Rain Lets Angels Off the Ryan Hook--for a Day

An act of nature freed the Angels from their dreaded encounter with Nolan Ryan, but it figured to be only a temporary reprieve.

For the Angels, rain today, Ryan tomorrow was the prospect Tuesday night after the game against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Stadium was postponed because of flash flooding in the area. Barring another rainout today, the Angels will still have to face Ryan and his fastball in the first game of a makeup doubleheader, scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., PDT.

That’s 5:30 p.m. Texas time--dusk. Trying to hit against Ryan is difficult enough at high noon, but attempting it while squinting into a setting sun could be nearly impossible, especially when one considers the present state of the Angels’ offense.

Losers of five straight, the Angels have scored a total of eight runs in those games. Twice they have been shut out--once by Cleveland’s Greg Swindell and again by Texas’ Mike Jeffcoat Monday night.

And now they get Ryan. In the twilight.

No-hitter warnings are in effect in central Texas.

Already, Angel Manager Doug Rader is bracing himself for the confrontation. Trying to stack his lineup with as many left-handed hitters as he can, Rader had third baseman Jack Howell penciled in as his starting left fielder Tuesday and expects to keep him there today.

Howell hasn’t played an inning in left field since 1987 but, according to Rader, “he was looking forward to it. And it probably would’ve been fun, in that outfield.”

Chuck Finley, scheduled for Tuesday, will pitch the first game of the doubleheader. In the second, Kirk McCaskill will oppose the Rangers’ Charlie Hough.

The Angels and Rangers are both off on Thursday, but neither team wanted to play a makeup game then. The Angels are scheduled to play an exhibition game against their double-A club in Midland, Tex., on Thursday while the Rangers will be traveling to New York for a Friday doubleheader against the Yankees.

The weather is expected to clear by tonight, but Rader fears an overnight rain might render the field unplayable, thus forcing the Angels to play two doubleheaders when they return to Texas in late August.

“If that happens, we’ll have to play five games in three days,” Rader said. “And that’s on the Bataan Death March trip.”

Rader was referring to the Angels’ longest trip of the season, already extended to 15 games in 15 days because of two earlier rainouts, in New York and Boston. Two more with Texas would mean 17 games in 15 days.

So the Angels might as well not put it off any longer, Rader figures. For them, it’s either Ryan now, or pay later.

Angel Notes

Tuesday’s rainout was the fifth of the season for the Angels, who also had them in Chicago, Toronto, New York and Boston. They will make up the Toronto rainout on Monday, July 17, as part of a twilight doubleheader on the club’s first visit to the Blue Jays’ new stadium, the SkyDome.

The Angels also announced the rescheduling of a June 22 home game against the Baltimore Orioles to accommodate television. The game, to be shown nationally by ABC-TV, will begin at 5:10 p.m. . . . Angel outfielder Chili Davis, who has a sprained left wrist, showed improvement, according to Manager Doug Rader, and could make an appearance in one of today’s games. “If he makes the same progress he did from yesterday to today, he could play,” Rader said.