Angels and Red Sox Comparing Bruises on Eve of Playoffs

They pulled microphones away from Wally Joyner, closed note pads on Wade Boggs and killed the camera lights trained on Gene Mauch. Enough of the feature stuff. This was the eve of the American League championship series, time to get down to the serious business of rooting out the big news.

And what was the big news?

Bruises.

Roger Clemens has one. So does Reggie Jackson. Never mind that neither will keep either player out of tonight’s playoff opener. We’re talking about Mr. October and the Lord of the Ks here. Great nicknames, great players. If they’re breathing heavily, it means headlines.

“My arm is 100%,” Clemens said over and over. “It feels fine. There is some soreness when you press against the bone, but it’s fine.”

Clemens’ pitching motion does not involve any pressing against the bone, so, yes, he’ll be Boston’s starting pitcher in Game 1 against the Angels. All that commotion about John Stefero’s line drive off Clemens’ funny bone didn’t amount to a hill of Boston baked beans.

But then there was Reggie. Didn’t he hurt his left hand the other night in Texas? As Mauch described it, Jackson was “throwing a left hook and the dugout wall got in the way.”

Yes, Reggie had, and Reggie was determined to play it for all it was worth.

Readying for a round of swings in the batting cage, Jackson trotted in from the outfield, surveyed the throng that was waiting for him, grabbed a bat and winked at a reporter. “Watch this,” Jackson said.

Starting out around first base, Jackson made a path toward home plate, behind the cage, toward third base and finally stopped in front of the Angel dugout. More than 100 reporters and photographers tagged along, cameras clicking away.

Without saying a word, Jackson paused by the dugout steps, straightened up and then reversed his course--walking back toward home plate, back behind the cage, back toward first base. Writers and photographers followed dutifully along.

After all that, Jackson refused to talk. “Not now,” he said. “I can’t handle this the way I used to.”

Jackson stepped into the cage, hit a couple of line drives to the outfield and one ball into the right-field seats. The hand seemed OK.

When he was finished, Jackson was ushered into an interview room for a quick press conference. There, the baffling bruise was thoroughly explored.

Question: Reggie, how was the hand during batting practice?

Answer: It felt pretty good. It’s 90% to 95%. My hands always heal fast. I’ve hurt my hands before and they’ve always come back quickly. With my legs, it’s a little slower.

Q: Reggie, how did you hurt the hand?

A: I got (ticked) off. Last week, I was frustrated offensively. Friday night, I thought I hit the ball well enough to have three hits and I wound up with nothing. The next night, I took my fist and hit a water cooler and then the dugout wall.

Q: Reggie, can you play Tuesday with the hand?

A: I should. It’s over and done with, really. Maybe, it’ll help me a little bit, since I won’t be able to go with the big swing. It’ll make me be more of a contact hitter.

The interview drifted onward to questions about playoff pressure, Jackson’s relationship with Mauch, Jackson’s contract situation, Jackson’s impressions of Clemens, Jackson’s impressions on this series.

In reality, Jackson may be a 40-year-old part-time designated hitter with a .241 batting average, but on the East Coast, he remains Reggie, stirrer of the Yankees’ drink, hitter of three home runs in one World Series game, vanquisher of the Red Sox in the 1978 playoff.

So Reggie basked in the spotlight one more time. But beginning tonight, when actions go back to speaking louder than words, other individuals and other matchups probably will figure more prominently in who represents the American League in the 1986 World Series.

Such as:

--Clemens vs. the Angels. The Angels are 0-3 against the man who would be Cy Young. They blew a 4-0 lead in Anaheim May 14 and lost, 8-5. Mike Witt, tonight’s Angel starter, lost a 3-2 duel in Boston July 12. And they were wiped out in Anaheim July 25, losing, 8-1.

Said Mauch: “I thought we beat Clemens once--and they won the game. The second time, I thought we had a chance--and they won the game. The third time, he just took off on us, and we didn’t have a chance.”

Clemens struck out 24 Angels in 26 innings and compiled a 2.25 earned-run average against the AL West titlists. In his final two starts against the Angels, he limited them to six and two hits, respectively.

Still, the Angels talk bravely.

“We could have won two of the games he pitched,” Doug DeCinces said. “He hasn’t dominated us. We know it. And he knows it.”

Said Gary Pettis: “No doubt, he’s one of the best. That’s no secret. Everybody knows it. But this is a new beginning. We have guys who have pitched just as well as he has. With a little more luck, they could have been 24-4, too.”

Said Bob Boone: “We feel we have to beat Roger Clemens one time this series. It might as well be (Tuesday).”

--Donnie Moore vs. the Red Sox. The real key to this series isn’t Clemens’ elbow or Boggs’ hamstring. It’s the condition of Moore’s shoulder, a year-long problem that could cripple the Angels if all is not well.

The Angel bullpen is not in great shape. Gary Lucas and Doug Corbett have both been hit hard in recent outings. Chuck Finley is a rookie. Vern Ruhle is strictly long relief.

With starters John Candelaria and Don Sutton virtually guaranteed of lasting no more than seven innings, Mauch will rely heavily on Moore. And when Moore’s shoulder is sore, he cannot control his best pitch, the split-fingered fastball. In those instances, the ball rises in the strike zone--easy prey for the likes of Jim Rice, Bill Buckner and Don Baylor.

Moore pitched one shutout inning Sunday but gave up four hits and three runs in one inning Friday. He insists that the shoulder is strong. But Moore hasn’t pitched in consecutive games in nearly two weeks.

--Pettis vs. Rich Gedman. The Red Sox are plodders and Angel rookie Devon White will be limited to late-inning duty, so the only real catcher-runner showdown of the series will be Gedman against Pettis.

Gedman, an American League All-Star who threw out more than half the potential base stealers he confronted this season, is another of the Bruise Brothers. He took a foul tip off his right shoulder over the weekend but will be in the starting lineup tonight.

“I know it’s there, but I can throw without pain,” Gedman said. “I have a a full range of motion.”

Pettis, who stole 50 bases in 1986, will most assuredly test the shoulder, if he gets on base. That’s a big if, considering that Pettis batted .244 against Boston pitching this year and was 0-for-Clemens.

“The next hit (Pettis) gets off Clemens will be his first,” said Mauch, which is why he is planning to bat Brian Downing leadoff in Games 1 and 2. Downing is hitting .375 against Boston.

“I want Brian to get as many shots at the wall as he can get,” Mauch said. “Show me how to get Gary on base five times and I’ll bat him first.”

Boston Manager John McNamara isn’t overly worried about the possibility of Pettis creating havoc on the bases.

“If he gets on base, then we’re concerned,” McNamara said.

There are other considerations. Boggs has a partial hamstring tear but will try to play with it anyway. Bobby Grich’s chronic hand injury has begun to bother him again and he may give way to Rob Wilfong tonight.

As a team, the Red Sox batted .239 against Angel pitching this year. The Angels outscored Boston, 57-41, and won the season series, 7-5.

But then, McNamara is toying with the idea of starting Clemens three times this series--in Games 1, 4 and 7.

That’s a mighty big consideration.

“I look forward to facing Roger Clemens and I don’t,” Jackson said. “Clemens is a great hype for the game. He’s Mr. Cy Young, Mr. Pitcher this year. He gets you up.

“But it’s also like, ‘Yeah, I love ice cream . . . but I don’t want a truckload.”

The Angels will get their first taste tonight.