Trouble With Angels? Port Is Encountering More Than His Share

What Mike Port, the Angel general manager, wouldn’t do to have the Dodgers’ problems this spring. The blackmail possibilities are endless.

Dodgers: “Here’s the deal, Mikey. We guarantee that your biggest worry will be finding out who lined George Hendrick’s cap with Super Glue. And if you’re real nice, we’ll even throw in one of our newer favorites: having too much offense.

“All we ask is that you lose the F. Lee Bailey vocabulary. Enough, already, with the jurisprudence imitation; we’re impressed. Do we got a deal?”

Port: “Well, in the parameters of the said conversation, I would submit that ... “

Dodgers: “Mike, babe, you’re doing it again.”

Port: “Oh, my apologies. Yes, we have a deal.”

The Angels have troubles. Lots and lots of troubles. Worse yet, they have only 11 days--the duration of their stay in Palm Springs--to find solutions.

If you’re Port, you’re thinking, “Why me?” You’re thinking, “What did I do to deserve this?” You’re thinking desperate thoughts, thoughts such as, “OK, I’ll bring Reggie back and stick him at first. That will teach Joyner to complain about his salary. No, no, that won’t do at all. Then I’ll have to listen to Reggie complain. Oh, this isn’t working out at all.”

These days, you have to take a number if you’re an Angel problem. Port will get to you when he can. His list:

1) The Gene Mauch Dilemma

Port thinks Mauch is the best manager for the Angels. Owner Gene Autry thinks Mauch is the best manager for the Angels. Acting manager Cookie Rojas thinks Mauch is the best manager for the Angels. Mauch thinks Mauch is the best manager for the Angels.

Only one thing wrong: Mauch’s chronic bronchitis isn’t so crazy about the idea.

When Mauch stunned the Angels recently with his decision to leave the team in order to undergo a series of diagnostic tests, Port, like everyone else, probably thought the worst--The Big C, and all that. Correctly so, Port named Rojas as acting manager and then waited anxiously for Mauch’s test results.

Then came news--good news--that Mauch was suffering from chronic bronchitis--serious, but not in the same league as some of the other rumored ailments. So Mauch, with rest and a farewell to cigarettes, would be all right. Now what?

Well, you wait till next week. That’s when Mauch said he’ll probably make his return. You also tell Rojas to remain available, just in case Mauch’s bronchitis acts up again.

2) The Pitching Staff

Where to start?

Dan Petry, acquired from the Detroit Tigers during the off-season, has spent more time in the trainer’s room than on the pitcher’s mound this spring. It’s not as if Petry wanted it this way, but a bad back had other ideas. So now, Petry must find a way to cram a month’s work into about two weeks. That’s one starter’s spot in question.

Next comes Kirk McCaskill, who finds himself with an inflamed right biceps. Ordinary spring training discomfort or the recurring effects of elbow surgery 11 months earlier? That’s two starters in question.

And what about Chuck Finley? He’s healthy, but is he the answer to the Angels’ fifth-starter woes?

As for relievers, Greg Minton has sprained ligaments in his right elbow. Donnie Moore is suffering from an inflamed right elbow. DeWayne Buice isn’t exactly having a spring to remember. Jack Lazorko, for all his grit, is having a tough time. Rookie Frank DiMichele, who has never pitched above the Class-A level, is the Angels’ lone hope as a left-handed reliever.

3) The Left-Field Experiment

Johnny Ray, who spent almost all of his six years and 34 days in the major leagues at second base, has been switched to left field. And it shows.

Ray wants a contract extension for making the move. Just what Port wants to hear.

Actually, the Angel outfield includes three guys out of position: Ray, a second baseman, in left; Devon White, a right fielder, in center; Chili Davis, a center fielder, in right.

4) The Wally Joyner Funk Watch

Port may have botched this one. Rather than truly reward someone for excellence, Port offered Joyner a good-but-not-great raise. The Angels argue that they didn’t have to give Joyner a raise (from $180,000 to $340,000) at all; that they could have cut his salary by 20%. “To me, that’s hardball,” Port said.

Instead, Port stuck by his comparative salary charts and paid Joyner basically the going rate for second-year players who have performed well. So the Angel salary structure is safe. Problem is, Port may have alienated his finest player.

5) The Young Guys: Jack Howell and Mark McLemore

Jack Howell begins his first full season at third base, replacing veteran Doug DeCinces. Both Port and Mauch are high on Howell, enough so to unceremoniously bump DeCinces from the premises and then present the position to the likable Howell.

But Howell has to learn how to hit left-handed pitching and, more important, relax.

Port can probably rest easy on this one. Howell has had a great spring training. As for hitting against left-handers, Angel coaches promise that Howell will do better simply because he’ll see them on a regular basis.

McLemore was given second base once before. But he faltered and was sent to Palm Springs when the Angels acquired Ray from the Pittsburgh Pirates last season. Now Ray is in left and McLemore is back at second.

Port needs McLemore to redeem himself. He also wouldn’t mind if McLemore established himself as the Angel leadoff man.

6) The Old Guys: Bill Buckner, Tony Armas, Bob Boone

First, Buckner and Armas. Buckner is a problem because he makes big money and is stuck behind Joyner at first and Brian Downing at designated hitter. Thus he becomes a pinch-hitter.

Armas finds himself as the fourth or fifth outfielder and a pinch-hitter, despite a productive spring training.

Do you keep Buckner’s left-handed bat available? Do you trade the suddenly marketable Armas? Yeah, probably.

Then there is Boone, a catching marvel at 40. But what happens if he gets hurt? Port is then left with Butch Wynegar, who has a fickle toe injury, and Darrell Miller, who makes occasional visits himself to the disabled list.

Port will find answers; he has no choice. An opening-day appointment with the Chicago White Sox awaits.