AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES : California vs. Boston : AL Playoff Notebook : This Series Causes Real Problem for a Laguna Hills Dad

William Lachemann, 86, has divided loyalties as he watches the American League playoffs on television at his Laguna Hills home.

One son, Rene, is the third base coach of the Boston Red Sox. Another son, Marcel, is the pitching coach of the Angels.

“Dad said he was at a loss as to who to root for,” Marcel Lachemann said before Tuesday night’s playoff opener. “I told him, ‘You can’t lose either way, so forget it.’

“If I can’t win, there’s no one I’d rather have in the World Series more than Rene, and I know Rene feels that way about me.”

The Lachemanns have etched a career in baseball after attending Dorsey High. A third son, Bill Jr., is a manager in the Angel minor league system.

The senior Lachemann spent most of his career as a chef at the Biltmore Hotel, working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, according to Marcel.

“Mom had to do most of the driving because of dad’s job,” he said. “But they were both very supportive of what we did--school-wise and baseball-wise. Mom died about two years ago, and I really regret she couldn’t be here, but I know this is as big a thrill for Dad as it is for us.”

With apologies to Wrigley Field, Kirk McCaskill looks on Fenway Park as the “friendly confines.” It is something of a homecoming each time the former University of Vermont hockey All-American pitches here.

McCaskill (17-10) will start against Bruce Hurst in Game 2 of the playoffs. He bought 43 tickets for friends and relatives and said, “It could have been more.”

Does that put added pressure on him?

“No,” he said, “I kind of enjoy it, but I do have to try to minimize the surroundings.”

The Red Sox did that for him when McCaskill made his major league starting debut here June 18, 1985.

They trounced the Angels, 10-1, collecting nine hits and eight runs in McCaskill’s 2 innings.

“A shelling,” said McCaskill, who recovered nicely. He pitched a five-hit shutout here this year and did not yield an earned run in 16 innings against the Red Sox.

Hurst, who was sidelined for more than a month in midseason with a pulled groin muscle, came back in September to go 5-0 with a 1.07 earned-run average.

He was 6-1 at Fenway--a reputed graveyard for left-handed hitters--after returning.

There was a period in Hurst’s early development when Red Sox management questioned his fortitude.

No longer.

“I was too timid, too shy, too left-handed and too Mormon,” the resident of St. George, Utah, said. “If I had listened to everyone who said I couldn’t make it, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Angel second baseman Bobby Grich, who is expected to start against Hurst, seemed unhappy that he didn’t start against right-hander Roger Clemens in Game 1.

Rob Wilfong did.

Grich jammed his right thumb twice last week, but he said: “I knew I’d have to make some adjustments, but I was ready to play tonight, I thought I’d be in there. You’ll have to ask Gene (Mauch) why I’m not.”

Mauch, who has platooned regularly at second base, said he was concerned about the possibility of Grich being jammed by Clemens’ fastball and lost for the entire playoff.

“This is the way we were going to go,” Mauch said. “This is the lineup that gives us the best chance of winning.”

Wade Boggs opened at third base for the Red Sox, though he said the hamstring tear that kept him out of the final four regular-season games was still not healed.

“I put everything I have on it, but I haven’t yet dipped into (Bill) Buckner’s DMSO (a garlic-smelling anti-inflammatory),” Boggs said. “That would be the last straw.”

In making the first postseason appearance of his 13-year major league career Tuesday night, Jim Rice’s path crossed that of the pitcher who prevented him from appearing in the playoffs and World Series of 1975.

Rice suffered a broken left hand when hit by Vern Ruhle’s pitch on the next-to-last Sunday of that regular season. Ruhle, then with the Detroit Tigers, has resurrected his career in the Angels’ bullpen.

Ruhle reflected on Rice’s injury and said: “Everybody thought it was my fault, but I thought it was his fault. I had thrown him a fastball away for a strike and then a fastball away for a ball. Then he moved up in the batter’s box, and I wanted to figure out what he was trying to do, so I threw a fastball three or four inches in on him and he moved right into it.

“I talked to him the next spring and he said, ‘Hey, keep the ball away.’ He didn’t seem angry. I think he accepted it as part of the game. It was unfortunate, but he was on such a good team, and he’s been such a good player, that I didn’t think it would take him 11 years to get back in the playoffs. Needless to say, the injury obviously hasn’t caused him to shy away from the ball.”

In the third inning Tuesday night, with Boston trailing, 5-0, a message on the center-field scoreboard invited fans to join the Red Sox on a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Said Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press: “The bad news about that is that the cruise starts Monday.”

Ghost Busting: The Red Sox haven’t won a World Series since 1918. The Angels have yet to reach a World Series--and they’ve been around since 1961. These are two teams haunted by their pasts, but this playoff series promises one thing: Someone won’t choke.

Wally Joyner, 24, hasn’t lived through all of Angel history, but he’s familiar with the heritage involved here.

“Somebody’s got to break through,” Joyner said. “We’re all eager to see what’s going to happen. One of these teams is going to have a great year. We’re going to try to have it be California.”

Boston catcher Rich Gedman on the supposed skepticism of oft-burned Red Sox fans:

“I know this is my point of view, but I grew up in Worcester and I’m somewhat familiar with Red Sox history. We’ve had to play with a lot of people doubting us, but they’ve kept coming to the ballpark.

“If they were going to give it to us at all, it would have been after our West Coast trip (July 17-30, in which Boston went 3-10). We had a horrible trip. But they came out and were behind us stronger than ever. They made a real contribution.

“A lot of people questioned us. I think their questions were answered.”

Staff writer Mike Penner contributed to this story.