Just as Angels Get Going, They Have to Take Break

And now we interrupt this baseball season to take three days to contemplate a truly startling proposition: the Angels in fourth place at the All-Star break.

OK, so it’s a fourth-place tie --the Chicago White Sox also own a 41-46 record--but no one in the Angel clubhouse Sunday wanted to dwell on semantics after dwelling in the American League West cellar for more than a month and sixth place for another three weeks.

“We’re in fourth--and we’re only 4 1/2 games behind Kansas City, aren’t we?” said relief pitcher Greg Minton, who saved the Angels’ 7-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Actually, they’re five games behind the third-place Royals but, again, let’s not quibble.

“We’ve all been watching it,” Minton said. “Funny thing is, there hasn’t been any talk about it. There’s no, ‘Let’s get Chicago, let’s get Texas.’ It’s kind of like, it’s a given.

“We’re getting up to where Kansas City and Minnesota are now, just nobody’s talking about it. The guys just kind of expect it.”

That, certainly, could be construed as the minority opinion. This team, on June 4, trailed first-place Oakland by 19 1/2 games. This team, on June 15, was 16 games below .500 at 24-40. This team, before its July swing through Detroit, Toronto and Cleveland, was still fairly entrenched in sixth place at 34-43.

Then, the Angels arrived in Detroit and lost their first two games to the Tigers by a margin of 17-1.

Who could have rightly expected what has developed since?

The Angels closed the trip with seven victories in eight games, including the last five in a row and the final four in Cleveland. The Indians were coming off three wins in four games against Oakland.

The Angels swept them and outscored them, 32-17--an average of eight Angel runs a game.

Sunday, Devon White, batting .228 at game time, hit Cleveland starter Scott Bailes’ second pitch over the left-field fence. One out later, Brian Downing (batting .240) did the same.

In the third inning, Gus Polidor (.159) doubled to left and scored on a broken-bat single by Johnny Ray. In the fourth, Tony Armas (.239) reached the upper deck of cavernous Municipal Stadium with his second home run in as many days.

By the middle of the seventh inning, the Angels led, 7-2. And this was after hitting into six double plays, one shy of the major league single-game record. Armas himself contributed to three of them.

“We’re hitting the . . . out of the ball,” said Angel Manager Cookie Rojas, whose club has 15 hits Sunday after 13 on Saturday. “When we we’re going bad, nothing happened. Nothing. Nobody hit except Johnny Ray.

“Now, Armas is hot and he’s the kind of guy who can carry you for two weeks. Chili (Davis) has gone from .248 to .280 the last few weeks. (Bob) Boone’s all the way up to .280 and Devo has been great as a leadoff man.

“Now, things are going in our favor. It’s about time.”

Sunday, the Angels hit Indian pitching so well and so often, they wangled a victory for their least consistent starting pitcher, Willie Fraser, despite a near collapse from their nearly depleted bullpen.

With Bryan Harvey and Donnie Moore overworked and Stewart Cliburn having an aching rib cage, the Angel relief could be spelled only two ways--Minton or Sherman Corbett. Both pitched--both in the seventh inning--which kind of indicates how the seventh inning went.

Fraser (6-8) left after the sixth with a 7-2 advantage, with Rojas letting Corbett start the next inning. Corbett faced six batters and the first, Terry Francona, walked.

The rest hit rockets.

Joe Carter lined a single up the middle to move Francona to second base. Mel Hall took White to deep center field for a fly ball long enough that Francona tagged up and took third.

Cory Snyder sent Chili Davis to the warning track in right for a sacrifice fly. Willie Upshaw hit another ball in the same vicinity but it glanced off Davis’ glove and another run scored.

When Ron Washington followed with a double down the left-field line, scoring Upshaw and cutting the Angels’ advantage to 7-5, Rojas had seen enough of Corbett.

Minton took the mound . . . and walked Andy Allanson on four pitches. Then he threw a wild pitch.

Finally, he struck out Domingo Ramos for the third out and left the mound laughing while pulling the bill of his cap over his eyes.

“The way things were going, I knew I was going to walk the first guy in that situation,” Minton said. “Sure enough, it’s 3 and 0 and I knew there was no way I was going to throw a strike. I started laughing and I couldn’t stop.”

Minton allowed two singles in the eighth inning but struck out Snyder to end the threat. He earned his third save by retiring the Indians in order in the ninth on three straight ground balls to Ray at second base.

Still grinning afterward, Minton, the Angels’ designated four-inning reliever, blamed his early unsteadiness on his light load--just 2 innings this time.

“I’m used to four innings,” he said. “When I knew I didn’t have to go four, I was like a bull in china shop out there. I was trying to throw 600 miles an hour. I felt like Brian Downing out there. I overthrew--and I vapor-locked.”

Minton called for the baseball from first baseman Wally Joyner after the final out. A memento from this momentous occasion, the day the Angels slipped into fourth place?

“Nope,” Minton said. “I got it for my wife. It’s her birthday. I’m taking her to Hotel Coronado (in San Diego) during the break and I wanted to give her something. Of course, she’ll probably just throw it out the window.”

It’s the thought that counts. And what a thought to occupy the Angels during the next three days:

Respectability is almost at hand.

Angel Notes

After 5 straight victories, 7 wins in 8 games and a 17-6 record since June 15, Angel Manager Cookie Rojas has grown reluctant to tamper with a successful combination. He likes the idea of keeping Devon White in the leadoff spot, Johnny Ray at second base and platooning Tony Armas and Thad Bosley in left field. What about Mark McLemore, due back from a rehabilitative assignment in Palm Springs after the All-Star break? “There’s no way,” Rojas said. “Even if Mr. McLemore came in this room right now and said, ‘I’m ready to play,’ I’d have to say, ‘Whoa. Time out.’ We’ll find a place and a time to get him back in. But it’s only fair to stay with the guys winning now. (McLemore) will have to wait.” . . . Rojas will accommodate one lineup change after the All-Star break, though: Dick Schofield for Gus Polidor at shortstop. “Schofield should be ready by Thursday, no doubt,” Rojas said. And, if an extra three days of rest can heal Chuck Finley’s thumb, Rojas said he will start Finley in Thursday’s second-half opener. “I want Finley to pitch against Detroit because of all their left-handed hitters,” Rojas said.

According to Willie Fraser, Armas called his upper-deck shot off Cleveland starter Scott Bailes in the fourth inning. “He told Smitty (Angel trainer Rick Smith), ‘I’m gonna get that guy and take him deep,’ ” Fraser said. “Two pitches later-- boom . Up there.” The ball reached the red seats in the top deck, just inside the left-field foul pole. “That thing was high and far,” Rojas said. “It was at least 420 or 430 feet. He’s a strong man and when he hits them, they can go way up there. When he was with Boston, he hit those kind all over the place, from left field to right-center.” . . . Rookie Doug Davis’ trying trial at third base mercifully ended in the sixth inning, when regular Angel third baseman Jack Howell pinch-hit for him. In the previous five innings, Davis nearly knocked himself silly running into a photo well chasing a pop fly that landed outside the well, and forced George Hendrick at third base on a misplaced sacrifice bunt attempt. In seven innings at third base, Davis had no putouts, no assists and one error. . . . Hendrick, presiding judge of the Angels’ kangaroo court, will have to fine himself next time the court is in session. With two out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hendrick fielded a ball at first base and looked to throw to second in an attempt to start a double play. Fraser, covering first on the play, informed Hendrick of the correct number of outs and called for the ball, getting the third out just in time. Afterward, White kept razzing Hendrick in the Angel clubhouse--”Trying to turn a double play with two outs, hee, hee, hee.” Sources predict a record-sized fine.

Cleveland Manager Doc Edwards left the dugout during the fourth inning and watched the rest of the game from a TV screen in the Indians’ clubhouse. Edwards was sick--not from watching Indian pitching--but from the flu and a migraine headache, conditions worsened by the humid weather on the field. . . . After the game, the Indians optioned shortstop Jay Bell to their triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs. Bell was batting .186 in 57 games and went 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts in the series against the Angels. . . . Sunday’s crowd of 20,005 pushed Indian home attendance over the million mark before the All-Star break for the first time since 1948. More often than not, the Indians go entire seasons without drawing a million fans to Municipal Stadium. That has happened only eight times since 1955, including this season.