Numbers Right for Langston : Angels: New pitcher signs $16-million contract, takes No. 12 off back of Manager Doug Rader.

Wayne Gretzky paid $11.10 to get left-hander Mark Langston. The Angels had to give Langston $16 million and the shirt off Doug Rader’s back.

Gretzky, an avid baseball fan, got Langston’s services at a bargain rate for his rotisserie baseball league.

To get Langston for a run at an elusive first American League pennant, the Angels had to promise the 29-year-old pitcher a guaranteed five-year payoff, making at least one observer gawk at the limousine and armored car that drove up to Anaheim Stadium Friday and wonder which carried Langston to his introductory press conference.

Langston, who agreed to terms with the Angels last Friday, signed Friday after his session with reporters. He posed for pictures with team owner Gene Autry and General Manager Mike Port, holding his uniform shirt with his name and the No. 12 on the back.

The number had belonged to Rader, but he relinquished it so Langston could continue a tradition begun in high school--and fulfill a prophecy Rader had issued earlier this year.

“As I was walking with him in spring training he said, ‘You’ll probably be here next year and I’ll have to give up my number,’ “Langston said.

Just to be safe, he took a peek at the shirt before holding it in front of his gray pinstriped suit.

“I had to make sure it didn’t say Rader and they were deking me,” Langston said, laughing.

All the numbers shown by the Angels were right for Langston, who professed no regret over signing relatively early in the free-agent chase and perhaps passing up an even more lucrative deal. Of the free agents left unsigned, San Diego reliever Mark Davis and Milwaukee outfielder Robin Yount are the two who could exceed Langston’s deal.

“I’m very happy with what I signed,” said Langston, 16-14 last season with Seattle and Montreal and 86-76 lifetime. “If their contracts are bigger, fine. I don’t think I could ever say I got a bum deal. The Angels are a first-class organization and I’m very excited about playing here.

“I think the Angels are definitely going to be the front-runner (in the American League West). The A’s have got to be feeling pressure and they’ve lost some key players. Dave Henderson is my next-door neighbor (in Bellevue, Wash.) and he was saying how much they’re going to miss Dave Parker. The Angels were a great team before I joined, and I hope I can add my two bits to it.”

And if they can add Yount . . .

“I know they’re trying very hard after Robin Yount,” Langston said. “I’m a fan of Robin Yount. I enjoy the way he plays the game. He’s always been a consistent player, a team player. I was hoping maybe Joe Carter would sign, but Joe’s got to be pretty happy in San Diego.”

The Padres were among Langston’s emotional preferences when he and his agent, Arn Tellem, began talking to various teams. They spoke with four American League and five National League teams.

“The way (the Padres’) situation is, they’re kind of in turmoil a little bit because Joan Kroc is selling the team,” said Langston, a San Diego native. “San Diego is one of the teams I wanted to get involved with. They were there, but there were teams I wanted to get more involved with. Their concern was to sign Mark Davis.

“We felt we had to make our decision and I’m real happy with it. I didn’t want to get into a situation where people were bidding back and forth. I just wanted to hear offers and make a decision. . . . The Dodgers were very competitive, very close.

“For me, the no-trade clause was a very important issue. Having been traded, when you have to uproot your family, it’s not fun to go through. The Angels jumped to it when we brought it up. It was something I didn’t want to give up on.”

Playing for the Angels means he will have to give up hopes of winning a batting title. But a .175 average isn’t much to give up in exchange for $16 million, the chance to regularly watch Gretzky--”I’m a huge fan of his. I always followed him and since he’s been with the Kings I’ve come down here to catch a few games”--and the opportunity to live out a dream.

That the Angels open next season April 3 in Seattle against his former teammates makes it that much sweeter.

“Dollars and cents wasn’t a big issue,” he said. “It was more which organization I wanted to be with. I’m looking forward to being in a pennant race and being with a team that can win the whole ball of wax. . . .

“I’m not going to say there’s not going to be pressure. There’s going to be pressure in this game no matter what. I feel I can adapt to pressure. I had a lot of things going on last year and I felt I kept my focus on the game pretty well.

“I feel I’m going to play the game the same whether it’s a one-year deal or five-year deal. I’m a poor loser and I’m looking forward to playing on a winner here.”

Angel Notes

Mike Port said that he didn’t detour to see Robin Yount or Mark Davis on his way home from the winter baseball meetings in Nashville, Tenn. Refusing to be more specific, Port said he expected to know soon the outcome of some “inquiries and projects” discussed at the meetings. Asked if anything were close, he replied, “I could not tell you no.”