Making the Switch to Shortstop No Tall Order for McLemore : Angels: He has been a second baseman for years, but he’s glad to be in the starting lineup, regardless of the position.

Mark McLemore’s name has been preceded or followed by the words second baseman so often that it’s hard to think of him as anything else, a fact that was clear when the Angel lineup was distributed in the press box before the first game of the Freeway Series.

Batting second, second baseman Johnny Ray.

Batting ninth, second baseman Mark McLemore.

The correction was quickly made-- shortstop Mark McLemore --but the slip is easily made.

McLemore was the Angels’ starting second baseman for most of 1987, the starting second baseman on opening day in 1988--and, to his disappointment, the regular second baseman at triple-A Edmonton for much of 1989.

But he will open the ’90 season on Monday against Seattle as the starting shortstop, replacing Dick Schofield, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring injury aggravated during spring training.

To listen to McLemore, the move is harder for scorekeepers than it is for him.

“Basically for me, the biggest adjustment is making sure I throw the ball instead of flipping it over,” he said.

At 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, McLemore does not have the classic lean grace of a shortstop. But it was as a shortstop that he was selected in the ninth round of the 1982 draft out of San Diego Morse High School.

He says he became a second baseman only because the organization had enough shortstops at the time and needed someone to move to second base.

“They tried us out and I was the only one who could turn the double play,” McLemore said.

For the time being, he is a shortstop again; he has played the position in the major leagues, the first time in July, 1987.

“I didn’t know how I would react,” McLemore said. “It just feels really good being over there.”

With Schofield out at least until April 17, McLemore has an opportunity to start after beating out Kent Anderson by batting .364 in spring training.

It is an opportunity McLemore appreciates. He heard what Manager Doug Rader said at the outset of spring training: Johnny Ray is the starter at second base.

The start at shortstop isn’t even a regular job. But it isn’t Edmonton either.

“It’s a big lift emotionally,” McLemore said. “Everybody’s grown up dreaming of starting.”

McLemore has not had an easy time at second base since taking over after the retirement of Bobby Grich. He started all but three of the Angels’ first 130 games in 1987, but then in a vote of no-confidence, the Angels traded for Ray, and McLemore was optioned to Palm Springs. McLemore started 77 games in 1988, while the Angels tried Ray in the outfield. Last season, it didn’t matter that McLemore batted .345 in spring training; he started the season at Edmonton and played only 32 major league games, some in April while subbing for an injured Ray, and the others after the September roster expansion.

When Gene Mauch was manager, he used to say that all the Angels would require of McLemore was great defense and a .240 average. When Cookie Rojas was manager, he predicted that McLemore could become the best second baseman in the league, consistently hitting between .280 and .300.

Instead, McLemore has a .237 career average, and, at times, he has been less consistent on defense than the Angels wanted.

Ray, whose defensive ability is limited, has clamped onto the position with his hitting. He led the team last season with a .289 average while McLemore hit .244 in Edmonton.

McLemore is not likely to spend time and Canadian dollars in Edmonton this season. The Angels have no more options on him and must place him on waivers before sending him to the minor leagues again. McLemore says that gives him a measure of confidence.

“I’ll be here in whatever capacity, unless I’m traded,” he said.

That, of course, is a possibility, with the Angels expected to make a deal involving one of their six starting pitchers in order to bolster an offense that ranked 12th in the American League in runs.

For now, Rader says he is committed to giving McLemore enough major league at-bats to prove himself--or for the Angels to give up on the player they once imagined would be their second baseman for years to come.

“We’ll never know the capabilities of Mark McLemore if he continues to get so much playing time in the minor leagues and gets shuffled around,” Rader said at the start of spring training. “We need to have Mark on the major league club and give him quality at-bats to see if he’s the player we think he is.”

Before Schofield aggravated his hamstring injury, the Angels were prepared to get at-bats for McLemore as a utility infielder, part of Rader’s design of a flexible and versatile team that was modeled after the Oakland Athletics.

McLemore could possibly platoon with Ray. He could fill in at third for Jack Howell, who bats left-handed and hit only .140 against left-handed pitchers last season. And as he has made clear this spring in a smooth transition to shortstop, McLemore could fill in for Schofield, who played only 91 games last season because of two stints on the disabled list.

Rader, like others before him, appreciates McLemore’s work habits and his easy manner.

Asked whether he would prefer to play second base or short, McLemore says, “Second base or short.” He is not repeating the question but giving his answer: Either one.

On a team that has struggled to find a leadoff hitter, McLemore is eager to fill that role for the Angels.

“I love leading off, but I’m not the one making the decisions,” he said.

He is proud that he has never struck out more than 75 times in a season. He stole 25 bases in 1987 with the Angels, and 26 last season at Edmonton.

“I’m the table-setter,” McLemore said. “I’m supposed to get on base.”

Unless or until Devon White ever conforms to the leadoff position, McLemore is about the best the Angels have.

For now, McLemore has a starting role again, but the role that awaits him when Schofield returns is unclear.

McLemore declines to address questions about whether or not it’s possible for him to stay in the starting lineup once Schofield comes back.

“I don’t think about that,” McLemore said. “I’m not a decision-maker.”

But this is the season that decisions about him will probably be made.