Mauch Declines to Criticize Candelaria

John Candelaria threw down the gauntlet, and in younger days, Gene Mauch might have responded by flinging it back at him. If so prodded, the Little General could be just as rank as any of his former foot soldiers.

But, apparently, the reports of Mauch’s mellowing have not been exaggerated, because the day after being described by Candelaria as a loser, a bad manager and a poor handler of players--among other things--Mauch chose to bite his tongue and avoid the fight.

“I could go rip-city on Candelaria,” Mauch said Tuesday from the Angels’ spring training complex here. “In fact, it enters my mind. But I know that if I did, later on, I wouldn’t like it.”

On Monday, Candelaria, now with the New York Yankees, levied heavy criticism against Mauch, his manager during his much-troubled Angel season of 1987. Among the comments:

--”He’d rather exercise control of his team than win. That’s just one reason why he hasn’t won in 26 years and never will win.”

--”I’ll never be a major league manager, but if I had the same team he had last year, I’d beat him by 20 games.”

--”He isn’t a very good manager, and I think he knew that I knew that.”

On Tuesday, Mauch’s response to Candelaria was, basically, no response.

“What he says about managing doesn’t matter because, as he says, he doesn’t qualify,” Mauch said.

However, Candelaria didn’t stop there. He also charged the Angels with mishandling his personal problems last season, saying the club forced him to undergo a 28-day rehabilitative program after his second arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. And, he accused former teammate Don Sutton of tipping the police just before Candelaria’s second arrest, claiming Sutton acted out of self-interest to preserve his spot in the Angels’ rotation.

With that, Mauch--along with Angel General Manager Mike Port--took issue.

“When I visited Candelaria in the hospital last summer, he told me we were punishing him,” Mauch said. “Punishing him for having a problem, a problem much worse than alcohol.

“What the Angels did was try to salvage the man’s life with some treatment--and his reputation with some silence.”

Mauch said he knew of Sutton’s decision to notify police of Candelaria’s condition after the team returned from Detroit during the early morning hours of May 14. Candelaria, who turned down several offers from others to drive him home, was arrested shortly after Sutton’s phone call.

Mauch also said he didn’t want to question Sutton’s motives.

“I have to believe Sutton felt like he was doing what he believed was right,” Mauch said. “I have to believe that, even if I don’t agree with what he did.”

Sutton, responding from Vero Beach, Fla., where he is now a pitcher for the Dodgers, issued this statement:

“I, along with a number of people affiliated with the Angels, tried to positively involve ourselves in John Candelaria’s life the last few years and, in most cases, were rejected.

“My own personal involvement was in an effort to prevent John from doing bodily harm to himself (something he stated he wanted to do) and for no other reason.

“I am very sorry that he views it any differently and I still hope someday he finds peace in his life.”

Although Sutton was 2-4 with a 4.08 earned-run average at the time of Candelaria’s second arrest, his job was never in jeopardy, according to Port.

“Because of the unfortunate occurrence with Kirk (McCaskill), we were already short one pitcher at the time,” Port said, referring to McCaskill’s 2 1/2-month stay on the disabled list after elbow surgery. “We were looking for pitching. Where’s the battle for spots?”

Regardless of Sutton’s intent, the ramifications of his phone call were felt throughout the remainder of the season. Mauch said Candelaria threatened Sutton after the incident, an act that helped divide the clubhouse into pro-Candelaria and pro-Sutton factions.

“That’s because John was so loud about it,” one player said. “He threatened Don in front of the whole team. There was a lot of confusion--guys asking themselves, ‘Who’s right?’ ”

Added another club source, who asked not to be identified: “It became a divisive issue, a topic of debate among the players. It was a social-responsibility question: Was it right for Don to do?

“The veterans were very outspoken about it. They felt strongly about the team concept and thought (phoning the police) was wrong to do. The kids were mostly confused. Most of them said, ‘I don’t know.’ ”

The day after Candelaria’s second arrest, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list for “personal reasons.” After returning to the active roster May 29, Candelaria balked at the club’s request that he attend alcohol-related counseling, eventually refusing to attend the sessions.

On June 19, Candelaria was returned to the disabled list for the purpose of placing him into St. Joseph Hospital in Orange for a month of in-patient therapy. Candelaria now says that this was unnecessary, denying he had a problem with alcohol.

By being checked into a rehabilitative center for alcohol abuse, Candelaria said, his reputation “was damaged all over the country.”

Port’s reaction?

“After the lengths we went to last year to help John Candelaria, you would hope that some of the things we did would be appreciated,” Port said. “Humanistically, we would’ve hoped that this would be looked upon as a helpful thing.

“But some times, it’s the way of the world that your best efforts are not appreciated.”

Port traded Candelaria to the New York Mets in early September for a pair of minor league pitchers. After finishing the year with the Mets, Candelaria signed as a free agent with the Yankees, who plan to make him their No. 4 starter behind Rick Rhoden, Richard Dotson and Ron Guidry.

But before looking ahead to 1988, Candelaria decided Monday to level one parting shot at 1987 and the Angels. This, Port claims, did not surprise him.

“Here’s a fellow who has a history of being very outspoken,” Port said of Candelaria. “He was somewhat disruptive in his final days in Pittsburgh and then he came over to us.

“For someone to feel that everything in his opinion is correct and factual . . . let’s just say the (news) space could’ve been put to much better use.”

And on May 13, 14 and 15, all of the Angels will be considering Candelaria up close and personal. That’s the first scheduled series between the Angels and the Yankees this season.

Angel Notes

Dan Petry was in uniform Tuesday for the first time since straining his lower back last week. Pending the results of Monday’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, Petry felt good enough to spend 20 minutes on the exercise bike in the Angels’ training room. “There’s a marked improvement,” Petry said, referring to his back. “We’re hoping we can add some more exercises to my program (Wednesday). But I guess you can’t add too much until we find out exactly what’s wrong.” Results from the scan are expected today. . . . Pitcher Jack Lazorko signed a one-year contract, reducing the list of the Angels’ unsigned to 11. Among those still to be signed or renewed for 1988 are pitchers Kirk McCaskill and DeWayne Buice, outfielder Devon White, third baseman Jack Howell and, of course, first baseman Wally Joyner. Angel General Manager Mike Port has said he plans to have all players under contract, one way or another, by Thursday night. “We’ll maybe have to renew three or four players and we’ll sign the others,” Port said. Joyner remains a likely candidate for renewal, probably for a figure of $340,000. “I spoke to Barry Axelrod (Joyner’s agent) earlier today, but I don’t want that to intimate there’s been any progress,” Port said.

The Angels played their first of three intrasquad games Tuesday, with rookies and nonroster players drawing most of Manager Gene Mauch’s attention. John Orton, the Angels’ top selection in the 1987 draft, hit a 440-foot home run to center field and pitchers Frank DiMichele and Bryan Harvey revved up for their expected bullpen showdown with impressive outings. “That’s the best I’ve seen of Harvey,” Mauch said. “He threw some wicked forkballs to Joyner and Howell.” On DiMichele: “Good, good. He only made one lousy pitch in two innings--the one to (Tony) Armas (for a hit).” And, on Orton, the 22-year-old catcher from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: “He will get some people’s attention before too long.” . . . Bob Boone (back spasms) sat out the game, but not by his own doing. “He could have played today,” Mauch said. Then, with John Candelaria’s verbal blast still on his mind, Mauch added, wryly: “But, I exercised my control.”