Typecasting Boosts Ex-Ballplayer to Lead in ‘Damn Yankees’

Thor Edgel must be experiencing deja vu these days. A pro baseball player turned actor, he has knocked the dust off the old cap and glove to portray baseball whiz Joe Hardy, the lead in the Yorba Linda Musical Theatre production of “Damn Yankees” at the Forum Theater through March 13.

Edgel was a first-round draft pick for the Detroit Tigers in ’82 and played for two years on a Tigers farm team. He is no theater rookie, either. Since leaving the Tigers four years ago, he has trained on local college stages and at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles, and his credits range from local productions of “Dracula” and “Cyrano de Bergerac” to national commercials for McDonald’s and Budweiser and a recent guest spot on the new TV series “Sonny Spoon. “

An all-CIF player at Garden Grove High School, Edgel was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos but decided instead to enroll at Oklahoma University. He returned to the county the following year to attend Fullerton College and caught the eye of the Tigers while playing for the Fullerton Hornets. He split the next two years between classes in Fullerton and farm games in Lakeland, Fla.

“It’s funny the way it worked out,” Edgel says. “I used to do impersonations during the long bus rides with the team. The guys would say, ‘Thor, you’re in the wrong business. You should be an actor.’ So for the hell of it, I started taking acting classes at Fullerton, and I guess the bug just bit me.

“Acting is one tough business. When you’re up for a role, there’s always something. They love you but . . . you’re not old enough or you’re not young enough or you’re too tall. It’s always type.”

In the case of “Damn Yankees,” though, type has definitely worked to Edgel’s advantage. He is every inch the all-American ballplayer--tall, straight-talking and charmingly cocky--all qualities that prompted director Mary Bettini to seek him out for the Joe Hardy role.

“Thor’s really been a treat to work with,” says Bettini, who has spent years touring with the international companies of such shows as “La Cage aux Folles” and “Sugar.” “A lot of former athletes are instinctive animals. It’s refreshing; they’re not so heady like some actors. That’s important in a simple sweet musical like this.”

Based on the novel “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant” by Douglass Wallop, “Damn Yankees” is the story of Joe Boyd (played by George DeLand), a middle-aged baseball fanatic who strikes a deal with the devil (Pete Edgar) to help his team win the pennant against--who else?--those damn Yankees. The devil transforms Boyd into the virile young player Joe Hardy, who leads his underdogs to victory.

‘DAMN YANKEES’

Thursdays through Saturdays,

8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.

Forum Theater, 4175 Fairmont Blvd., Yorba Linda

$10 for adults; $8 for seniors

and children

Information: (714) 779-8591