It’s Barely Fall but Angels Give DeCinces the Ax

The Angels got a head start on their annual winter tradition--the unceremonious dumping of a veteran player--by waiving 37-year-old third baseman Doug DeCinces Wednesday evening, 11 days before the end of the regular season.

In October 1985, it was Rod Carew. In November 1986, it was Reggie Jackson. Now, in 1987, before Wednesday night’s 10-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox, the club released DeCinces, who batted .234 with 16 home runs and 63 runs batted in during his sixth season with the Angels.

As with Carew and Jackson, there was no fanfare, no press conference, no parting tribute.

DeCinces didn’t even get a handshake.

“It wasn’t what I would classify a positive ending,” said DeCinces, who spoke to reporters via a conference call from his home in Villa Park. “It wasn’t a very classy move.

“All it was was, they call you in, hand you a sheet of paper, no thanks for anything: ‘Here’s your piece of paper, see you later.’ ”

About two hours before game time, DeCinces was summoned to General Manager Mike Port’s office, where he was given the news. According to DeCinces, words were exchanged--”The first words Mike Port and I have had all year,” he said--and then DeCinces left Anaheim Stadium, without pausing to clean out his locker.

The move was made for financial reasons, DeCinces said. If the club had waited until the end of the season, it would have had to choose between renewing DeCinces’ contract for $850,000 or buying him out for $141,667--one-sixth of his annual salary. Releasing DeCinces before the end of the season, however, rid the club of any financial responsibility.

Thus, Wednesday’s announcement saved the Angels $141,667.

“I understand how the business works,” DeCinces said. “(But) it’s still hard to grasp the way you get treated.”

DeCinces would not elaborate on his parting discussion with Port, but theirs has been a strained relationship, at best, since 1984. That year, when Port was named to succeed Buzzie Bavasi as Angel general manager, DeCinces spoke out against the decision, questioning Port’s integrity in print.

Since then, DeCinces has remained critical of Port, and Port has remained tight-lipped about DeCinces. Port’s terse reply when approached by reporters Wednesday was, “All the facts are in the (press) release. I have no comment other than what’s in the release.”

And what was in the press release? Just this:

“Doug played here for six seasons and, for most of that time, was an outstanding third baseman,” Port is quoted as saying. “You can’t help but think of some of the home runs and great plays he has made for us through the years. I think we should let his record speak for itself.”

DeCinces, meanwhile, preferred to speak for himself.

When asked about his relationship with Port and if ill will between the two “had been building,” DeCinces said, “I don’t think anything was building . There isn’t a player on this ballclub that respects him.”

DeCinces remains bitter over his final contract negotiations with Port last winter, contending that Port reluctantly offered the third baseman a one-year contract in the hope DeCinces would reject it. DeCinces didn’t, but after signing the contract, he staged a two-day holdout before spring training to protest what he considered a lack of good faith in negotiations.

Wednesday, DeCinces indicated he is considering filing a grievance over the matter.

“Let’s just say there are some legalities involved that I’m going to pursue further,” he said. “The way my contract negotiations were handled last year, the lack of response I received, the integrity aspect of the whole thing . . . I didn’t think my situation was handled very well over the winter.”

And a bad winter, DeCinces claimed, had a carryover effect to the summer.

“Because of what happened last winter, I expected this to happen,” he said. “It’s not a very comfortable feeling to know that no matter what you do, nothing’s going to change things.”

Along with DeCinces, free-agent veterans Brian Downing and Bob Boone had to negotiate new contracts with the Angels after 1986. Only Downing signed a guaranteed contract for two years.

“That’s exactly why Bob (Boone), Doug and myself all tried for two-year deals,” Downing said. “Just to alleviate situations like this.

“(A one-year contract) just puts undue strain on you. I know it bugged Doug from the first day. It gets you into a situation where you’re pressing all along, to make it happen so you can get another year. Then, it doesn’t happen and we don’t win the division, and they release you during the last week of the season.”

DeCinces, who averaged .271 with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs in his first five seasons with the Angels, slumped in each category during 1987. His .234 average was the second-lowest of his 13-year career. Excluding the strike-shortened season of 1981, his 16 home runs were the fewest he hit since 1980, when he was still with the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1986, DeCinces figured prominently in the Angels’ third divisional championship, hitting 26 home runs and driving in 96 runs. This season, he figured prominently in the Angels’ collapse, driving in just 63 runs and batting .210 with runners in scoring position.

“I tried to carry a lot of the load, with all the young players we brought in this year,” DeCinces said. “I never got going in a solid groove. It was very stressful, very mentally taxing.”

Angel Manager Gene Mauch said he knew DeCinces was pressing at the plate all season. Like Downing, Mauch attributed it to DeCinces’ contractual status.

“When you have been a player of Doug DeCinces’ magnitude for a long time and then not shown the preferential treatment that you’re used to, I can understand how it can affect a ballplayer,” Mauch said.

” . . . The inner ego plays a big part in a player’s ability to perform. He didn’t feel good about himself, and as a result, he didn’t play that well.”

Mauch did allow, however, that he expected DeCinces to deal with the situation better than he did.

“He ought to know how,” Mauch said. “He’s responded to it pretty well before.”

DeCinces said he hopes to play again in 1988 and plans to contact teams during the off-season. He would like to stay on the West Coast and admitted he is interested in playing for the Dodgers, a team that happens to be looking for help at third base.

“Sure, I’m more than interested,” DeCinces said of the Dodgers. “But it’s a two-way street. They have to be interested, too.

“I haven’t given much thought about it yet. It takes a little time to regroup your thoughts. But I still feel I can play.”

So does Mauch.

“If he took an approach like Andre Dawson did, there’s a chance he could re-establish himself,” said Mauch, referring to the free agent who took a salary cut to join the Chicago Cubs.

“He can’t play third base like he once did, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play it good enough. There aren’t too many who could play it like he once did.

“He knows how to hit. Once he regains (his confidence), the other stuff will come along.”

Said Downing: “A third baseman who can play like him should have no trouble at all finding a job. Once he gets into a situation where he can play his game again, where he’s relaxed, hopefully he can get back to the level he was at a year ago.”

And so, the Angels parted with a little more of their tradition in a way that has become their tradition--coldly, quickly and with little comment.

Downing was asked what he thought of that tradition.

“Ask me that when they do it me,” he said.

Angel Notes

Although they won Wednesday night, the Angels were officially eliminated from the American League West race when Minnesota beat Texas, 4-2. The Angels trail the Twins by 10 1/2 games with 9 remaining. . . . On the night of Doug DeCinces’ release, the man who will replace him, Jack Howell, drove in two runs with four singles. Howell is no longer the Angels’ third baseman of the future. “I intend that Howell play some place (in 1988),” Manager Gene Mauch said, “and I know he can play third base.”