Washington Shows He’s Still in Swing of Things

Earlier this season, baseball didn’t mean a whole lot to Claudell Washington.

A .300-plus batting average and playing for a contender in a more sedate surrounding were secondary to Washington.

His daughter Camille, a 15-year-old high school freshman, suffered a serious head injury last month back home in Orinda, Calif.

Camille was crouching while making her bed when she got tangled up with a lamp cord and the lamp came crashing down on her head. She suffered temporary paralysis and her condition was quite serious.

Washington left the Angels to be with his family. It’s what fathers do, even if they happen to be their team’s leading hitter.

“It’s an occupational hazard,” Washington said Tuesday after hitting a solo home run to help the Angels beat Cleveland, 2-1, at Anaheim Stadium.

“The unfortunate thing about playing baseball is that you’re away from your family a lot. Camille’s older now and has to be in school and my family can’t travel with me now. It’s another adjustment you have to make,” said Washington, who said Camille is fine now.

The Angels kept winning while Washington was away--from April 28 until he returned May 14.

Before he left, Washington was riding a hot streak. A few days before the accident, his batting average stood at a lofty .311 and he had hit a 428-foot home run against Detroit.

He didn’t miss a beat upon returning, even though he had every reason to do so.

He remains the team’s leading hitter with a .306 average. His home run, a high drive over the right-field fence, was his seventh, which ties him for the team lead with Devon White and Lance Parrish.

On a team which seems to get the most out of the minimum offensively, Washington’s contributions have been particularly important. Since joining the club as a free agent from the New York Yankees, he has helped push the Angels up from their last-place finish a year ago.

He has helped the team become the No. 2 hitting club in the American League with a .268 team batting average. And that’s why the Angels are doing what many would have considered unthinkable before the season began--sitting in first place. The Angels lead Oakland by percentage points in the American League West.

“We’re playing great baseball,” Washington said.

But Oakland is out there lurking in the Angels’ minds.

“For some reason, it seems like every time we win, they win and every time we lose, they lose,” Washington said.

Washington kept up his end of the bargain Tuesday night.

After Brian Downing grounded out in the first, Washington hit Cleveland starter Rich Yett’s second pitch for a home run and a 1-0 lead. For a time, it looked as if it would be enough. Yett was locked in a duel with Angel starter Dan Petry.

But the Angels added a run in the fifth and the Indians could only get one off Petry and relievers Greg Minton and Bryan Harvey.