McLemore Savors Return to Angels : Second Baseman Happy to Be Back as Ray’s Replacement

With Johnny Ray’s left wrist in a splint and the Angels in a jam, Mark McLemore was summoned back to Anaheim and the starting lineup Friday evening.

A triumphant return it wasn’t.

Subbing for the injured Ray, who is suffering from a bout of tendinitis, McLemore distinguished himself with a single in three at-bats and little else. But McLemore can live with the modest start, especially given the alternative, which, in his case, is a place on the Edmonton Trappers triple-A roster.

That’s where McLemore would have been Friday night had Ray’s wrist not required that splint and a 15-day stay on the disabled list. Instead of Anaheim, McLemore would have been in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the Trappers played their season opener. And rather than watch Kirk McCaskill earn a 2-1 victory against the Seattle Mariners, McLemore would have witnessed Jack Lazorko’s 6-3 victory against Colorado Springs.

Care to guess which starting lineup McLemore preferred?

“I think I’ve proven I can play here,” he said. “I’m not looking at it as a 15-day trial.”

These have been strange and trying days for McLemore. He came to training camp in search of a job and left with a .345 spring average . . . and a plane ticket to Colorado to join the Trappers. So off he went to the minors--mildly frustrated, trying hard to remain optimistic--only to be recalled at the last moment.

“I don’t know what you want to call it, but it’s not good for the mind, that much you can say,” McLemore said. “But I think I’ve done a good job of handling it.”

Put yourself in McLemore’s place:

Last Saturday he was told Ray would be the Angel starting second baseman, which meant the Trappers for McLemore.

On Thursday, he joined the Trappers in Colorado Springs.

On Friday, he became an Angel again and made his first start since . . .

“It was my first night back since, uh, I don’t know how many months,” he said.

Try six. In fact, an arm and elbow injury limited McLemore to just 66 at-bats from June to October last season.

Still, McLemore downplayed the return. “Business as usual,” he said. “I got my usual nervousness before the game, but not once it started.”

McLemore, batting second in the lineup, walked his first time up. Then he tried to steal second and got thrown out, which ruined a perfectly good six-for-six steal streak the team had going.

McLemore singled in the third inning and got as far as second base before the rally ended. In the fifth, he reached base on a fielder’s choice. And in the seventh, he flied to left to end the inning.

All in all, not the kind of night to write the fellas about back at Colorado Springs.

“I’ll take it,” he said.

Sure he will. Who knows what will happen with Ray’s wrist, if 15 days on the disabled list will become 21 or even more?

“This isn’t a tryout,” Manager Doug Rader said. “He’s played in the big leagues before. It’s like anything else: Whenever you go out on the field, it’s an opportunity.”

That’s the way McLemore said he is trying to approach this whole business of earning a full-time job. Rather than pout, he’s playing--Edmonton . . . Anaheim, it doesn’t matter. Well, it does, but McLemore keeps telling himself it doesn’t.

“I’ve got a good attitude,” he said. “You’ve got to have a good attitude. I can’t be upset about anything. I can, but it won’t help anything.”