch said. “Only three players have won triple crowns in Puerto Rico, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hit in the majors.”

Mauch is reminded of Mickey Vernon, a 1950s singles-hitting specialist, when he watches Joyner at the plate.

“He’s a stroker, rather than a swinger,” Mauch said. “He has the same pace, the same attitude as Mickey Vernon, which is to be comfortable and confident out there.”

Just in case, Mauch has his emergency first basemen. If Joyner struggles this spring, Bobby Grich or Doug DeCinces may wind up moving across the infield. Grich has played the position before, but DeCinces at first will be an experiment.

“Doug is coming to spring training thinking he will be the third baseman,” Mauch said. “But if we see it’s better to have him at first, he could pick it up in five minutes or less. With Doug, we could make that decision as late as the 27th of March. An instant first baseman.”

Another area of concern is right field. Beniquez won’t be out there. And neither, it appears, will Reggie Jackson. The Angels’ plan is to move Jackson back to designated hitter, his full-time role in 1984.

That doesn’t excite Jackson. Jackson maintains that he hits better when he plays defensively, and the statistics back him up. He hit .284 as a right fielder, .196 as a designated hitter. He also told the New York Times during the off-season that he feels unwanted, that the Angels, he believes, are trying to phase him out.

General Manager Mike Port claimed a misunderstanding. He says the Angels want Jackson--as their 1986 designated hitter.

Still, rumors of a designated-hitter swap with the Yankees--Jackson for Don Baylor--persist.

“Everybody said Reggie was being phased out with the Yankees in 1981, and he came back to do big things,” Mauch said. “The ’82 season (when Jackson hit 39 home runs), nobody thought of phasing him out. Then in ’83 and ‘84, it looked like he should phase himself out.

“With special people like Reggie, you can’t predetermine anything. You just give him the reins and see what he’ll do with them.”

Mauch said that Jackson had told him he’ll give designated hitter another try in 1986.

“He told me after the last game in Texas, ‘I’m going to go home and try all winter to get mentally prepared for the task of being a DH,’ ” Mauch said. “If he can handle it, fine.”

The first shot in right field will go to Hendrick, whose main accomplishment last season was serving as the down side to the National League’s most lopsided trade: Hendrick for John Tudor.

Hendrick hasn’t spoken to reporters this decade, but last year, his actions hardly spoke louder than his words. He became silent George on the field as well as off.

Yet, the Angels are billing Hendrick as their new right fielder--possibly because he is guaranteed an annual salary of $737,000.

“If I’m reading him right, I don’t think he’ll be satisfied with part-time duty,” Mauch said of Hendrick. “I know he’s worked out all winter long to get back to being a first-rate player.

“What happened last year? I haven’t got a clue. All I care about is his attitude toward this year, and it’s been wonderful.”

Ruppert Jones, who hit 21 home runs but only five in the second half, is also a candidate in right.

The Angels’ other project this spring will be trying to convert utility man Darrell Miller to full-time backup catcher. The team has been unable to trade for support for Boone, so it has decided to help itself from within. Or at least try.

“It’s not imperative that we find a catcher of the future now,” Mauch said. “But in time, we’re going to need one. I’m hesitant to do this with Miller. I hate to take that great athletic body of his and abuse it.

“But that’s where his future is. He’s got to get behind the plate and start doing it.”

This spring will also be important for third-year shortstop Schofield, who has yet to prove he can hit major league pitching; for third baseman Jack Howell, who appears ready to make a bid for regular playing time; and for Rick Burleson, attempting another comeback, this time as a second baseman.

Mauch knows this much as the Angels open their 1986 camp: He has the pitching to make a run at the Royals.

“I know we have 90 or 91 wins in us,” he said. “What I want to see is 95 or 98 or 100.”

Finding those extra victories will depend, no doubt, on whether the Angels find some extra hitting this spring.