A SHORT STINT : Anderson Has Been a Relief for Angels

If a man can be judged by the tonic he drinks, the Angels’ Kent Anderson is an easy one to figure.

At the moment, Anderson’s elixir of choice sits on the top shelf of his Anaheim Stadium locker, a small bottle from which he swigs before every game he plays.

It’s called Pepto-Bismol.

“Just something to coat the stomach a little bit,” Anderson explains. “Any time you’re nervous, your stomach goes to work. I’ve had a little bit of a nervous stomach lately.”

Hard to imagine why.

For the last week, Anderson, a 25-year rookie who began this season at triple-A Edmonton, has been the Angels’ emergency starting shortstop. He will play that position for at least two more weeks, probably through the early days of September, or as long as it takes for the broken bone in Dick Schofield’s left hand to mend.

Coincidentally, the team Anderson plays for is locked in its first title race since 1986. The Angels will start tonight’s game against the Cleveland Indians trailing the Oakland Athletics by one game in the American League West, so Anderson cannot be afforded any grace period.

He knows that his margin for error is almost nil.

He also knows that the man he’s trying to replace seldom made an error, leading AL shortstops in fielding percentage in both 1987 and ’88.

So, Anderson keeps his eye on the ball, his feet on the ground and his bottle of Pepto-Bismol within easy reach.

“You know there’s pressure,” Anderson says. “You notice it, you realize it. All you can do is try not to think about it.

“You relax the best you can. You realize that these games are more important than other ones, but you try to tell yourself that they aren’t.”

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Consider last weekend’s Angels-A’s series at Anaheim Stadium, which attracted more than 175,000 fans and inspired such media designations as must-win, do-or-die and apocalyptic.

For two games, Anderson looked much the part of the uncertain rookie--striking out twice against Mike Moore Friday night and playing the infield as if it were land-mined Saturday.

But in the sixth inning of Sunday’s finale, Anderson broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run triple off Dave Stewart, Oakland’s Cy Young Award candidate. It was the key blow in a 4-3 Angel victory.

Anderson’s hit irked Stewart to the point of disdain. “You make the pitch you want and he hits a soft triple,” Stewart sneered.

Soon, Stewart’s reaction was forwarded to Anderson. No matter. Anderson couldn’t stop smiling. He wasn’t about to trade the hit in, he said.

“It must’ve been a good pitch because I hit it where I wanted it,” he says. “(The A’s) had a couple of hits just like it the day before, so I don’t feel sorry about it.”

For Anderson, who’s batting .216 in 51 games with 11 runs batted in, the triple was a highlight.

“That pretty much tops the list,” he said. “Coming against Stewart, with us really needing that game. That was a big thrill.”

But some people, they’re never happy. Sunday’s hero, Anderson was a topic of debate Monday night on the Angels’ postgame radio talk show. One fan phoned in, promoting the idea of sending Anderson back to Edmonton and signing Rey Quinones, the ex-Boston, ex-Seattle, ex-Pittsburgh shortstop as a replacement.

“The guy thought Quinones was going to hit a little more,” said Angel relief pitcher Bryan Harvey, who happened to be tuned in. “I think the guy’s crazy. Idiots.

“Even though Andy’s a rookie, on defense, it don’t show. He makes all the plays. And I think his hitting’s going to come around once he sees all the pitchers a little more.

“I don’t know what these people can be thinking. I don’t know how they can come up with that deal.”

Doug Rader, the Angels’ manager, was more emphatic about it.

“If we get Quinones, we lose,” Rader said flatly. “There’d be two things wrong with doing that. For one, what’s wrong with Andy? And, two, how is Quinones going to help us? He can’t play.”

Rader says he’s been a fan of Anderson ever since he had to send him down to Edmonton before opening day.

“I remember the conversation he had when I told him he was going back to Edmonton,” Rader said. “He told me, ‘It’s a mistake. I should be playing in the big leagues.’

“And I said, ‘Well, unfortunately, you’re not going to be now. Hopefully, there will come a time when you will.’

“A couple weeks later, Schoey goes down and we call Andy back up. We’re on our first road trip and as soon as I see him, I tell him, ‘You’re right.’ ”

Anderson was recalled on April 13, when Schofield was sidelined with a torn chest muscle. Anderson was strictly to serve as temporary help, to split time at shortstop with utility man Glenn Hoffman until Schofield was ready to return.

But then, Anderson hit safely in the first five games he played. After a week, he was entrenched as the starting shortstop. After two weeks, he was still batting .300.

And after three weeks, when Schofield was re-activated from the disabled list, Anderson, to his surprise, was still an Angel. To make room for Schofield, the Angels sent outfielder Brian Brady to Edmonton instead.

Anderson had won a spot on the team, a spot he has held ever since.

“He played very well this spring and when he took over for Schofield, he played well again,” Rader said. “That convinced me that we needed another infielder. The bottom line is, yes, he should be here.”

Said Anderson: “I wasn’t counting down the days till he was healthy, but I figured I’d be here as long as Schofield needed to recuperate fully. Once that happened, I knew they’d have to make a move and it would probably be me.

“But I’m still up here. Good for me.”

That he’s still starting, during the heated days of late August, might initially seem peculiar, considering the availability of Hoffman, a nine-year veteran, on Rader’s bench.

But it is Rader’s contention that a less experienced shortstop with greater range is more valuable to a team in contention.

“Andy’s a truer shortstop,” Rader said. “He has a little better range and a better arm. That’s what you need in an everyday shortstop, which Hoff no longer is.”

Anderson is aware of his limitations. He has never batted as high as .280 at any level of professional baseball and he knows his future is to be doing what he’s doing now--backing up in the infield.

“I’d talked with coaches in the organization and they told me my way to the big leagues might be as a utility player,” Anderson said. “That’s probably going to be my role. I’m not flashy. But I get the job done most of the time. I’d call myself steady and pretty consistent.

“Hopefully, I can stay consistent these next few weeks.”

And if his stomach can’t do the same, relief, in his locker stall, is there for the taking.