Angels Need Power Burst : Home-Run Threats, Team Leaders Are Key Missing Ingredients

The Angels’ season was slipping away before the bus accident that took their manager away. Still, there’s no way to know whether Buck Rodgers might have kept a 2-7 slump from turning into the two-month downward spiral that has the Angels on pace for a record number of losses.

Not yet recovered from the fractured knee, smashed elbow, broken ribs and broken wrist he suffered in the May 21 crash, Rodgers has missed more of this season than he has managed. His frustrations have mounted higher than his pile of X-rays, initially because he was distanced from the team in the weeks after his surgery and more recently because he was so near, at home in Yorba Linda, but unable to leave his wheelchair and walk into the dugout.

“I feel right in the middle of it, and sometimes I feel I’m the cause of it, because this is the team I picked out of spring training, at least most of it,” said Rodgers, whose return has been postponed until mid-August.

“Obviously, we’re not going to win the pennant. You don’t have to be a smart person to realize we’re not going to catch Minnesota and the A’s at this point. Hopefully we can get back in it a little and be competitive. . . . We’ve got a lot of work to do in the second half, a lot of work to do.”

John Wathan, the interim manager, has been in an untenable position since May 20. He has had to be wary of being too assertive to avoid criticism that he’s encroaching on Rodgers’ territory, but strong enough to lead a team that lost 11 consecutive games from June 28-July 10.

At the halfway point, the Angels were 32-49, which would project to 98 losses, three more than the club record set in 1968 and equaled in 1980. They resume play today after the All-Star break with a 35-52 record and a .402 winning percentage, the worst in the major leagues.

“I’m very disappointed I couldn’t do more for Buck than what we’ve done,” Wathan said.

It isn’t his fault that the Angels’ team batting average of .241 is the lowest in the AL, or that Chuck Finley was slow to recover from toe surgery and hasn’t recovered his biting forkball, or that the offense won’t support Jim Abbott (4-11) in the manner Abbott’s 2.96 earned-run average deserves.

Nor is it his fault that Bryan Harvey has had an inflamed elbow since May; that the comeback of 41-year-old Bert Blyleven has soured after a promising start; that second baseman Bobby Rose lost the spark that won him a starting job in spring training, and that first baseman Lee Stevens can’t hit more than .200.

The pleasant surprises have been few. Chief among them are two rookies--Gary DiSarcina, who has produced respectable offensive numbers while playing solid defense at shortstop, and outfielder Chad Curtis, whose intensity still exceeds his patience at the plate.

Julio Valera has pitched well since being acquired in April for Dick Schofield, and Rene Gonzales, expected to be a utility infielder, won a regular job when his bat connected while those around him were silent. Luis Polonia remains a base-stealing threat (he ranks second in the AL with 30 steals) and Junior Felix, while still prone to defensive lapses, was productive in April and May before faltering.

“The team misses Buck. John has a tough job to do, but that’s not to make excuses,” said Whitey Herzog, the senior vice president for player personnel. “I didn’t think we’d be a contender this year, but I thought with our pitching we’d be respectable. We don’t have Von Hayes producing and we don’t have Hubie Brooks in the lineup (because of a neck injury) and we don’t have a big-league RBI man in the lineup outside of Gary Gaetti, and he ain’t doing it.”

Said Rodgers: “Mostly I think we need some veteran leadership. You can’t expect DiSarcina, Curtis and (John) Orton or somebody like that to do it. It’s the Von Hayeses and Gary Gaettis and the veterans on the club who have to do it, just to mention a couple. They’re going to have to step up and take charge, not only on the field but in the clubhouse.”

The Angels have gotten mixed results from their decision to go with their youngsters, a course taken partly out of necessity after they lost Wally Joyner to free agency and failed to land Bobby Bonilla in a bidding war, and partly for Herzog to learn the organization’s assets.

After some early jitters, DiSarcina has learned not to rush his throws and has become a reliable shortstop. His .246 average, a season low, is 21 points higher than Schofield’s 1991 average.

“The first half was disappointing from a team standpoint, but I accomplished a good foundation,” DiSarcina said. “I’m looking forward to the second half and I’m taking it as a challenge to do better than in the first half.”

Curtis, aside from a bad habit of first-pitch hitting, is mature beyond his 23 years and eager to learn. “I think my run production could have been better, but I think I’ve done what they’ve asked defensively, and that was their biggest question coming into the season,” said Curtis, who hit .257 with six homers, 26 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 68 games.

Joe Grahe, though unable to keep a spot in the starting rotation, has found a niche as a reliever during Harvey’s absence. He’s converted each of his four save opportunities and is adjusting nicely, with the only drawback a tender elbow that keeps him from pitching on successive days.

“He’s throwing the ball real well,” said Rodgers, who remains in frequent contact with Wathan and Herzog. “We’re just finding out what Joe can do. He’s been very impressive out of the pen and can be a starter if we need him.”

Stevens, Rose and Orton have not been as successful.

“Stevens has not put up Hall of Fame numbers,” Herzog said. “He’s been a disappointment. I’m sure he’s been a disappointment to himself, too. I think everybody expected more. Buck and John have given him a fair chance.

“Orton, I don’t know yet. We know how good he can catch and throw but we know the most he ever hit was .240 and there haven’t been too many players who hit more in the majors than in the minors. The only one I can think of is Rogers Hornsby.”

Two injuries to his right shoulder, one during spring training and one in June, have put Orton on the disabled list twice and made it difficult to assess his performance.

“Obviously, you can’t carry a first-string catcher who hits a buck fifty,” Rodgers said. “The first thing we’ve got to find out is can John Orton hit .230 to .240? The other part of the game we know.”

Rose, who hit .214 in 27 games, was going to be worked back into the lineup in late May but suffered a sprained ankle in the bus mishap and went on the disabled list.

When Rose was fit, Gonzales was too hot offensively for Rose to dislodge him. The purchase of Ken Oberkfell’s contact from triple-A Edmonton last week reinforced how far Rose has fallen out of the second-half picture.

That picture will feature less of Gaetti (.226, 17 errors) at third base, less of Stevens at first and more of Hayes at first to open up right field for Tim Salmon, who has led the Pacific Coast League in hitting, RBIs and home runs much of the season.

Although they initially wanted Salmon to have a full season in triple-A, Herzog and Rodgers are now inclined to bring him up within the next few weeks.

“I don’t think he necessarily needs a whole season there. Maybe (he would be recalled) the first of August, sometime during the first two weeks of August,” Rodgers said. “Then we can give him a good six weeks to two months’ experience. He’d only get one more month there and that’s not going to make a difference. Bringing him here at the break, at that point would be a little too soon. Any other kids, we wouldn’t call up until September. I don’t think right now we’re crazy about bringing a whole bunch of kids up now.”

Herzog is still eager to add a bat to the lineup, having seen Hayes’ .243 average and sporadic production and having seen Brooks hampered by a slow-healing neck injury. Both are in the final year of their contracts and are unlikely to return.

“I don’t know how we’re going to be able to do it. I stay up nights thinking about it,” Herzog said. “If we have (infielder Damion) Easley, Salmon and (infielder Kevin) Flora in the lineup next season we have more speed but we still don’t have a home run threat. And one is not enough, really. But I think if we get that one guy, we have a chance to win next year. . . .

“We’ve got to have one--and I’m not against two--power hitters. When I managed in St. Louis we had Jack Clark, and we won two pennants. All the guys in front of Jack Clark got fastballs. The year he missed 100 games we were never in the race. The next year, we won 101. One guy changed the whole lineup.”

Rodgers’ absence from the dugout has had an immeasurable effect. Able to get the most out of limited talent when he managed the Montreal Expos, Rodgers was doing the same the first month of this season with the Angels. Although some players said the team under Wathan got away from the delayed steals and hit-and-runs and fundamentals Rodgers had emphasized, Wathan often couldn’t copy Rodgers’ strategy because no one was getting on base.

“Hopefully we’re not that far removed from what we did in spring training. If we are, we have to revive,” Rodgers said. “We’re undisciplined at the plate: (during one game) I counted at one point guys swinging at five first pitches in a row and only one of those was a legitimate, down-the-pipe strike. We’re not getting walks and we’re not getting scoring opportunities. Those are things we have to get back to.”

Said Wathan: “It’s going to be a long haul to get to .500. Pick a day, like the All-Star break, and if we play .500 for the rest of the way that would be an improvement.”

Rodgers hasn’t given up on salvaging something from this season.

“We’ve got to play with pride. We’ve got to forget about being embarrassed. We’ve got to forget about being in last place,” he said. “We’re not going to win the pennant, but we can be aggressive and think about team goals. If we get close to .500 and do some things that we can, and as an organization develop some players, it’s not a total loss.”

The Angels’ Ups-and Downs

MAY 1 MAY 15 MAY Games Games Year Record Place Behind Record Place Behind Record Place 1992 12-10 4 -2 1/2 18-16 3-2 21-26 5-6 1991 10-11 4* -4 17-16 4* -2 1/2 26-20 3 1990 9-11 4 -6 13-20 6 -13 23-25 4 1989 15-10 4 -3 1/2 24-13 2* -1 33-16 1*

30 Games Year Behind 1992 1991 -2 1990 -9 1/2 1989 -

JUNE 15 ALL-STAR BREAK Games Games Year Record Place Behind Record Place Behind 1992 26-36 5 -12 35-52 7 -18 1991 33-27 4 -3 1/2 44-37 3 -2 1990 31-31 *3 -10 41-43 4 -11 1989 36-26 3 -4 52-33 1* -

Source: California Angels