Angels Turn Game 2 Into the Fenway Follies : Stubing Slip-Up, Grich Tantrum Leave a Mark

This just in from the city’s historical society: Bobby Grich’s helmet divot at storied Fenway Park soon may qualify as a local landmark. Just think--Paul Revere’s house . . . the swan boats . . . and now this, the divot.

Located in foul territory directly in front of the Angel dugout, Grich’s divot was made possible by frustration and one of the better temper tantrums in recent memory. In essence, it represented everything frustrating about the Angels’ 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox Wednesday.

One moment, the Angels have runners on first and second and Grich is rounding third base, presumably to tie the score in the sixth inning. At next glance, Grich is tagged out in an abbreviated rundown and leaves the field with arms raised in anger, batting helmet still bouncing against the ground, taking a divot in its travels.

Moose Stubing stands silently in the third base coach’s box as Grich rages in the Angel dugout. Grich’s words are directed toward Stubing, whose job it is to direct Angel baserunners as they head for third. Stubing signals Angel runners to stop or try for home plate.

This time he signals nothing, choosing instead to yell his instructions to Grich. But the words are lost in the noise of Fenway, and Grich is reduced to reading lips while on the run. Red Sox shortstop Spike Owen tags Grich out as Grich jogs half-heartedly toward home.

The Angels, who get three consecutive one-out singles in the inning, draw no closer to the Red Sox. Instead, they watch Boston score three runs in the seventh--owing in part to a fielding error by Grich--and three more runs in the eighth.

That’s that. There, in the afternoon wind, sun and glare, the Angels lose a game, a fair amount of composure and a chance to arrive in Anaheim with a 2-0 advantage in the American League Championship Series.

When the game was over, Grich first retreated to the Angel training room. His clothes were quickly gone from the locker, and he ventured from the training room only to order a beer from a clubhouse boy or arrange for his postgame meal.

Meanwhile, Stubing sat in front of his locker, repeating the events of the sixth inning. It began with a one-out single by Grich and then a single by Dick Schofield, Grich stopping at second. Then Bob Boone hit a sharp single toward left fielder Jim Rice. This is where Stubing comes in.

“When (Boone’s hit) first went out, I thought (Grich) would have a tough time scoring,” Stubing said. “Rice has been here enough to know that. But Boonie hit, and Grichie knows it’s first and second and he got a good jump.”

But Stubing failed to see third baseman Wade Boggs stop Rice’s throw to home. As Boggs took the throw, shortstop Owen moved to third.

“I didn’t see Boggs on the cutoff,” Stubing said. “I figured the ball was going to go through--I stopped (Grich) and he comes back. Boggs got it there, got the ball up, and Owen did his job and snuck behind us.”

Stubing said he usually uses the conventional hand signals for baserunners. But this time he said he wanted Rice to think Grich was trying for home.

“Where the ball was hit (Rice), went after it and he reacted quicker than I thought he would,” Stubing said. “I think Rice has to come up throwing, but if he sees I’m holding (Grich) up before he gets to the bag, he’s not going to make the throw. I’m not saying (the throw home) would have been wild, but. . . . They ran it right and I ran it wrong.

“Listen, I’ve done (without hand signals) before, I’ll do it again,” Stubing said. “I guess in Fenway you can’t get away with it because it’s so close.”

Stubing’s mistake was met with varying degrees of reaction. Angel Manager Gene Mauch preferred no comment. “I don’t want to discuss it,” he said.

Had Mauch talked to Stubing and Grich about the helmet incident?

“I just do not want to discuss it,” Mauch said.

For nearly an hour after the game, it appeared that Grich would adopt Mauch’s stance. Then, shortly before the Angel bus was scheduled to leave, Grich emerged from the training room.

Yes, he had been angry. And confused. And angry again. Why not?

In less than three hours’ time, Grich hit two singles, was caught off third, botched a ground ball to second and missed a pop fly. The running mistake might have cost the Angels one run, maybe more.

As for the fifth-inning miss of Dwight Evans’ fly ball--the Red Sox scored a run on the play--Grich pleaded innocent. The elements, he said.

“The first thing I see is sun,” he said. “I’m already turning blind, so I flip my glasses down. I looked up, and the ball was going up, so now I look at Schofield trying to see which one of us has it. He’s yelling, ‘Bobby!’ So I look back up, and by this time the ball had drifted with the wind, and I just couldn’t get back to it in time. It’s as simple as that.”

The seventh-inning error on Bill Buckner’s grounder received no defense. An error, as simple as that, Grich said.

The divot, though, was another story.

“I’m at second base and the ball is hit to left field--a base hit,” Grich said. “Normally, I’m not going to score on that play. But as a base-runner, what goes into my mind is that I’m going to score until I’m held up by the base coach.

“So I’m running aggressively, I’m rounding third base and I don’t see any hands from our third base coach to hold me. As I took about three strides around then, I realized Moose was saying, ‘Hold it, hold it,’ with his mouth. But with the noise and running and trying to see the base at the same time, I didn’t realize what he was saying to me until I had taken three steps. Then I tried to stop, lost my footing and I was hung out to dry.

“Blame is blame and all that crap, it doesn’t matter,” Grich said. “The play happened, we didn’t win the ballgame and it was the turning point of the game. I’m sorry it happened and I wish I could have read his lips sooner.”

Instead, the Grich was left reading the scoreboard, which was all too loud: Red Sox 9, Angels 2.

Grich said he had a quiet word with Stubing: “Afterward, I told him I was sorry. I shouldn’t have shown him up like that.”

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

ANGELS vs. RED SOX

RESULTS

Game 1 Angels 8, Red Sox 1 Game 2 Red Sox 9, Angels 2

SCHEDULE

DATE SITE TIME Game 3 Friday Anaheim 5:25 p.m. Game 4 Saturday Anaheim 5:25 p.m. Game 5 Sunday Anaheim Noon Game 6* Oct. 14 Boston 5:25 p.m. Game 7* Oct. 15 Boston 5:25 p.m.

* If necessary.

ALSO. . .

Red Sox: Bruce Hurst minds his own business. Ross Newhan’s story, Page 12.

AL Playoff Notebook: Page 14.

Play by Play, Boxscore: Page 18.

Friday’s starting pitchers: John Candelaria (10-2) vs. Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd (16-10).