Once Again, Joyner Puts On His Sunday Best

For a lot of people, Sunday is traditionally a day of rest and maybe a little yard work. For Wally Joyner, there is no rest. But Sunday is the day he does his best work in the yard--the ballyard, that is.

This season, Sunday is the Angel first baseman’s personal glory day. His day in the sun, you might say. Joyner, with a .284 batting average, 25 homers and 90 RBIs, has come through often on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

But always, always on a Sunday.

He has hit .304 with 9 home runs and 21 RBIs and has scored 16 runs in the 17 Sunday games he has played this season. He has had at least one hit in all but three games and at least one RBI in all but five. Unfortunately for the Angels, Joyner has missed three Sunday outings (May 10 after his brother’s death, May 31 with an elbow bruise and July 26 with sore ribs).

Joyner again put on his Sunday best against Toronto Sunday at Anaheim Stadium. He slammed a two-run homer to center in the third inning, and he doubled off the wall in center and scored in the eighth. In the ninth, he started--and finished--a double play that cut down a Blue Jay mini-rally as the Angels won, 5-2.

“I enjoy playing day games, but then I guess a lot of people do,” Joyner said, smiling. “Heck, just ask Andre Dawson.”

If there were a couple more Sundays in the week, Joyner might have numbers to rival Dawson, the free agent who signed with the Cubs and has 41 homers already.

“The ball goes out of here pretty good in the daytime,” Joyner said. “I guess that’s true in most parks. Maybe the sun draws the ball out, I don’t know.

“I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because I’m too tired from the night before to worry about playing well on Sunday afternoon, so I don’t try too hard. Some of us take it a little easier before the game on Sunday because we know there’ll be a long, hot afternoon ahead.”

Joyner’s rookie year in 1986 was baseball as theater. He spent a lot of time on center stage, but few of his top performances came during matinees. In fact, he even wilted from the heat a few times.

“I had a difficult time on Sundays last year,” he said, “especially during the second half. I was fighting that staph infection (in his leg), and the heat and sun really drained me. I couldn’t make the whole game a couple of times and came out in the late innings. The running joke around the clubhouse was that somebody else had better be ready to play first on Sundays.”

But this season, Joyner has been taking care of Sunday duty himself.

Against Toronto, Mark McLemore and Jack Howell put together back-to-back singles with one out in the third inning. Devon White’s fly ball to center brought home McLemore. And Joyner’s shot to dead center gave the Angels a 3-0 lead.

“I’ve only been healthy three days,” Joyner said, referring to the ribs in his back that have bothered him since a July 19 collision with Milwaukee’s Glenn Braggs--a black Sunday for the Angels. “My back finally got over the hump Thursday, and it’s felt really good since.

“I’ve been hitting the ball on the button and I didn’t take batting practice today, which sometimes helps me stay back better. (Toronto starter Dave) Stieb got a fastball up and over and I stayed back.”

Jeff Musselman was the next Blue Jay pitcher to wish that Joyner had Sundays off. Joyner hit a drive off the 386 sign in left-center to open the eighth and was doubled home by pinch-hitter Tony Armas.

It takes more than one tool to do a good job in the yard, though, so Joyner put away the bat and got out the glove.

Willie Upshaw walked to open the ninth, and pinch-hitter Rick Leach followed with a shot to Joyner’s right. Joyner managed to snag the ball, which took a wicked hop off the dirt, fire to Dick Schofield to force Upshaw and get back to the bag in time to make a fine, stretching catch of Schofield’s return throw.

“Wally couldn’t get a ground ball to take a normal hop all day,” said Manager Gene Mauch, more inclined to praise his first baseman’s defense than his offense. “He made some kind of good play on that double play.”

Mauch was pleasantly surprised when apprised of Joyner’s Sunday exploits.

“I wasn’t aware of (Joyner’s Sunday statistics),” Mauch said, smiling. “We’ll have to see about finding a new calendar.”

With 39 games remaining, Mauch would love to find one with a month of Sundays.