Angels Finally Learning That Pitching Isn’t Everything

When California signed Mark Langston last winter, Oakland General Manager Sandy Alderson said he wasn’t worried about the Angels gaining on his club because they had done nothing about their offense. Two weeks into the season, California still hasn’t shown any reason for the Athletics to sweat. The Angels are in danger of falling too far out too early because they can’t hit.

The Angels entered Tuesday night’s game in Boston as the worst-hitting team in the league (.222). Despite the advantage of playing their first nine games at home, the Angels dropped three games behind Oakland after a dozen games.

What’s worse, California is in the middle of a trip that is nearly as brutal as its batting slump. In 15 days, the Angels are scheduled to play in six cities in three time zones: Minneapolis, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Seattle and, finally, Anaheim, by which time they will have done well just to have remained three games out.

“I can understand the perception right now, the way other people view this club,” Angels General Manager Mike Port said recently. “Aside from Wally Joyner’s first year, he’s been a slow starter. And the same applies for guys like Brian Downing and Johnny Ray. We know the capability is there for our team to hit. It just hasn’t shown it yet.”

Here are the early trouble spots for the Angels:

--They are a terrible rally team. Over their nine-game homestand, they managed three hits in an inning without a home run only three times.

--They don’t have a leadoff hitter. Manager Doug Rader tried three different hitters at the top of the lineup over the first 12 games. Those players -- Downing, Devon White and Max Venable -- were hitting .185 (15 for 81).

--Before Tuesday night, Ray was hitting .189 this year (7 for 37) and .211 since Aug. 31. But don’t look for Mark McLemore to take his job. He is 2 for 21.

--Wally Joyner, whose RBI production has dipped from 117 to 85 to 79 over the past three years, had knocked in three runs and was hitting .217.

--Devon White was batting .186 (8 for 43) and had fanned in nine of his 11 games, including four multiple-K games.

There were problems in the bullpen, too. Bob McClure and Greg Minton are out with arm injuries, and Mike Witt had allowed a run in four of his five outings.

When Port was asked about trade possibilities, he said, “Someone with leadoff capabilities is right up there with our need for a right-handed (power) hitter. Another area we have interest in now is a middle reliever.”

The Angels tried to sign Robin Yount and made trade inquiries about Dave Winfield and Rob Deer but obtained none of them. Now there are rumors that they are interested in Tim Raines in a deal that would send Kirk McCaskill and perhaps Dante Bichette -- one of their rare bright spots so far -- to Montreal. Port admitted he talked to Expos General Manager Dave Dombrowski about Raines, but he said it was only a discussion about the pervasive rumors.

In any other division, the Angels could afford to wait to see if their offense comes around. But because Oakland is so good, there should be a sense of urgency to the Angels’ search for hitting help.

Imagine if Yankees batting coach Champ Summers tutored Pete Incaviglia of Texas in the off-season. Say he showed him how to quicken his batting stroke without losing power. Then imagine that the new, improved Incaviglia came into Yankee Stadium and helped the Rangers beat the Yankees two straight games, after which he credited Summers. How much longer do you think Summers would be working for George Steinbrenner? Give your answer in terms of minutes, please.

That exact sort of odd relationship exists in Chicago, where Walt Hriniak is paid good money by the White Sox to be their hitting coach and yet he tutors any willing player in the off-season -- whether they play for the Sox or anybody else.

But, finally, Hriniak took some deserved heat from fans and the media last weekend. It seems that Hriniak turned Cleveland’s Cory Snyder, a .215 hitter last year, into a terror at his hitting school last winter. In two games in Chicago last weekend, Snyder was 4 for 8 with a home run and three runs batted in. The White Sox lost both games. This is known as getting shot with your own bullets.

“My feeling is that Cory Snyder was a pretty good player before Walt worked with him,” White Sox Manager Jeff Torborg said Tuesday. “We just didn’t make the pitches we had to against him. Don’t blame that on Walt. Walt’s been doing it for some time. He’s been a little surprised by the havoc that this caused. I think from now on Walt said he’s not going to do any more work with guys from other clubs.”

One of the few benefits of the 27-man rosters is that people such as Pittsburgh’s Scott Ruskin and San Diego’s Rafael “Exxon” Valdez got to pitch in the major leagues. Three years ago, they weren’t pitching anywhere. Ruskin was an outfielder and Valdez a shortstop in the minors.

Ruskin, after three minor-league seasons in which he hit .269, moved only last year to the mound. His route to the Pirates’ roster, which includes a surplus of outfielders and a shortage of pitchers, proved to be quicker that way. So with just 26 games of minor-league pitching experience -- none of it in Triple-A -- Ruskin, 26, made the Pittsburgh club this year with a wicked left-handed curveball.

Valdez, 22, hit .244 over two years as a shortstop (once committing 46 errors in 90 games) before coverting to a pitcher in 1988. Over the past two years, he allowed just 234 hits in 337 1/3 innings and went 26-9. One of his victories was a perfect game.

Valdez won a spot on the Padres, and Manager Jack McKeon summoned him to make his major-league debut last week in this predicament: second inning, bases loaded, one out, tie score, Eric Davis at the plate and Todd Benzinger on deck. Valdez worked out of it with two pop flies. Alas, Paul O’Neill tagged him for a home run in the next inning and Valdez suffered his first major-league loss.

Furthermore ... An Oakland boxscore the other day included stolen bases for Jose and Canseco. That’s Felix and Jose. Got that? ... Speaking of Felix, now that Felix Fermin finally took one deep, the Yankees’ Alvaro Espinoza has the most at-bats of any active player who has not hit a home run (638) ... Cleveland, which was supposed to deploy this “situational offense” under Manager John McNamara, attempted one stolen base in its first nine games. And the runner, Candy Maldonado, who has a career high of eight steals in a season, was thrown out. ... The Dodgers’ Juan Samuel has been making the most of his infrequent occasions of reaching base. Through 14 games, Samuel had only 11 hits but had stolen nine bases and scored nine runs.