Dicey Outfielding by Pettis and White Lets Ducey Win It

If it’s September, this must be the pennant stretch.

And if so, would someone please clue in Devon White and Gary Pettis?

Purportedly the two best outfielders in the club’s organization, White and Pettis gave chase to a final fly ball in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night. White sprinted to his right. Pettis sprinted to his left. It was a meeting of the Gold Gloves, past and future, yet it was anything but a harmonic convergence.

Not only did both White and Pettis fail to catch the ball, they also failed to pick it up after it had bounced and kicked off the outfield fence. This enabled a stunned Toronto baserunner, Rob Ducey, to score from second base without a play, giving the Blue Jays a 4-3 victory over the Angels at Exhibition Stadium.

It would have taken an exceptional effort by either outfielder to catch Jesse Barfield’s deep drive into the right-center field gap, most around the Angel clubhouse agreed. But it wouldn’t have taken an exceptional effort for either Pettis or White to retrieve the ball and relay it to the infield, where there still was a chance to deny the winning run.

Ducey, starting from second base, had retreated to the bag, thinking the ball might be caught, so he prepared to tag up. Ducey was still at second when the ball barely eluded the leaping reaches of both Pettis and White.

Ducey suddenly had to shift gears and hustle to third base. There, to his surprise, he found himself being waved home by third- base coach John McLaren.

And to his even greater surprise, Ducey scored standing up.

“I was expecting a play at home all the way,” Ducey said.

McLaren said the same thing. And Angel catcher Bob Boone apparently thought the same thing, judging from his angry reaction when Ducey crossed the plate, with both White and Pettis standing around the warning track, their heads hung and their backs to home plate.

“Obviously, they gave up on it,” Boone said. “There was going to be a play at the plate. The odds certainly weren’t good, but I thought we had a shot.

“They’ve got to come up with a great play. Everything had to be perfect and even then, we might not have got him. But I know the runner was going back to second when the ball was hit.”

For the record, Angel Manager Gene Mauch absolved his outfielders. If either White or Pettis had retrieved the ball and thrown it in, “it would not have made any difference,” Mauch said.

Pettis, recalled from Edmonton Tuesday morning and inserted into the game as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning, refused to talk about.

White claimed the momentum from his long run took him out of the play once he had failed to make the catch.

“I was going in the other direction (from the ball),” White said. “I couldn’t stop.”

Added Boone: “They have so much speed between them, they had to be leery of running into each other. They just cover so much ground. I could certainly understand them thinking, ‘If I can’t catch it, the game’s over.’ Both of them kind of ran by the ball, and their backs were to home plate, so they couldn’t see the runner.”

When Ducey scored, 10 innings of strong pitching by Angel starter Mike Witt (15-10) went for naught. Through regulation play, Witt had limited the Blue Jays to eight hits and three runs, one of them unearned.

White also had a hand in the unearned run, which enabled Toronto to force the extra inning.

With one out and Willie Upshaw on first base in the seventh inning, Nelson Liriano laced a hit into left-center. White, then playing center field, raced over and made a leaping stop of the ball, just before it could have bound past him.

It was an impressive play, but White negated it by throwing to third base on the run--apparently unaware that Upshaw was holding at second base.

White’s throw was wild, sailing over third baseman Doug DeCinces’ head and into the Blue Jay dugout--an automatic two-base error. So, Upshaw was awarded home, Liriano was awarded third and the Blue Jays had rallied to tie the game, 3-3.

“I was really concentrating on cutting the ball off,” White said. “It was a bad play on my part. I should have set up and then thrown the ball. Instead, I threw the ball off-balance.”

Midway through this 10-game trip through the American League, White is hoping for a better second half. Already, he has committed three errors in five games and in Baltimore, he stood and watched a catchable fly ball by Larry Sheets bounce off the center-field fence, assuming it was a home run.

And then on Tuesday in Toronto, White assumed the game was over before it actually was.

“You couldn’t ask for two better gloves and four better legs going after that ball,” said Mauch, referring to White and Pettis.

Maybe not. But you certainly could have asked one or the other to pick up the ball, considering it was the 10th inning of a tie game on the first day of the pennant stretch.

Angel Notes

One of the things that separated the Angels and the Blue Jays Tuesday night was the ability to throw on the run. While Devon White’s wild, off-balance throw gave Toronto a run in the seventh inning, Blue Jay shortstop Tony Fernandez took away an Angel run in the ninth by running into the hole to glove a grounder by Dick Schofield and, in the same motion, firing a perfect strike to catcher Ernie Whitt, who tagged out Gary Pettis. Pettis, pinch-running for Bill Buckner, was trying to score from third on the play, but when Fernandez’s throw beat him, the score remained tied at 3-3. “A good play,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said of Fernandez. “He’s one of the best around.” . . . Toronto Manager Jimy Williams hinted that Mike Witt was getting by with more than a curveball and a fastball Tuesday night. “We thought we saw a spot on his pants and we know our clubhouse man does a good job with the laundry,” Williams said. “I noticed that during the last two innings, (Witt) pitched with a different pair of pants.” A foreign substance--or maybe a Gatorade stain? All Jesse Barfield knows is that this is not the same Mike Witt who contended for the Cy Young Award in 1986. “Witt is such a competitor, but he doesn’t have the velocity he used to,” Barfield said. “He still has the Mike Witt breaking ball and that’s what keeps you honest.” . . .

The first wave of roster additions--Pettis, Mark McLemore and Jack Lazorko--joined the Angels in Toronto before the game. The others--Mark Ryal, Jim Eppard and Tack Wilson--remained with Edmonton to play the final game of the Trappers’ season. They are expected to join the Angels Thursday in New York. Pettis and Lazorko both spent two weeks with Edmonton. In seven games, Pettis hit .083 (1 for 12) with three stolen bases and four strikeouts. Lazorko was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA with the Trappers. . . .

Turnabout is Fair Play Dept.: A month ago, the Minnesota Twins couldn’t guarantee a 1988 contract to Bill Buckner, so Buckner signed with the Angels. Then Tuesday, after the Angels couldn’t guarantee Don Baylor enough playing time, the Boston Red Sox traded their designated hitter to Minnesota. Mauch, for one, was sorry the Angels couldn’t find a way to accommodate Baylor. “Of all the deals that have been made (recently), the one I regret the most is Minnesota getting Don Baylor,” Mauch said. “Just as much for his presence as for his ability. Donnie knows what to say and how to say it.” In early August, the Angels and the Red Sox had serious talks about Baylor, but with both Buckner and a sore-armed Brian Downing on the roster, Mauch found himself overloaded with designated hitters. Thus, the Angels’ interest in Baylor abated. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to find enough at-bats for Donnie to make it worthwhile--and to make him feel worthwhile,” Mauch said. “Don Baylor doesn’t want to be a piece of furniture.” . . .

An attorney for a Racine, Wis., man involved last year in an altercation with Reggie Jackson said a lawsuit filed against Jackson has been settled out of court. Jackson and Donald Weimer, 27, were both charged with disorderly conduct in the incident May 3, 1986, when Weimer asked Jackson for an autograph at a Milwaukee bar. An altercation occurred and Weimer claimed Jackson struck him, a charge Jackson denied. Alan Eisenberg, an attorney for Weimer, said Jackson agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by Weimer. Eisenberg said a condition of the settlement was that he not reveal the amount. Jackson was a member of the Angels when the incident took place.