Bright Day Turns Tragic for Joyner : After Homer, 3 Hits in 8-1 Win, He Learns of Brother’s Death

Saturday’s game at Fenway Park was only minutes old when Wally Joyner cleared the right-field fence with a three-run home run off Al Nipper.

With one swing, Joyner broke out of a slump and broke open the game, putting the Angels on their way to an 8-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Joyner rounded the bases, stepped on home plate and made his way to the dugout, where almost every Angel extended his hand in congratulations.

Everyone except for Manager Gene Mauch.

“I could not shake hands with him,” Mauch said. “I had to pat him on the rear end as he went by.”

At the time, Mauch was the only one in the stadium who knew that Joyner’s 31-year-old brother, Crandon, had died of a heart attack Saturday morning. Mauch received the news before the game from a phone call by Joyner’s mother, Karma.

To Mauch, no news after that was worth celebrating.

Joyner went on to hit a single and a double, and make a leaping catch of a Bill Buckner line drive that greatly aided the cause of Angel pitcher Willie Fraser, who threw a five-hitter for his first major league complete game.

Mauch watched it all, without saying a word to Joyner.

“His parents seemed to think it was best to let Wally enjoy the day before telling him,” Mauch said. “I think the words were, ‘There’s nothing he can do right now. This will be a day of planning.’ ”

Mauch put it off as long as he could. He opened the clubhouse to reporters, letting Joyner talk to them about the home run, which ended an 0-for-13 slump, and his continued success against Nipper, who has gotten Joyner out only 4 times in 11 encounters. After about 15 minutes, Mauch asked team publicist Tim Mead to clear the locker room.

“I need about 15 minutes, boys,” Mauch told reporters.

He then called Joyner and Jack Howell, Joyner’s roommate and best friend, into his office for what amounted to one of the most difficult clubhouse meetings Mauch ever held.

“I had to do it once before,” Mauch said afterward. “I had to tell my best friend that he’d lost his daughter.”

Mauch didn’t know much about Crandon.

“I know he had six kids, all 12 (years old) and down,” Mauch said. “That just tore Wally up.”

Mauch then walked away from a group of reporters. “I shouldn’t be talking about this,” he said.

Crandon Joyner, the oldest of four children, was a chiropractor in Sacramento. According to Mead, he had been hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and coronary complications.

Joyner’s parents, who reside in Rocklin, Calif., had visited Crandon in the hospital daily.

“Wally was talking to them about twice a day,” Mead said. “He knew there was concern, but this is a shock.”

Joyner is expected to fly to Sacramento today and spend several days with his family.

“He has a lot of phone calls to make, a lot of specifics to take care of,” Mauch said. “I’m sure he’ll call me and let me know some time this evening.”

As the news spread through the Angels’ clubhouse, the mood quickly plunged from buoyant to somber. One by one, the players filed out quietly. Joyner was among the last to leave, wearing dark glasses, with Howell on one side and Gary Pettis on the other.

Earlier, there were smiles and light humor, as the Angels’ postgame conversation centered on such highlights as:

--Fraser’s best performance in a big league uniform. Struggling with a 6.00 earned-run average in two appearances as a starter, Fraser braved Fenway Park for the first time and limited the Red Sox to five hits and one run, which came on doubles by Wade Boggs and Don Baylor in the fourth inning. Fraser’s first impression of Fenway: “It’s great.”

--Bob Boone’s productive return to the starting lineup. In his first start as catcher this season, Boone drove two balls off the Green Monster in left field for doubles and two runs batted in. Since ending his free-agent purgatory, Boone has three hits in four at-bats. “I haven’t had any time to get into any bad habits,” he said.

--Devon White’s continued resurgence. After having his batting average drop to .237 before getting three hits Friday night, White came back with a three-run home run and two more singles Saturday.

--Mark McLemore’s stunning, leaping, lunging, backhanded catch of Ellis Burks’ first-inning line drive. The ball was headed for center field, about 10 feet off the ground and rising, when McLemore, contorting his body, reached up to intercept it. “Slam dunk,” Mauch called it.

In many ways, it was the Angels’ best game of a 3-1 trip, a game in which pitching, offense (11 hits) and defense meshed to produce impressive results. It would normally have been a game to savor.

Instead, the day will be remembered more for what happened on another coast, hours before the opening pitch. For Joyner and the Angels, it was a reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around three-run home runs and 8-1 victories.

Angel Notes

Injury Report: Back problems seem to be contagious around the Angel clubhouse these days. One day after pitcher John Candelaria was removed from a tied game after five innings because of pain in his lower back, left fielder Jack Howell was forced out of Saturday’s game with the same condition. Complaining of tightness in the back, Howell was replaced by Ruppert Jones in the seventh inning. “I’m a little worried about it,” Manager Gene Mauch said. “It involves the lower back and maybe some nerves. The doctors have put him on some medication. Obviously, he won’t play tomorrow (Sunday). Someone was asking me before the game if Brian Downing would be playing some left field. Well, you might be seeing it sooner than you think.” . . . Candelaria also had medication prescribed after undergoing an examination by Red Sox team physician Dr. Arthur Pappas, who diagnosed the ailment as a “muscular problem.” Candelaria said the back felt “much worse today” that Friday but expected to make his next start, which would come Wednesday in Detroit. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t.” . . . Downing was back in the starting lineup, despite straining a thigh muscle in his right leg Friday night. He led off the first inning by taking Al Nipper’s first pitch off his right shoulder. Downing also reached base his next two times at bat with a single and a walk.

Bob Boone’s return to the lineup coincided with Willie Fraser’s return to the form he exhibited as a relief pitcher, when he was 1-0 with a 1.46 earned-run average in five appearances. A case of cause-and-effect? “That was a typical job of receiving by Bob Boone,” Mauch said. “The young man can throw strikes. Boone set him up in different parts of the strike zone and Willie Fraser hit his glove lots and lots of times. That’s the best I’ve seen Willie Fraser pitch.” Said Fraser: “Bob Boone is tremendous, the way he sets up and the way he handles pitches. You know he’s going to get strikes called for you when the pitch is close. With him back there, I felt I could handle any situation.” . . . Boone had RBI doubles in two of his first three at-bats, which equaled his output for the last 37 games he played in 1986. Mauch, however, claimed not to be surprised. “Boone has probably swung the bat more times since Feb. 1 than anyone in baseball,” Mauch said. “All those workouts have made him well-toned and well-conditioned. Today, he got some nice balls to hit and he didn’t miss ‘em.” Boone hit two balls off the left-field wall, the second falling only a few feet short of a home run. “I have to say it’s unusual,” Boone said of his quick impact at the plate, “but I was very confident. The last three days working with Moose (Stubing, the Angels’ batting coach) has gotten me into a groove. In some ways, a lack of spring training helped me. By hitting only during batting practice, you get into good habits. In spring training, you’re hitting off pitchers who are working on some things and you can start jumping and roaring at the ball.” . . . By contrast, Boston catcher Rich Gedman is 0 for 15 since re-signing with the Red Sox--and hadn’t hit the ball out of the infield until flying to right in his last two at-bats Saturday. . . . With a three-run homer and a fly-out in two at-bats, Wally Joyner improved his career average against Al Nipper to .636 (7 for 11) with 10 RBIs.