Angels Are Halfway to Heaven, 9-3 : Witt Keeps Rolling, Twins Still Reeling at the All-Star Break

The winningest team in baseball will have but two representatives in Tuesday’s All-Star game, which has proven a minor annoyance in Anaheim.

But as Brian Downing, the Angels’ long-time designated hitter, says, an All-Star snub is nothing compared to all the World Series snubs he has seen.

“I’d much rather have the ring that comes from October than the ring that comes from July,” said Downing, who will spend Tuesday at home with his family despite a .312 batting average.

“If you’d ask me in spring training to make a choice--first place at the All-Star break or making the All-Star team from a fifth-place team, you don’t have to ask me which one I’d pick.”

In other words, Angels can’t be choosers.

Sunday’s 9-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins brought an end to one of the most remarkable first halves in Angel history. The team’s turnaround, though still only half-baked, has been stunningly swift.

After back-to-back 75-87 finishes in 1987 and 1988, the Angels are 19 games over .500 at 52-33, the best record in the major leagues.

After placing 29 games behind the Oakland Athletics in the American League West last season, the Angels lead the A’s by 1 1/2 games and the rest of the West by at least 3 1/2.

After finishing 13th out of 14 AL clubs in team ERA last season, the Angels own the lowest ERA (2.89) in the league, along with a pitching staff that has limited the opposition to three runs or fewer in the Angels’ last 13 games.

If the rest of baseball has been slow to notice and it winds up costing the Angels an extra name or two on the AL All-Star roster, Downing believes the club can live with it.

“We’ve turned the organization around,” Downing announced. “We’ve got our confidence back. This is basically the foundation we need to have if we’re going to win it all.”

Win it all?

Downing nodded.

“I was making these same comments in spring training,” he said. “I said then that I could see us winning it all . . . or I could see us finishing fifth. I thought we could win if we had a return to health of several starting pitchers, we stayed away from any more injuries and we had six or seven guys on a 20-home run pace.

“At the halfway point, those are the factors that have gotten us where we are.”

Sunday, the Angels completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota, which improved the team’s record against the Twins to 6-1. In their last home stand before the All-Star break, the Angels went 6-1. In their last 16 games, the Angels are 13-3.

And the latest victory was a much-awaited one. With it, Mike Witt (7-7) finally returned to the .500 level--a statistic that underscores the startling effectiveness of the Angels’ pitching rotation. With Witt basically missing in action for 2 1/2 months, the Angels still have been able to play better than .600 baseball.

“This is the best staff I’ve ever been on--definitely,” Witt said. “And that’s saying something, because we had an awesome staff in ’86.”

The difference, Witt surmised, is depth.

“This year, somebody else is doing the job I used to do,” he said. “Somebody else is winning games and stopping losing streaks. That’s helped me a lot this year while I’ve been struggling. It took a little of the pressure off.”

Witt threw seven innings against the Twins, giving up two runs on six hits. One was a second-inning home run by Gary Gaetti, one of Minnesota’s two All-Stars. The Twins scored their second run in the seventh when Gene Larkin hit a single, moved to third on Brian Harper’s double and came home on Doug Baker’s sacrifice fly.

At that point, Witt led, 6-2. The Angels added another run in the bottom of the seventh before Angel Manager Doug Rader summoned reliever Willie Fraser to finish the job.

From 3-7 to 7-7, Witt, like the Angels, has taken the long road back.

“My goal the last five games was to get to 8-7 by the break,” Witt said. “The last game, I kinda gave up a lead (Witt received no decision in a 5-2 Angel victory over Texas), but to be 7-7 after where I was at before is not bad. Hopefully, I can go from there.”

The Angel offense pounded four Minnesota pitchers--including starter Allan Anderson (9-7) and reliever Jeff Reardon--for 15 hits. Downing’s two-run home run in the second inning, his ninth of the season, was the biggest blow, but significant contributions were also provided by Dick Schofield (two doubles and a single), Johnny Ray (two hits, two RBIs), Wally Joyner (two hits, one RBI) and Lance Parrish (two hits, one RBI).

When the pounding stopped, the Angels packed their belongings to make room for the American League All-Stars and paused to reflect on a first half well done.

“The guys we have going to the All-Star Game should definitely go there with their heads up,” left fielder Chili Davis said. “They’re not only representing the home team, but a first-place home team. That’s a good feeling.”

Regardless of whether or not Chuck Finley and Devon White are enough Angel All-Stars.

Angel Notes

It’s the traditional dilemma that confronts a streaking team come All-Star time: To break or not to break. “It’s a mixed blessing,” Angel Manager Doug Rader admitted. “We have a number of guys who can use the rest--Tony Armas, Brian Downing, Lance Parrish, Chili (Davis), even Johnny Ray. We’ve had to use a very small number of players a long time. We don’t platoon much. Yet, at the same time, you don’t like to see a pitching staff that’s going so well to sit down for three days. But if I had to choose, I’d rather have a full-rested team to begin the second half.”

The Angels’ 52-33 record is their best at the All-Star break. The only other years in which they’ve had 50 or more victories by the All-Star Game were 1970 (51-35), 1979 (55-38) and 1985 (52-35). This also marks the sixth time the Angels have led the AL West at the break. The Angels’ biggest lead at the All-Star Game was six games, in 1985. That team eventually finished second, one game behind Kansas City.