A Successor Is Waiting in the Wings in Case the Incumbent Falters

The Angels have scoured the land searching for a possible successor to Bob Boone. Just in case.

They tried to trade for one, but found no Tony Penas available for less than half the franchise. They looked within their farm system, but their best prospect, 19-year-old Erik Pappas, was last seen buried in Class A with an overmatched bat.

Is any heir apparent?

Maybe. Last year, the Angels played him in the outfield.

Meet Darrell Miller, the Angels’ catcher in the raw.

This has been the spring of Miller’s rebirth. Drafted from Cal Poly Pomona as a catcher in 1979, Miller has spent his first seven years in the Angel organization getting to know more parts of a baseball field than the ground crew. He has played first base, third base, all three outfield positions.

“He’s the best athlete in the organization,” said Bill Bavasi, minor league director. “He runs so well, we had to try him in the outfield.”

But now, insurance is needed for Boone. Miller has returned behind the plate and Manager Gene Mauch has administered the re-education with a vengeance.

“He’s getting a crash course,” Mauch said. “We’re trying to cram three or four years into a couple of months.”

During the early weeks of spring training at Mesa, Miller must have wondered what he had done to warrant such punishment.

He caught extra batting practice. He got special tutoring from Boone. Long after his teammates had retired to the hotel swimming pool, Miller was still in a crouch, playing catch with a pitching machine, learning, as Mauch put it, “how to receive.”

The sessions ran as long as 230 pitches, the equivalent of a doubleheader. In 90-degree heat.

“Nobody who ever went through an hour of aerobics did more than that,” Mauch said.

Mauch admitted he had reservations about “taking that great athletic body of his and abusing it.” He talked to Miller at length before plunging into the project.

Miller was all for it.

“If I had to choose, I’d like to spend my career as a catcher,” Miller said. “I love it. I played fullback and linebacker in high school and I like contact. The fact that in every game you’re involved in every play excites me.”

The move back to catcher, however, has required Miller to make physical and mental adjustments.

The physical: “Throwing the ball is different,” Miller said. “It’s a shorter throw than the one you make from the outfield, but it’s more intense. I’ve had to get used to releasing the ball quicker, with a more concise motion.”

The mental: “There’s so much to think about behind the plate. The count, what pitch to call, ‘Hey, what is that runner doing at first base?’ ” Miller said. “I’ve dedicated myself to concentrating on every pitch I receive this year. I probably won’t, but that’s my goal.”

So far, the reviews on Miller have been positive, ranging from General Manager Mike Port’s satisfaction to Mauch’s broad overstatement.

Port said: “For us to trade for a catcher now, he would have to be better than what Darrell Miller has shown us. I don’t see any available.”

Mauch said: “He’s a Boone clone.”

And what does Boone the original say?

“I can’t judge his potential yet,” Boone said. “Mechanically, he does everything well. He has the quickness and the arm strength.

“What he’s lacking is game experience. I consider catching to be an art. It takes time to learn all the refinements.”

Miller is learning. He thinks about the game.

Already, he has devised a strategy for the first time he has to deal with Rickey Henderson or Willie Wilson leading off first base.

“To get those guys, the pitcher has to throw a perfect strike,” Miller said. “And somebody has to shoot them between second and first.”