Presley Rocks, Then Slams Down Angels : Homer in Ninth Ties Game, Second in 10th Ends It, 8-4

For one inning Tuesday night, the Angels’ 1986 opener seemed a nostalgic romp through the Kingdome. Oldies But Goodies On Parade.

Bobby Grich, the old second baseman-turned-new leadoff hitter for the Angels, drives Seattle pitcher Mike Moore’s first offering of the 1986 season into the left-field seats.

Reggie Jackson, one month shy of his 40th birthday, follows two batters later with another home run into the left-field seats.

And Rick Burleson, the once lost-and-forgotten shortstop, is back in the starting lineup, chipping in with a single on his first at-bat in two years.

Ring in the old, ring in the new. An instant three-run lead, thanks to a few few blasts from the Angels’ past.

But it didn’t last, thanks to a 24-year-old third baseman named Jim Presley.

Presley rocked the Angels for a game-tying two-run home run off Donnie Moore in the bottom of the ninth and a game-winning grand slam off Ken Forsch in the bottom of the 10th, powering the Mariners to an 8-4 victory before a Kingdome crowd of 42,121.

Six RBIs in two innings. A big finish to erase the Angels’ bright beginning.

Manager Gene Mauch was so disturbed by the sudden change of events, he refused to talk to the press. After a stream of expletives, Mauch waved a group of writers away from his office, shouting: “Why are you guys here? Why don’t you go over there (the Seattle clubhouse). They won the bleeping game.”

Forsch, making his first relief appearance since July 7, 1982, did talk.

He had a 1-and-2 count on Presley, one pitch way from forcing an 11th inning. “I was trying to throw that ball inside,” Forsch said. “I didn’t get it in. I had one strike to play with, but you can’t play with many pitches in that situation. Instead of getting it down and in, I got it up.”

And Presley got it out of the park.

The Angels squandered leads of 3-0 and 4-2 as starter Mike Witt and Donnie Moore were unable to protect. A home run by Gorman Thomas in the fourth was the Mariners’ first step back. A double by Dave Henderson, a single by Steve Yeager and a run-scoring double-play grounder by Spike Owen in the fifth inning accounted for the second.

By the ninth, it had entirely evaporated. So much for big beginnings.

Grich said he couldn’t remember the last time he batted lead-off in a major league game. At first, he thought Tuesday might have been a first. No, maybe 1970, his first year with the Baltimore Orioles. Wait a minute. Maybe Mauch had slipped him into the top spot once or twice.

Grich shrugged.

“You can count ‘em on both of your hands,” he said.

Then there’s Burleson. Since Sept. 8, 1983, he could count his major league starts on no hands.

A second rotator cuff tear limited him to four at-bats in 1984 and none in 1985. Since April of 1982, Burleson had had appeared in a total of 40 games. Basically, four years of inactivity.

But because of an injury to another shortstop, Dick Schofield, Burleson was in the Angels’ opening-night lineup--a momentous event in its own right.

Witt struggled to make it stand up.

He yielded a one-out triple to Owen in the third inning, but recovered to strike out Danny Tartabull and get Phil Bradley to foul out to Joyner at first.

And in the seventh inning, he loaded the bases with one out--only to slither out of the jam courtesy a slick first-to-home double play via Joyner, who short-hopped a ground ball by Owens, stepped on the base and fired home to catcher Bob Boone for the force.

Joyner also contributed to the production of the Angels’ fourth run. Hitless in his first three at-bats, Joyner doubled off the center-field wall, sending Jones, who had walked, to third. After Jackson was intentionally walked to load the bases, Brian Downing walked to force home Jones.

That gave Witt a 4-2 advantage. But after his shaky seventh inning, he wasn’t long for this game. After getting Tartabull to ground to third to open the eighth inning, Witt was removed by Mauch and replaced with bullpen ace Moore.

Because of a tender rib cage, Moore had made just seven appearances during spring training. He escaped the eighth inning unscathed, but his lack of game experience showed in the ninth.

Davis opened with a double off the base of the left-field wall and Barry Bonnell was sent in to run for him. The next batter, Presley, then sent Moore’s 1-1 offering high over the center-field wall, and it was a 4-4 game.

Moore retired the next three Mariners, sending the game into on extra innings.

The Angels went quietly in the 10th. Bob Boone walked with two outs, but Gary Pettis grounded to second to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 10th, Forsch came on to make his first relief appearance since July 7, 1982. He struck out Tartabull, but then walked Phil Bradley, yielded a single to Ivan Calderon and walked Thomas to load the bases.

Forsch induced Bonnell to foul out to DeCinces for the second out, but then came Presley.