For Buckner, Playing With the Angels Is Icing on the Cake

The first thing you notice about the Iceman in the Angel locker room is that he is red. His ankles are red, the tops of his thighs are red. He appears burned, but is in fact frozen.

Bill Buckner has done this to himself, following the postgame ritual he has practiced for several years. Icing his battered legs, ankles and feet for up to an hour after each game. Icing his body until it goes numb.

“It takes awhile to get the blood going again after I’m finished,” he said.

All of which leads Bill Buckner to conclude that he is one of the happiest guys around. He is happy because he is still doing the thing he loves most--hitting a baseball. He is happy because it is August, the month he believes he hits baseballs best.

“For some reason I always seem to get off to a slow start,” he said. “Then I seem to save my season by getting hot at this time of year.”

Wednesday, Buckner was 2 for 4 with a home run, his first as an Angel, and a double, helping the Angels to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Anaheim Stadium.

In the eight games in which he has appeared for the Angels since July 28, after being released by the Boston Red Sox, Buckner has 10 hits and 9 RBIs. He has a five-game hitting streak and is batting .280.

Buckner wouldn’t mind if he could spend the rest of the season as the Angels’ designated hitter. A position that lets him hit, without exposing his body to unwanted, and painful, movement in the field.

“DH? I love it,” Buckner said. “I’m just happy to be hitting.”

Which is something he had done for 19 major league seasons--for the Dodgers (eight seasons), the Chicago Cubs (eight) and Red Sox (three)--leading into this season. He had a .293 batting average, a 1980 batting championship with the Cubs (.324) and one unforgettable error in the 1986 World Series.

Some thought that when the Red Sox released Buckner in July it was because the unforgettable had become unforgivable. But Buckner says he bears no grudge, nor does he perceive any angry motives behind Boston’s move.

“I think they know I can still hit,” said Buckner, who was batting .277 when he was released. “I think they just wanted to start giving time to some young players. They were 15 games back and they figured it was time to build.”

He could have ended up with the Texas Rangers or the Twins, who, with the Angels, bid for Buckner’s favor. But of Buckner’s three criteria in choosing a team--it had to be a contender, had to guarantee him a 1988 contract and had to be a team he could play for right away--only the Angels filled all three.

“I really don’t know what the final determining factor was,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “I talked with him on the phone and I could tell there were other considerations on his mind.”

Mauch paused for a moment to consider what the considerations were.

“Several thousand greens?”

Which will mean yet another season of red for the Iceman.