BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Gaetti Waits for Club to Smooth Things

Before signing with the Angels, Gary Gaetti extracted a promise that the Anaheim Stadium infield would be smoothed. Nearly halfway into his second Angel season, Gaetti still is waiting for the improvements.

“It’s the worst in the league. The worst grass and worst dirt,” he said. “(Artificial) turf is better than this. You factor in confidence in how you think the ball is going to bounce and you get all those in-between hops. That’s all a part of baseball, but it’s more a part of it here.

“I wish everybody could get to experience what infielders have got to experience here in Anaheim and deal with what we have to deal with,” said Gaetti, a four-time Gold Glove winner who has committed 16 errors this season, one short of his 1991 total.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence in the field part of the game. There’s no telling what the ball is going to do. You can have a good defensive game one day, but you might make three errors the next day and not have any control over it.”

Manager Buck Rodgers will visit Anaheim Stadium today for the first time since the May 21 bus accident that left him with a broken knee, shattered right elbow, broken right wrist and cracked ribs. Rodgers, who plans to return to the dugout after the All-Star break, will sit in the owners’ box.

In a tape shown on the Anaheim Stadium message board, Rodgers and his wife, Judy, thanked fans for their support. “It’s been a tough ordeal, but you’ve made it easier for us,” he said.

First-round draft pick Pete Janicki is scheduled to undergo an examination on his right elbow Monday. Janicki, of UCLA, withdrew from the Olympic baseball tryouts because of discomfort. . . . Reliever Bryan Harvey threw again Saturday without complications and expects to be ready for activation off the disabled list Monday. . . . A scoring change retracted the two errors charged to second baseman Rene Gonzales on Terry Steinbach’s ninth-inning grounder Friday and instead gave an error to first baseman Lee Stevens. . . . Gonzales has at least one RBI in three consecutive games, his longest streak of the season. . . . Gaetti’s three-run home run Saturday was his first homer with runners on base this season. . . . Dean Chance, Bo Belinsky, pitcher-turned- broadcaster Ken Brett and Doug DeCinces head the list of AL record setters who will face a squad of NL record setters in today’s heroes of baseball game. A $10,000 donation will be made to Baseball Assistance Team, which assists former players, coaches and administrative personnel.