Howell Raising His Average, Spirits

It hasn’t been easy playing squeaky loose wheel on a runaway bandwagon, though Angel third baseman Jack Howell has doggedly tried to keep pace with Doug Rader’s Wild Ride, waiting for the day he could raise some Cain, not to mention his batting average.

That’s not to say Howell hasn’t been hitting his weight. He entered Sunday’s game hitting .201 and weighing 185 pounds, but let’s just say he’d much rather be hitting coach Moose Stubing’s weight.

Howell attempted to change some trends against Kansas City, actually leading an offensive charge in the Angels’ 5-1 victory over the Royals Sunday.

Howell’s two-run homer in the sixth inning off Kevin Appier gave Bert Blyleven a 4-0 lead and all the cushion he would need for his sixth victory of the season. Howell added a single in the eighth inning and was even walked intentionally once.

It was Howell’s fourth home run of the season, but only his first since May 3. Howell was a lifetime .180 hitter against the Royals coming in, so he hopes this might really be the start of something.

“Today’s definitely a good sign,” Howell said. “I’ve always keyed everything on my outs. If I’m hitting line drives at people, I can handle that. But when you’re constantly making weak ground ball outs and weak popups, which I’ve been doing the last week or two, you start to maybe press a bit. I think my batting practices have been getting a lot better, and two hits today--a hit and a home run--is definitely a confidence booster. And then to do it against K.C., too.”

Howell admitted that perhaps the most encouraging sign concerning his recent slump is that he has been allowed to play through it. And that’s only happening because the Angels are winning and haven’t needed Howell’s offensive help--yet.

“Basically, there’s been such great pitching and we’ve been winning games that it’s allowed me to be able to stay in the lineup and fight through it,” Howell said.

“Thank God for that. We’re winning, and instead of being that real big obvious weak link in the lineup on a mediocre club, we’re winning and hopefully you get overlooked so you can fight through some things. It’s kind of like with Wally (Joyner) now, he’s starting to hit the ball and drive in runs. For the the most part the first part of the season, both him and myself haven’t done that much. We’ve played good defense, but it’s going to take all of us throughout the season to win this thing.”

Afterward, Rader bristled at the suggestion that Howell wasn’t playing well, insisting that the reference be made only to hitting. And in fact, Howell’s steady defense has never wavered during his rocky start.

“Jack’s had a few (hits), he’s helped out,” Rader said. “With a guy like Jack, when the year’s over, we’re sure the numbers are going to be there. When he does get hot, somebody else probably won’t be. But to say he’s not playing well is unfair.”

Howell has never been much of an average hitter in the big leagues anyway, with a .242 lifetime average. Yet he yearns for a return to 1987 form, when he finished the season with 23 home runs and 64 RBIs.

And whether he’s going good or bad at the plate, Howell rarely slumps with the glove. He continues to field and throw with the best third basemen. A case in point: Howell has not committed an error since April 17.

Howell said he learned early in his career to separate the phases of the game. He said the idea was pounded into his head by minor league manager Tom Kotchman, now running the Angels’ triple-A team in Edmonton.

“He always said there were two parts of the game,” Howell said. “You try to score runs and keep them from scoring runs. So hopefully, if I can continue to separate the two, the overall picture will look a lot better.”

By season’s end, Howell is hoping to have collected enough good pictures for a photo album.

“It’s an awful long season and you’re going to struggle,” Howell said. “I don’t care who you are. I’m reading in the papers about guys who are 0 for 15 and 0 for 20 who started out hitting .350 this season.

“Everybody does it. I don’t know why we go through it, but that happens. To say that all 24 guys are going to be hot the whole season is unrealistic. You can get hot at any time, and that’s basically what I’m trying to do--get hot, get a streak going and get my head above water.”