A Freeway Series Seen for October, but It Won’t Be I-5

I still need to know a few things about the Angels.

Is Devon White for real--and, if the answer is yes, where can we order eight more of him?

Isn’t Dick Schofield going to have the .300, 15-homer, 80-RBI, Golden-Gloved season that I think he’s going to have?

Won’t somebody please remind Mike Witt that he is one of the finest pitchers anywhere, and that some of us have never said or written a bad word about him in our lives?

Wasn’t Butch Wynegar one heck of a catcher before going to the Bronx Zoo, and couldn’t he become that catcher again out here where the only animals are Mickey and Donald and Goofy?

Shouldn’t somebody lend Wally Joyner a knife like Crocodile Dundee’s for his next trip to New York?

Can’t we figure out some way to get this Jack Howell’s stick in the lineup every day?

Even if we can’t keep him, can’t we at least borrow Reggie Jackson on weekends?

And let’s see--exactly how old will Don Sutton be when he gets his 400th win? Fifty? Fifty-five?

I still need to know a few things about the Dodgers, too.

Isn’t Mike Marshall going to see a lot of fat, fat fastballs now that Pedro Guerrero’s batting in front of him again?

Brock, Schmock--doesn’t anybody understand that if left in the lineup, every day, Franklin Stubbs might hit 30 or 35 homers?

Hasn’t there been any answer from the Yankees yet on Al Campanis’ offer of Alejandro Pena for Don Mattingly?

How about Ken Howell and Matt Young as the starters and Pena and Rick Honeycutt as the relievers?

Isn’t the key to this team’s entire season Bill Madlock’s health?

Couldn’t Fernando play center field on his days off?

Has Vin Scully ever personally met Farmer John?

These and many other questions will be answered in the weeks to come, beginning Monday. That’s when the baseball season gets started here in the Southland, where the incredibly popular Angels and Dodgers could draw 40,000 fans to a father-daughter picnic.

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that after the national anthems are sung at the two stadiums, Jack Clark of the St. Louis Cardinals and Dave Henderson of the Boston Red Sox will be hanged in effigy.

What is true is that, obvious weaknesses aside, the Angels and Dodgers stand every chance of meeting again in October, just as they are doing over the weekend. There is no reason the Freeway Series has to be confined to the spring.

For the Angels to finally see first-hand what a World Series is like, certain things have to happen. They need all to be well in Wally World. They need the Divine Devon to be as good as he looks. They need Gene Mauch to make good use out of the team’s new Mach One speed.

Kansas City, Texas, Oakland and particularly Minnesota all look better, though, so winning the division again won’t be easy. And the Cleveland Indians, of all people, might be the best team in the American League.

Mostly, the Angels need relief pitching. If Donnie Moore stays OK and gets any help, all will be cool in Anaheim.

For the Dodgers to become the best team in the National League, a lot of things must happen. For one thing, the Cincinnati Reds have to drop dead.

Anything’s possible, though. Look at the New York Mets. They were the best team in baseball and picked up Kevin McReynolds to boot. But since then, Ray Knight has taken a powder, so--you might say--has Dwight Gooden, and carrying all that load in the bullpen gave Roger McDowell a hernia. Furthermore, Darryl Strawberry needs a new alarm clock, and Lenny Dykstra’s spring batting average is as low as a golf score.

The Dodgers, dull as a Swedish movie last season, should be a lot more fun this summer. Guerrero is back, and the good news there is that you don’t have to slide on outside-the-park home runs. Steve Sax has settled in nicely at second, and the easiest task Tom Lasorda has every day is to scribble “Mike Scioscia” on his lineup card and worry about the other eight names later.

No, come to think of it, it isn’t all that easy for Lasorda, because he has to spell “Scioscia.”

The Man of La Pasta has been scolded in some corners for choosing to pitch Orel Hershiser instead of Fernando Valenzuela on Opening Day. He will not be scolded here.

On the contrary, I am convinced that not only does Lasorda know exactly what he is doing, but he is doing a very wise thing. He is telling Hershiser: “Hey, we know last year was a fluke. We know you feel bad about the cut in pay. We still love ya.” He is telling Hershiser the Dodgers still have faith in him.

Valenzuela doesn’t need telling. Valenzuela doesn’t need to pitch on Opening Day for the world to know that he is the No. 1 Dodger pitcher. Children on Mars know that he is the No. 1 Dodger pitcher.

If Hershiser falters in the opener, an 0-1 start isn’t exactly going to ruin the season. Chavez isn’t going to take back his ravine.

Mostly, the Dodgers need relief pitching. If Matt Young stays OK and gets any help, all will be cool in Los Angeles.

I really do think there’s going to be a Freeway Series in October.

I’m just sorry that I think the freeway’s going to be in Ohio.