BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Herzog Cure-All Won’t Work Nowadays

Sitting at the helm of a struggling team, interim Manager John Wathan recalled how Whitey Herzog used to try to cure the Kansas City Royals’ funks when Herzog was a manager and Wathan was a player.

“Once in a while, we wouldn’t hit at all,” Wathan said, explaining that the team would skip batting practice in an effort to break a slump.

Herzog, now the Angels’ senior vice president for player personnel, also had another method, one perhaps less suited to today’s player.

“Lots of times, he’d tell everybody to go out and get drunk,” Wathan said. “I don’t know if we’ve got enough guys who drink to go out and do it.”

Bert Blyleven, pegged as a swingman fifth starter after making it back to the majors at 41 after major shoulder surgery, won’t have to wait 11 days for his next start, as originally planned.

Instead, Wathan plans to start Blyleven on Saturday in Milwaukee, with Julio Valera dropping back to pitch Tuesday in Chicago.

The move was made in part in recognition of Blyleven’s performance Saturday in his second start, when he earned the 280th victory of his career--his first since coming back. Blyleven didn’t allow a run on three hits over seven innings in in a 3-1 victory over Cleveland.

“Julio has thrown the ball well, too,” Wathan said. “We’ll try to even it out for both of them.”

Manager Buck Rodgers, injured when the team’s bus crashed May 21 in New Jersey, is expected to be released from the hospital today. Rodgers suffered elbow and knee fractures in the accident and underwent six hours of surgery to repair the damage. . . . Injured Angel players Bobby Rose and Junior Felix are both expected to make the upcoming trip. Rose, who severely sprained his right ankle in the bus crash, is eligible to come off the disabled list for Friday night’s game at Milwaukee but is not expected to be ready. Felix, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin muscle since May 27, ran Tuesday and is expected to be ready when eligible.