Angels’ Schroeder Is Second Fiddle, but He’s No Longer Burning

If he were younger and his dreams grander, Bill Schroeder might chafe at being trapped behind so strong and skilled a catcher as Lance Parrish.

But at 31, Schroeder has accepted that he is destined to play a supporting role, not the lead. He merely wants to play it well, and the success of the elbow surgery he underwent last September indicates that he could play it better than ever.

Schroeder played 41 games last season before he was forced to have arthroscopic surgery, during which team orthopedist Lewis Yocum removed calcium deposits and other loose particles from Schroeder’s right elbow. His rapid recovery from the procedure, which was less serious than the ligament-repair surgery he underwent on the same elbow in 1985, has drawn raves from Manager Doug Rader and has renewed Schroeder’s enthusiasm for his job.

“Bill’s swinging the bat better than anyone in camp,” said Rader of Schroeder, a career .241 hitter who batted only .203 last season. “He’s pain-free in his throwing, and everything is just perfect.”

Schroeder said Friday he is no longer frustrated at playing second-string.

“If it was four years ago, I would have been, but at this point in my career, I accept the role of playing behind him,” said Schroeder, who began his career with the Milwaukee Brewers and was traded to the Angels in December of 1988 for infielder Gus Polidor. “I just want to do the best I can at this job and stick around as long as I can. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I want to catch well, whether it’s once in a while or on an everyday basis if Lance gets hurt.

“This is my seventh year coming up. I’m willing to accept that this is what I’m going to do.”

Because Schroeder is progressing so well, the Angels probably won’t need to keep a third catcher on their 27-man roster when they open the season. If they decide to keep an extra catcher, it would probably be Ron Tingley, whom they acquired from Cleveland last September. Joe Orton, who spent most of last season with double-A Midland, Tex., is regarded as a strong prospect who needs starting experience at the triple-A level this season.

Parrish, who will be 34 in June, caught 124 games last season despite knee and rib bruises sustained in an Aug. 5 home-plate collision with the Brewers’ Glenn Braggs. The after-effects contributed to his late-season batting slump, as he hit .176 in August and .219 in September and October, and had only seven RBIs in that span.

Well rested after the prolonged winter, Parrish said he feels strong, and he doesn’t intend to cut his workload this season.

“I’ll catch as many (games) as they want me to, basically,” he said. “I don’t really have any numbers in mind. I just want to stay healthy and do the job.”

That may mean Schroeder won’t play more games than he did last season, but a strong elbow means he can enjoy them more.

“I’m feeling real good at the plate. I worked hard at it and did some of the things DJ (Deron Johnson, the Angels’ hitting instructor) told me,” said Schroeder, who has adjusted his grip on the bat and his stance at Johnson’s urging. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball better to the opposite field and I’m getting some power behind the ball to the opposite field.

“When I first got cut, I had some doubts about whether this was going to work, and I still had some in the first couple of weeks afterward, when it hurt so much. But as the winter went on, I realized that my arm is stronger than it ever has been.”

So is his desire to work with a pitching staff that ranks among the league’s best.

“We had a lot of fun last year, the pitchers and catchers,” Schroeder said. “Lance and I brought a lot to the pitchers, and the pitchers brought a lot to what we could do. It was a matter of them maturing, and I think (Bert) Blyleven had a lot to do with that because of his experience and the atmosphere he created in the clubhouse.

“I’m hoping everybody improves this season. To do well in our division, we need a better performance from everybody, and I think we can get it. When you add 20 wins from Mark Langston, you know this team is going to be right there.”

Blyleven’s agent, Dick Moss, has asked the Angels to renegotiate the 38-year-old pitcher’s contract to extend it beyond this season and pay him at a level commensurate with what Moss called Blyleven’s “Hall of Fame credentials.”

Blyleven, who was 17-5 last season and the American League’s comeback player of the year, has 271 major league victories. The Angels exercised their option to renew his contract for this season at $1.225 million. His contract also calls for several incentive bonuses.

Two other Angel pitchers will receive higher salaries this season--Langston, who will earn $1.5 million and has already gotten a $1.5-million signing bonus, and Mike Witt, whose salary is $1.310 million.

“We’ve been chatting about doing something,” Moss said Friday after talking to Dan O’Brien, the Angels’ senior vice president.