Downing Plays Lead Role in Win

Youth and speed are all well and good, and both contributed to the Angels’ 7-1 season-opening victory over Seattle Tuesday, but did you really expect the Angels to sever every one of their ties with the past?

Despite the presence of all the young thoroughbreds--Devon White, Mark McLemore, Gary Pettis and Dick Schofield--Manager Gene Mauch saw fit to reach back and pencil in Brian Downing, the 36-year-old Clydesdale, as his opening-day leadoff hitter.

A nice ceremonial gesture, right? On the fifth anniversary of Mauch’s first playoff team, a little tip of the cap to the man who scored 109 runs for the West Division champions of 1982?

Not quite. Mauch isn’t really into cap-tipping. Every move is calculated, as he often puts it, and to Mauch, batting the third oldest Angel in the leadoff spot was more than a one-day whimsy.

After Tuesday, it could become a trend.

Downing made five plate appearances and reached base four times--by a variety of means. He got hit by a pitch. He walked. He doubled home two runs in the sixth inning. He doubled home another in the eighth.

Pettis also had three hits and McLemore added an RBI single, but by himself, Downing provided Angel starter Mike Witt with enough offense for a complete-game victory. Witt allowed five singles--two of them not leaving the infield--and struck out eight to beat Seattle’s Mark Langston.

Mauch couldn’t have personally ordered a better opener. The Angels could post this game on a billboard. All that was advertised for 1987 was, for one day, on display--defense (two fine plays by McLemore and Doug DeCinces), speed (forcing the Mariners into two throwing errors), pitching.

And then there was the added bonus: Downing-as-leadoff-man.

“Everything worked out real nice,” was Mauch’s smiling assessment.

The manager was questioned, again and again, about his curious lineup selection. What a concept--all this speed and a catcher-turned-left fielder-turned-designated hitter batting in the top spot.

“I can only tell you what I saw many, many times in ‘82,” Mauch said. “Downing’s on-base percentage was fantastic, he knocked in 90 runs, he scored 109 runs.”

But that was a half-decade ago, long before White and McLemore and Pettis. Downing was also 31 then. During spring training, however, Mauch contemplated his options. Pettis? Strikes out too much. White? Too much a free swinger. McLemore? Too unproven.

“As I kept searching around, I remembered what a super job (Downing) did five years ago.”

Mauch knows Downing would rather bat elsewhere, preferably somewhere in the middle of the order, where there are runners to be scored. Last season, Mauch once remarked, “Brian Downing would rather eat a green fly than bat leadoff.”

No matter, Mauch came asking.

“About 10 days ago, he posed the possibility,” Downing said. “It took me mildly by surprise.”

Green flies being scarce in Palm Springs, Downing had no other options. He would give leadoff a go.

“You take what’s there,” he said. “If you’re going to do it every single day, it’s . . . adaptable.

“One of my strengths is getting on base. I get a lot of walks, I get hit by pitches a lot. I take pitches, I hit behind the runner--all those kind of dumb little things, things you hope pay off down the line.

“(But) the tough RBI situations are what I relish. I want to hit with runners on base. And today, the guys in the bottom of the order were getting on.”

Mauch’s lineup was bottom-heavy with speed. Schofield hit seventh, Pettis eighth and McLemore ninth. Together, they reached base six times. Together, they scored six runs.

“In the American League, with no pitcher batting, you can have, in effect, two lineups,” Downing said. “If the bottom of the order gets on, the leadoff man can almost be a second cleanup hitter.”

That, at least, is the gospel according to Mauch.

“All the old cliches, the old bromides (about leadoff hitters) came into being long before the DH rule,” Mauch said. “You can now put speed at the bottom of the order. Today, Gary Pettis led off two innings that I know of. And he scored both times.”

Mauch was pressed further about it, but he would divulge no more.

“If I explain it to you and it makes sense, then there’s no intrigue,” he said with a smile. He would let the bottom line to the talking.

Mauch: “How many runs did (Downing) knock in today?”

Reporter: “Three.”

Mauch: “Oh.”

The Angels led just, 1-0, in the bottom of the sixth inning when Schofield walked, moved to second on a single by Pettis and scored on McLemore’s first major league hit. Pettis and McLemore both scored on Downing’s first double of the day.

The second double climaxed a three-run eighth inning that began with Seattle reliever Mark Huismann committing two throwing errors. Speed factored into both. One was a bad pickoff throw, enabling Pettis to move from second base to third. The other was a rushed throw to first after McLemore hit back to the mound, allowing Pettis to score and McLemore to reach third. Downing’s double then scored McLemore.

Such innings take time and Mauch feared that would take a toll on his starting pitcher. “He was sitting around while we were scoring runs,” Mauch said. “Sometimes it’s tough to get loose after those kind of innings.”

Mauch asked Witt if the long innings bothered him. Remember that in five of Witt’s 10 losses in 1986, the Angels scored two runs or less.

“I’ll take ‘em,” Witt said.

Afterward, Witt admitted to some “opening day jitters. But a few runs always help. Seven runs I’ll take every day. With our pitching staff, three or four runs a game is gonna do it.”

And if it requires a funny-looking lineup to get those runs, Mauch says, so be it. It’s hard to second-guess 7-1 victories.

“If things don’t go the way I want it,” Mauch told reporters, “you’ll have plenty of chances to discuss it.”

Angel Notes

Mike Witt made his third opening day start, placing him in impressive company. Frank Tanana is the all-time Angel leader, starting four openers (1976-79). Witt and Nolan Ryan (1973-75) are tied with three. . . . Witt, on being being considered the Angels’ stopper: “I can’t help what people think. If my numbers make me the ace, that’s fine. I don’t put any pressure on myself. Hopefully, my numbers will be good enough at the end of the year that you all will say, ‘I’m the ace.’ ” . . . More history: Doug DeCinces walked four times, tying a club record last achieved by Fred Lynn on Aug. 27, 1984 against Baltimore. . . . DeCinces made a diving stop of Rey Quinones’ hard grounder in the fourth inning, rising to his feet to throw the runner out. Mark McLemore also turned a flashy double play in the fourth inning, gloving Alvin Davis’ grounder behind second base, stepping on the base and throwing to first. “That was not anything spectacular,” McLemore said. “I can get to those balls. That’s a pretty easy play for me.” . . . McLemore batted leadoff in the minor leagues but has no qualms about relinquishing the role to Brian Downing. “I’m just fortunate to be in the lineup,” he said. “He’s a proven leadoff hitter. He gets on base and drives in runners.”

Dodger Vice President Al Campanis’ controversial comments on ABC’s “Nightline,” drew the ire of several black Angel players. But for the record, all Donnie Moore would say: “Just because someone gets old and senile doesn’t mean I have to say anything. I have no comment.” . . . Opening Day festivities included the unveiling of the Angels’ 1986 Western Division championship pennant and the presentation of Gary Pettis’ 1986 Gold Glove. (There was no presentation of Bob Boone’s.) When Mauch looked at the oversized pennant, he stepped to the microphone and told the crowd, “It’s a beautiful thing. I’d just like to change the wording a little bit this year.”