Candy Is Dandy in a 3-1 Win : Candelaria Beats Yankees, Wonders If He’ll Keep Halo

Bite the Big Apple? This place may be remembered as where the 1987 Angels bit the dust, but after snapping a four-game losing streak Sunday with a 3-1 victory over the New York Yankees, at least one Angel was sorry to leave.

John Candelaria, who earned his eighth win by limiting New York to one run through 5 innings, says he likes pitching in Yankee Stadium. So much, in fact, that he said he wouldn’t mind pitching his home games there.

Like, say, in 1988.

“Not that I’m advertising to pitch here, but this is a great park for a left-hander,” said Candelaria, who is left-handed and 3-0 in starts at Yankee Stadium after pitching the Angels back within 5 1/2 games of first place in the American League West.

“It’s interesting to pitch here. This is where I grew up and it brings back a lot of good memories. I used to come here and watch Mantle and all the great Yankee players. It’s exciting to pitch here. I wish I could do it all the time.”

Candelaria was born in Brooklyn 33 years ago. He is in the final month of his contract with the Angels, and throughout a troubled 1987 season, Candelaria has dropped retirement hints. Sunday, however, he indicated strongly that he is interested in pitching next year--although not necessarily with the Angels.

“I’ve made a decision and I’m keeping it to myself,” said Candelaria, who didn’t quite leave it that.

“It’s up to California, what they want to do,” he said later. “The ball’s in their court. If they want me, fine. If I want to play, it’s up to me. But they do need pitching, just like a lot of teams.”

The Angels will pay Candelaria $800,000 for a season in which he was arrested twice for suspicion of drunk driving and placed twice on the disabled list to undergo psychiatric counseling. It is uncertain whether the Angels will want to ante up again. General Manager Mike Port has said he will wait until the end of the season before re-evaluating Angel personnel for 1988.

For a while, it appeared that Candelaria would make that decision for the Angels. Upon his return from a 28-day stay in a rehabilitation center, Candelaria said he wondered if the “competitive fires” were still burning. Around the clubhouse, he has remarked to teammates--jokingly or not--during the last month: “Only 38 days to go” . . . “I’ve only got 33 days left,” etc.

Sunday, though, Candelaria talked again about the competitive fires--in the present tense.

“I think they’re still there,” he said. “It’s not a big deal. If I don’t play, it’s up to me . . . If the Angels want me, it’s entirely up to them. If I don’t sign with California and decide to play, there are a lot of teams I’d be interested in.”

Candelaria wouldn’t mention names. “Isn’t that tampering?” he asked, grinning.

But when someone asked Candelaria about the prospect of ending his career back home in New York, he said, “Yeah, I’ve envisioned how nice it would be. Walking around New York City the past couple of days, I imagined how nice it would be to live here. I saw some plays, went to the art galleries, ate some New York hot dogs. I love it here.”

In his final 1987 business trip to New York, Candelaria shut out the Yankees for five innings despite pitching with a sore rib cage.

“The doctor in Toronto said it was a pulled muscle,” Candelaria said. “But I’m not worried about doctors’ opinions. This is not the time to concern myself with ribs.

“This team is trying to win a pennant. I’ll have plenty of time to rest it afterward. Probably, as much as I want.”

Candelaria improved his record to 8-5 by limiting the Yankees to three hits through five innings. In the sixth, however, as the pain in his left side increased, Candelaria wavered. He allowed a double to Rickey Henderson, a single to Willie Randolph and a sacrifice fly to Dave Winfield before giving way to reliever DeWayne Buice.

“John was feeling a little discomfort after the fifth inning,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “The sixth was going to be his last. We let him go until the sacrifice fly. Then we decided, ‘Let’s let (Gary) Ward look at something different.’ ”

Ward became the first of four straight Yankees Buice struck out.

Buice went on to strike out the side--pinch-hitters Dan Pasqua, Mike Pagliarulo and Mike Easler--in the seventh inning and earned strikeout No. 5 in the ninth inning against Mattingly.

Two outs later, he also earned his 15th save. Buice limited New York to one single in 3 innings--a marked contrast from the Buice who allowed 8 runs and 10 hits in his last three appearances over 3 innings.

Mauch considered Buice’s return to form imperative if the Angels are return to contention in the AL West.

“It’s quite obvious our bullpen is a high priority,” Mauch said. “With the exception of Mike Witt, who are you going to get nine innings from?”

Mauch thought about his own question.

“Well, if Candelaria was not hurting, he could have gone nine today,” Mauch said. “The man knows an awful lot about pitching. And he knows a lot about what hitters think about when they’re at the plate. He changes speeds, he moves the ball around, he knows how hard they hit the ball the last time he faced him.”

As for knowing where, or if, he’ll pitch next season, all Candelaria would say was, “I’m not losing sleep over it. If I’m not in Mesa (where the Angels train) come February, you’ll know what happened.

“I know no one’s gonna send me any cards . . . and I know I’m not gonna send any, either.”

Angel Notes DeWayne Buice saved his first game since Aug. 23, when he strained cartilage in his rib cage while preserving a victory against the Toronto Blue Jays. He then sat out eight days before returning with three poor performances prior to Sunday, seeing his earned-run average rise from 2.55 to 3.19. “It’s been really rough,” Buice said. “I thank the Lord that things are back to normal.” Buice blamed his eight-day layoff on his ineffectiveness. “I’m like a pool player or a dart thrower. I have to keep sharp,” he said. “Those eight days really messed me up.” . . . Add Buice: He said his turnabout was aided by a couple of phone conversations with Ken Rivissa, a Los Angeles-bases sports psychologist who works with several Angel players. Said Buice: “He called me twice, after the second night in Toronto and after the things that happened the other night (Buice gave up two runs to the Yankees in two innings Friday night). I’d given up some fluke hits and thought I might have lost some confidence. He helped. Talking to him was like a shot in the arm.”

Gary Pettis started for the Angels but lasted only 3 1/2 innings. In the top of the fourth inning, Pettis hit a grounder to first baseman Don Mattingly and while he tried to elude Mattingly’s tag, Pettis twisted his left knee on the soft grass alongside the foul line. Yankee team physician Dr. John Bonamo diagnosed the injury as a bruised knee cap and patella tendon. “He wrenched his knee pretty good,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “He’s gonna be stiff for a while.” . . . The Angels scored two of their runs with the assistance of three Yankee errors. In the first inning, Tommy John bobbled a bunt by Dick Schofield, enabling Doug DeCinces to move from first to second and Schofield to take first. DeCinces scored on a single by Brian Downing. In the second inning, third baseman Jerry Royster dropped a line drive by Pettis, allowing Johnny Ray to move from second to third. Ray scored when John fielded another grounder, threw to second and threw the ball away. . . . Ray drove in the Angels’ other run with a single in the third inning. With three singles in four at-bats, Ray extended his hitting streak to 11 games.