Bichette, Rader Sign an Armistice

The Angels finally found a place to play Dante Bichette every day.

Right field, County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wis.

That wasn’t a trade the Angels announced Thursday from their spring training camp in Mesa, Ariz.; it was armistice. For Bichette and Doug Rader, the conflict had been long and hard--two years of clashing egos, agendas and personalities--but the resolution was a rarity. There would be no retreat, no surrender from either side. For once, everybody won.

Bichette won because he got his way, which was to play, which he will now be able to do inside the pin-striped suit of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rader won, too, because he purged his palace of its only potential revolt--the burgeoning groundswell movement that looked at Rader’s daily lineup card and wondered, “Where’s the Beef?”

That was the handle sportswriters bestowed upon young Dante when he began bashing home runs during his first training camp with the Angels in 1987. Beef Bichette. In 1989, Rader inherited this brawny package of unharvested talent and it didn’t take long for the new manager to devise a different description--something along the lines of a pain in the rump roast.

Rader never lived comfortably with Bichette’s style, which seemed to be culled from the Jose Canseco Starter Kit. Bichette preened when he walked, flexed when he talked. He wore an earring. His wardrobe was a trendoid melange of Melrose Avenue and MTV. He was on perennial audition for Super Star and he knew how to look the part.

Occasionally, he even played like it.

Bichette devastated Rader’s first Angel camp, batting .388 while leading the team in home runs (four) and RBIs (17). Rader already had Chili Davis, Devon White, Claudell Washington and Tony Armas in the outfield, but he had no other choice: Bichette had to make the opening day roster in 1989--and there Bichette stayed until the curveball caught up with him and a .105 average during June sent him packing for Edmonton.

In 1990, there was no such problem. Bichette hit the curveball--he still feasted on fastballs, but he learned to hang with the curve--and he earned his keep all season. In 109 games and 349 at-bats, Bichette homered 15 times and drove in 53 runs. Had he played regularly--say, 500 at-bats--and maintained the same pace, Bichette would have finished with 21 home runs and 76 RBIs. And among Angels, that would have placed Bichette first in RBIs and second in home runs behind Lance Parrish, who had 24.

At times, Bichette made it look easy--far too easy for Rader, who lit up the Astrodome with his damn-the-torpedoes approach to playing third base in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Bichette hit home runs and threw out runners--his 12 outfield assists led the Angels in 1990--but he did it all with a pro g-l-i-d-e. Bichette didn’t show up early enough on game days. He didn’t take enough extra batting practice. Once, he reportedly fell asleep in the clubhouse during a game.

Form matters greatly to Rader, who believes the first step to success is taken quickly and aggressively. The philosophy is: Look like a winner, play like a winner.

Eventually, Rader couldn’t bear to look at Bichette, which is why the Angels kept bringing in outfielders--Dave Winfield and Luis Polonia during the summer, Junior Felix and Dave Gallagher during the winter.

To a growing number of outsiders, Rader had developed a blind spot in a field of vision that was otherwise 20-20. It became the battle cry of the talk shows: Why isn’t Bichette playing? Gradually, some insiders began to pick up the chant as well, with Parrish wondering the same this spring, out loud and for the record.

A change needed to be made and Thursday one was, with the Angels sending untapped potential to Milwaukee in exchange for 39-year-old designated hitter Dave Parker, whose potential has been tapped more times than a Vermont maple.

How about that Angel roster now? Parker, Winfield, Parrish, Gary Gaetti, Bert Blyleven, Floyd Bannister.

This team would be a lock for the American League pennant in 1983.

Back to the future, Parker could fill some voids this season, if only for this one. First of all, he’ll play. Secondly, he excavates the Angels from the Chili Davis gaffe, giving them a real, honest-to-goodness DH who shuts down the come-one, come-all shuttle Rader had planned until Thursday. Thirdly, he can still produce, if last season’s .289 average, 21 home runs and 92 RBIs are any kind of gauge.

And lastly, the Angels say, Parker lends a winning presence to the clubhouse. That beats Bichette, whose presence was generally restricted to the doghouse.

Apparently, the Angels regard the A’s, down one Carney Lansford and one Scott Sanderson, as vulnerable. With this trade, they’ve firmly pledged allegiance to 1991, banking on Parker, Gaetti and a full season of Winfield to close the Canseco-McGwire power gap.

But beyond 1991? Parker turns 40 in June. He is a 17-year veteran of big-league baseball. Bichette is a 27-year veteran of human life. In the deal, the Brewers not only pick up a player to be named later, but also 13 years to be lived later.

The last time the Angels traded an outfielder of such promise for the final piece in the puzzle, the year was 1982, the year the Angels were going to win it all.

The name of the pennant clincher? Doug Corbett.

The name of the young outfielder? Tom Brunansky.

WHO GOT WHAT IN TRADE

ANGELS RECEIVE: DAVE PARKER (Statistics in the majors)

YR TEAM AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI 1973 Pittsburgh .288 54 139 17 40 9 1 4 14 1974 Pittsburgh .282 73 220 27 62 10 3 4 29 1975 Pittsburgh .308 148 558 75 172 35 10 25 101 1976 Pittsburgh .313 138 537 82 168 28 10 13 90 1977 Pittsburgh .338 159 637 107 215 44 8 21 88 1978 Pittsburgh .334 148 581 102 194 32 12 30 117 1979 Pittsburgh .310 158 622 109 193 45 7 25 94 1980 Pittsburgh .295 139 518 71 153 31 1 17 79 1981 Pittsburgh .258 67 240 29 62 14 3 9 48 1982 Pittsburgh .270 73 244 41 66 19 3 6 29 1983 Pittsburgh .279 144 552 68 154 29 4 12 69 1984 Cincinnati .285 156 607 73 173 28 0 16 94 1985 Cincinnati .312 160 635 88 198 42 4 34 125 1986 Cincinnati .273 162 637 89 174 31 3 31 116 1987 Cincinnati .253 153 589 77 149 28 0 26 97 1988 Oakland .257 101 377 43 97 18 1 12 55 1989 Oakland .264 144 553 56 146 27 0 22 97 1990 Milwaukee .289 157 610 71 176 30 3 21 92

Major League Totals .293 2334 8856 1225 2592 500 73 328 1434

BREWERS RECEIVE: DANTE BICHETTE (Statistics in the majors)

YR TEAM AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI 1988 Angels .261 21 46 1 12 2 0 0 8 1989 Angels .210 48 138 13 29 7 0 3 15 1990 Angels .255 109 349 40 89 15 1 15 53

Major League Totals .244 1781 533 54 130 24 1 18 76