HE’S BACK : Mauch Shows Up to Watch Angels Play, Says He’ll Manage Again Within Week

A relaxed and relieved Gene Mauch strolled into Angels Stadium Friday morning, met with General Manager Mike Port for an hour and even found time to sign a few autographs before watching the Angels’ 4-1 exhibition victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Angel manager said he is still a bit lightheaded from antibiotics prescribed to treat his chronic bronchitis but ended speculation about his future by predicting he would be back in uniform within a week.

“It’s a relief that, contrary to what some people believe, antibiotics is all I’m full of,” Mauch said, smiling. “I feel fairly decent now and I feel great to the extent that they didn’t have to warm up someone to blow taps for me at the hospital.”

Mauch, who admits to having smoked up to 75 cigarettes a day at one time, had been suffering from chest pains for almost two years, but two days of testing at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange revealed no ailments except the bronchitis.

“I’ve had a lot of symptoms that weren’t good for a long time,” said Mauch, who had not spoken publicly since announcing he was leaving the team to seek medical help eight days ago. “When I didn’t bounce back from that case of the flu (last month) like I felt I should, I figured I should find out what was going on.

“Knowing how much I smoked, they went straight to the chest, but they didn’t find anything. Eventually, I think they scanned every inch of me. I was a little haggard and drawn on Monday and Tuesday, waiting for the test results.”

Despite being “a little woozy,” Mauch obviously was feeling much better Friday. He joked about the hospital tests--”They scanned my head and didn’t find a thing there, either,”--and visited with fans who stopped to welcome him back.

Mauch said he planned to watch the team play every day until he was well enough to resume full-time managerial duties.

“If I feel like I do today, I’ll be out every day,” Mauch said. “I talked to (Dr.) Jules (Rasinski) this morning and he said he wanted me to complete the full cycle of these antibiotics (before returning). I understood that would be 5 to 7 days and I’ve been on them 2 1/2 days. But Jules said 10 days today. That’s the first I’ve heard of that. I think he’s stretching it a little.”

In the meantime, Mauch said he will rest, watch the games with owner Gene Autry and continue his battle to quit smoking.

“I’ve lit three cigarettes in six days, so I can’t say I’ve quit yet,” he said. “After they told me what great shape I was in, the tendency was to say, ‘What the hell!’ But I know better so I’m trying.

“I’m really anxious to feel 100%, to get better and get on with it.”

Angel Notes

Kirk McCaskill, who has been bothered by a sore right biceps muscle, pitched 5 innings against the Brewers Friday, allowing a run and three hits. “It was just a little thing,” McCaskill said of the injury. “It didn’t hurt today. This was the strongest I’ve felt. I think I easily could have continued pitching. I felt real good about my changeup and slider.” McCaskill, who never regained his form last season after elbow surgery last spring, says he has yet to pinpoint his pitches the way he would like, but is generally pleased with his progress this spring. “I still didn’t have consistently good control and I fell behind too many guys, but I compensated better. The main reason I feel good about this outing is the arm strength.”

Relief pitcher Greg Minton, who sprained a ligament in his elbow last week, threw off a mound for seven minutes before Friday’s game. “He threw about 65% today,” pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said. “A couple of times, he tried to get a little more on a pitch and he felt it, so we just backed off.”

Injury Report Continued: Right-hander Willie Fraser had precautionary X-rays taken of his bruised right knee. Donnie Moore’s inflamed right elbow has been downgraded to “tender.” Outfielder Mark Ryal received an injection for a sore left thigh and was unavailable for action Friday. Darrell Miller had precautionary X-rays taken of his tender right elbow, which he aggravated Wednesday.

Right-hander Ray Krawczyk pitched one inning Friday against the Brewers and picked up his third save in five outings. No one else on the team has more than one save.