Angel Notebook : Moore Hopes Injury Puts Him Off the Bus to Yuma

Another drudgery of the spring awaits the Angels Friday. Yes, it’s time again for the annual bus ride to beautiful Yuma for a three-game exhibition series with the San Diego Padres--four hours of exhaust fumes and sand dunes.

Players complain that the trip is a real pain in the posterior. And a pain located a few inches higher may be enough to cancel Donnie Moore’s ticket for the weekend.

“If it was totally up to me, I wouldn’t go to Yuma,” Moore said Wednesday after again receiving extended treatment for stiffness in the back of his right rib cage.

“I have this tightness and I couldn’t throw that well (Tuesday). It’s not serious right now, but it could bother me if I don’t take care of it.”

According to Manager Gene Mauch’s original pitching rotation, Moore was scheduled to work Friday’s opener along with John Candelaria and Gary Lucas.

“If I go there and warm up and it’s not feeling right, I’m not going to pitch,” Moore said. “I’m not going to risk injury to myself, risk the regular season by pitching the first game of spring training. It could be a wasted trip.”

Moore joked that he would do anything to get out of Yuma. “Four hours on a bus won’t do wonders for my back,” he said with a grin.

Mauch will wait for an update on Moore’s condition today before making a decision. Either way, Moore won’t stay in Yuma long, however. His grandfather died Saturday night and Moore has a flight booked for Texas Friday night so he can attend the funeral in Lubbock.

Until then, Moore prefers to stay in Mesa, treating the back with heat, muscle stimulants and massages.

“What it needs now is rest,” he said.

Rick Burleson’s comeback took a positive step forward during Wednesday’s intrasquad game. Burleson had a base-hit and turned in two impressive defensive plays at second base--diving to take one hit away and turning a double play on fleet rookie Devon White.

“Devon’s not an easy man to double up,” Mauch said. “We won’t know about Rick for a while, but he sure conducted himself credibly today. He hasn’t forgotten how to play.”

Other highlights of the workout were the pitching of non-roster pitcher Mike Cook and the appearance of Reggie Jackson in center field.

“We just wanted to let him run around some,” Mauch said of Jackson. “I think he had a lot fun out there. “

Cook, who appeared in only two games at Quad Cities last season after breaking a leg, outpitched some of his better-known colleagues. “The kid was impressive,” Mauch said.

Kirk McCaskill, according to Mauch, was “ragged with his control.” Ron Romanick was “all right, but he wasn’t razor sharp.”

Angel Notes

Stewart Cliburn, sidelined with a strained shoulder, is expected to do some light throwing on the sidelines today . . . Intrasquad games are supposed to be low-key by nature, but the presence of Gene Mauch, his coaching staff and General Manager Mike Port crowded behind a protective screen in back of home plate lends an air of importance to the proceedings. Ken Forsch told Mauch, “They tell you to take it easy and then you look behind home plate and see the manager, four coaches and the general manager. What do you think I’m gonna do?” .