Birthdays Should Be Happier : Angels: Bert Blyleven, 40, would like nothing more than to come back from shoulder surgery and help his team win the division title.

Tear down the black crepe paper and put away the party hats with “Over the Hill” on the front. Maybe they’re a little too appropriate to be funny this time.

Bert Blyleven turns 40 today. And talk about a mid-life crisis . . .

For the past 21 years, Blyleven has embraced the first week of April the way a groom hugs his bride. But for the first time in his life, the opening day of a baseball season won’t be providing the usual sense of security.

Watch him crawl under the dugout bench to set fire to a teammate’s shoelaces and you wonder if he stopped maturing at 12. But last year Blyleven’s right shoulder finally began to feel its age. Flinging a baseball as hard as you can 100,000 times will do that to a shoulder.

He underwent arthroscopic surgery Oct. 1 and began a painstakingly slow rehabilitation process that hasn’t progressed as well as anyone had hoped. Last Sunday, with opening day a little more than a week away, the Angel medical staff advised Blyleven to stop pitching off a mound and reduced his regimen to playing catch.

Blyleven said he then requested an arthrogram, which was performed Thursday by Dr. Lewis Yocum. An Angel spokesman said results of the test will not be available until Sunday.

“I have this one specific area that is irritating, where the pain is coming from,” Blyleven said. “I feel like if we can isolate that area and get it fixed, I’m sure I’ll be fine. We thought the rehab would do that, but it hasn’t so far. The rehab just hasn’t taken the way we thought it would.”

So for the time being, Blyleven will suit up, sit, watch and wonder.

He wonders if arthroscopic surgery was the right choice. “The only regret I probably have was at the time I got operated on, there was some concern about maybe going in and really cleaning it out instead of just doing it arthroscopically.”

And he wonders if he’ll ever pitch again.

“Time is a factor,” he said. “For a guy who’s turning 40 years old, you don’t always have a lot of time.

“But if I never pitch again, I’ve been very, very happy with my career. It’s been exciting and fun and I want to leave it in a positive way. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to come back. And if I can’t, then I can’t. It’s not the end of the world. You go on with life.”

Fifteen times in his career, Blyleven has made 32 or more starts in a season. He made 33 in in 1989, his first year with Angels. He was 17-5 with a 2.53 earned-run average and was named American League comeback player of the year.

If he were healthy and half that sharp, he figures he could win that many this year, given the current Angel lineup.

“With the offensive, and defensive, ballclub that we have now, if a pitcher can go out there and just be consistent, he can win a lot of ballgames,” Blyleven said.

Consistency has been Blyleven’s forte for a couple of decades. He made his first start--and picked up his first victory--against the Washington Senators on June 5, 1970. (The first batter he faced, Lee May, homered, but Minnesota won, 2-1.) He has won at least 10 games in a season 17 times since. His earned-run average has been below 4.00 18 times and 3.00 or lower 11 times.

Now, he would take last year’s bloated 5.24 just to be able to throw a pitch off the mound.

On Aug. 10 last year, Blyleven left after six innings against the Baltimore Orioles. His right shoulder was stiff. Eight months and an operation later, his right shoulder still hurts.

Blyleven says he can live happily ever after without baseball and walk away with only good memories. He says he wants to give back to the game he loves--the game “I owe everything to”--and coach young pitchers at a university or in the minors. He says it would be rewarding.

Walking away is never that easy, though, especially when it means an end of the journey before reaching the promised land. And Blyleven is well within sight of his destination, the numbers that will mark his place in baseball history. They’re goals he has sought with a pilgrim’s sense of purpose.

Blyleven is 10 strikeouts shy of passing Tom Seaver to rank third on the all-time strikeout list. He’s 11 victories short of the mystical 300-victory plateau. He’s 162 2/3 innings shy of 5,000. And those are just a few of Blyleven’s magic numbers.

The quest is not over. Blyleven says he’ll do whatever it takes to return to the mound and that attitude surprises no one.

“He’s obviously done a lot of things right so far,” catcher Lance Parrish said. “Anytime a guy makes it to 40 in this sport, it’s pretty amazing. And it’s even more amazing when a pitcher makes it. Then, when you consider a pitcher like Bert with 21 years in the majors and all those innings. There’s so much stress and wear and tear on your body.

“I think you have to be fortunate that your body is strong enough to handle a load like that, but you have to give Bert a lot of credit for his diligence in maintaining his workouts and getting the proper treatment.”

Blyleven’s attention to training and solid pitching mechanics have served him well so far and certainly won’t hurt his chances of recovery. The newest Angel, Dave Parker, who was Blyleven’s teammate at Pittsburgh in the late ‘70s, says Blyleven’s determination should enhance his recovery.

“He obviously loves the game,” said Parker, who will turn 40 June 9. “I believe that’s one of the main reasons he’s still around. That, and the fact he’s got one of the best, no, probably the best, curveball I’ve ever seen.

“Hanging around this long says something about your work ethic, but it’s also about staying focused. It gets to be a real grind and I think a lot of guys lose it mentally before their physical skills diminish. But Bert’s always been a fierce competitor.

“I remember I was hitting .194 early in the season my last year in Oakland and he got me two strikes and a ball. And he struck me out on a damn knuckleball. Now, that kind of (upset me). I made up my mind right then to develop a very special trot for him the next time I got to him.

“It’s amazing how things happen. The very next time I faced him, I hit a home run, and I used my trot. But Bert and I are such good friends that I sometimes have trouble hitting off him without laughing. I always figure he’s going to put a booger on the baseball or something.”

Tommy Blyleven, 7, punched the button on the machine that dispenses soft drinks for free , scooped up his booty, ran across the Angel Stadium clubhouse in Palm Springs and started jumping up and down on the foot of pitcher Chuck Finley.

“Don’t hurt him,” Wally Joyner said, “or your dad will get released.”

The elder Blyleven laughed, but he did tell Tommy to “Stop it . . . now!”

Blyleven has envisioned the end of his career and it doesn’t involve injuries to his teammates, or himself.

“I just don’t want to leave this game on a negative,” he said, “and I still feel I can compete. I don’t know, maybe every guy who is nearing the end of his career feels like he can still compete. But I want the hitters to let me know if I can still pitch or not. It would be sad, for my part, if I had to leave because of an injury.”

The doctors say only time will tell, but Blyleven knows that even in the best scenario, he doesn’t figure to celebrate that many more birthdays in a baseball uniform.

“There will always be people who’ll say, ‘You’ve reached 40, it’s all downhill from here,” he said, “but it’s all what’s in your heart. I still have the desire to compete. It’s just a question of whether I can get healthy enough to compete again. If I can, I could compete for another three or four years. I’ve got no timetable that says when I’ll throw my last pitch.”

So, for now, he’ll follow doctors’ orders, work as hard as he can to recover and somehow try to find the patience to stay sane. Maybe he can throw fate a knuckleball.

“You rehab hard for six months and you don’t see the progress you want and it’s very frustrating,” he said, “but I’ve tried to convince myself that it’s going to take time and that I’m better off waiting and coming back healthy than trying to push it and going all the way back to stage one. Everyone I talk to who’s gone through this says ‘patience.’

“Yes, it would be very upsetting if I couldn’t reach my goals and that in itself keeps driving me to get back to where I can compete on the major league level. But if I can’t, I can walk away happy with what I’ve accomplished. It’s not too bad being fourth on the all-time strikeout list, have won two world championships and have 279 wins.

“I’m proud of that.”

Still, you might want to toss those joke candles that can’t be blown out and get some real ones for his birthday cake. Blyleven has a wish he desperately hopes will come true.

BASEBALL’S 40--PLUS CLUB

PLAYER TEAM POSITION AGE Yrs. Mos. Days Nolan Ryan Rangers Pitcher 44 2 6 Carlton Fisk White Sox Catcher 43 3 11 Charlie Hough White Sox Pitcher 43 3 1 Rick Reuschel Giants Pitcher 41 10 21 Rick Dempsey Brewers Catcher 41 6 24 Ken Griffey Sr. Mariners outfielder 40 11 27 Bert Blyleven Angels Pitcher 40 0 0

Source: American League Red Book; National League Green Book