He’s Always a Hit Here : Yankees’ Pagliarulo Has Great Record at Plate Against Angel Pitchers

OK, quick. Who’s leading the New York Yankees in home runs?

Dave Winfield? Rickey Henderson? Don Mattingly? Ken Griffey?

The fact that none of those players is the correct answer might surprise a number of baseball fans. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows the Angels.

After all, Mike Pagliarulo already has hit five home runs against the Angels and the teams have played each other just six times. He has hit seven homers in New York’s other 45 games this season.

Pagliarulo has less than two years of major league experience, but he already has done a 10-year career’s worth of damage to the Angels. In 70 trips to the plate against California pitching, the 26-year-old third baseman has hit .299 with seven homers and 27 RBIs. Already, he has driven in more runs against the Angels than 1985 Most Valuable Player Mattingly, 12-year veteran Griffey and Mike Easler, all of whom have at least 111 lifetime at-bats against California.

During the four-game series at New York last week, Pagliarulo hit two home runs in the opener, drove in the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning of the second game and belted a two-run homer and a two-run double in game No. 3.

Monday night at Anaheim Stadium, he picked up where he left off with a home run and a run-scoring sacrifice fly. And Tuesday night he continued his personal reign of terror against the Angels. This time the victim was Don Sutton as Pagliarulo slammed a solo shot to right-center in the fifth inning of the Angels’ 4-2 victory.

“I think the Angels have an excellent staff, and that just makes me bear down more,” Pagliarulo said. “It’s not that I take other pitchers lightly; I just get up for the Angels. I’m concentrating on every single pitch and that makes you a better hitter.”

Angel Manager Gene Mauch, watching Pagliarulo take batting practice, told a writer he would make a sizable contribution to that writer’s childrens’ college fund if he could figure out a way to stop the young third baseman.

Oakland’s Curt Young almost found a way Friday when his fastball glanced off Pagliarulo’s wrist and broke his nose.

Before Tuesday’s game, Mattingly presented Pagliarulo with a small plastic figure of a baseball player . . . complete with a tiny piece of tape on its nose. It was good for a few laughs.

But no one--especially Pagliarulo--was laughing Friday.

“It was terrible. First, I thought my wrist was broken. Then I thought about my eye,” he said, gingerly rubbing the deep purple bruise under his right eye.

“Later, I was sitting in the X-ray room thinking just how fortunate I was. It was a scary. Lots of guys’ careers have ended like that.”

More have never recovered emotionally, developing a terminal case of rubber knees when they stepped into the batter’s box. But Pagliarulo, whom Manager Lou Pinella describes as “one very tough kid,” wasn’t fazed. He sat out Saturday and then hit a home run Sunday.

“He learned to hit up here in the big leagues, but I’m not surprised at his progress,” Pinella said. “He’s got great work habits and his numbers have been improving steadily.”

Pagliarulo’s numbers in the minors were not exactly in the awe-inspiring category. He was hitting .212 at Columbus when the Yankees brought him up in 1984, and teammate Willie Randolph thinks that might have been a blessing, especially in the media madhouse that is New York.

“He got a big break and no one really knew what to expect,” Randolph said. “I think it’s easier that way than for a kid who comes up with a ‘phenom’ label. Even the guys on the team were surprised. He hit .220 or something in the minors and guys were saying, ‘Why the hell is he here?’ ”

He was there for one reason--to replace Craig Nettles. But he wasn’t worried about filling anyone’s shoes at the time.

“When I came up, we were 22 games out or something, and Yogi (Berra, then the manager) made sure there was no extra pressure,” Pagliarulo said. “But there are some negatives to playing in New York. You kinda have to do real good right away.”

Pags, as his teammates always call him, got off on the right side of the Yankee faithful. He hit seven homers and drove in 34 runs in limited play in 1984. Last year, he had 19 homers, 62 RBIs and played more games at third (134) than any Yankee since Nettles played 144 in 1979.

He probably will surpass that mark this year and a lot of others, if he can keep his face out of the way of fastballs.

“Pags is gonna be a fixture at that position for quite a while,” Pinella said. “ Quite a while.”