Felix Finally Returns but His Role is Unclear

The last time Junior Felix started a game for the Angels before Sunday, the team was four games out of first place.

That was June 19, and in the scope of the Angels’ season, it was a very long time ago.

It has been a long time since Felix was very much a part of the team. He came to the Angels last winter with second baseman Luis Sojo in the trade that sent Devon White to Toronto. At 23, he was to bring speed, defense, a little power and, above all, potential to the Angels.

Instead, he had only mild success before losing much of the season to a nagging right calf strain, a recurrence of an injury that slowed him last season. Instead of playing a major role, he has played in only 44 of the Angels’ games.

“The season just went fast,” Felix said after going two for four Sunday. “For me, I cannot realize how fast.”

Fresh off a long stint on the disabled list that included an assignment at Class-A Palm Springs, Felix was reactivated Sunday. He declares his nagging calf strain a thing of the past.

He returned to a last-place team that had little trouble filling his position in center field. Lately, it’s been handled by Shawn Abner, who drove in a career-high four runs in the Angels’ 9-5 victory over Boston Sunday.

Felix, his position taken, started in right field in place of Dave Winfield, who was the designated hitter.

“I’ve been hungry to play,” Felix said. “I (spent a lot of time) watching other people play, doing all the stuff I cannot do.”

He doesn’t know how much he’s likely to play.

“That’s not in my hands,” he said. “That’s for Doug Rader or Dan O’Brien to decide.”

Felix singled twice Sunday, scoring in the fourth inning and driving in a run in the Angels’ three-run fifth.

He was charged with an error that contributed to three unearned runs in the third inning, when he sprinted for Carlos Quintana’s fly ball in right, only to see it fall off his outstretched glove.

Rader didn’t find fault with Felix’s attempt.

“The ball he dropped in right field, I doubt if anybody else could get that close to it,” Rader said.

Felix said he has felt ready to play for some time. The Angels, with no immediate need for him, let him play out most of his rehab assignment with Palm Springs, which rules limit to 20 days.

Felix thrived there, playing 18 games and hitting .359 with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs and eight steals in 10 attempts.

Though the talent level is far lower, he said it wasn’t that easy.

“Those guys over there see you and they want to get you out,” he said. “If they get you out, they feel proud, ‘Hey, I got a big leaguer out.’ ”

He is back in the big leagues now, but he will have to wait and see what his role is.

“I cannot believe I haven’t been playing for so long, just sitting and doing nothing,” he said. “The thing is, I have to deal with what I have. There’s nothing else you can do.”

ANGEL ATTENDANCE Sunday: 28,207 1990 (62 dates): 2,052,547 1991 (62 dates): 1,943,099 Decrease: 109,448 Average: 31,340