Easley Gets His Chance With Angels in a Hurry

At first glance, he could be mistaken for a bat boy, so young does Damion Easley look in his Angel uniform.

“Maybe,” he said, laughing. “Most people think I’m Dominican. A lot of Latin players speak Spanish to me and they’re surprised that I don’t answer.”

Which just proves that Easley is worth more than a quick look. Even before Rene Gonzales broke his arm last week and the Angels purchased Easley’s contract from triple-A Edmonton, they had seen enough to anoint him their third baseman of the future. Gonzales’ injury merely hastened Easley’s major league debut and gave the Angels extra time to evaluate this precocious 22-year-old.

“I don’t know the average age here, but I know I’m pretty young to be making it,” said Easley, who moved to California from New York at the age of 11 to be with his father. “I’m not going to pat myself on the back, but I did move pretty fast in the organization. Maybe I’m just mature for my age.”

Mature enough, the Angels hope, to make the transition to a new and difficult position.

Easley was an outfielder at Lakewood High School and Long Beach College, and he played shortstop for virtually all of his three-plus minor league seasons. Planning to recall Easley in September when rosters expand to 40, the Angels shifted him to third base a few weeks ago. When Gonzales was hurt, they promoted Easley instead of moving Gary Gaetti from first, having decided Gaetti’s defensive skills at third had eroded.

If Easley wasn’t surprised by the promotion, he was surprised by the timing.

“They put me over at third base the last week in triple A, I thought maybe for a September call-up to see how I was doing,” said Easley, who hit .289 for Edmonton in 108 games, with three homers, 44 runs batted in and 26 stolen bases. “It so happens there was a freak accident (Gonzales’ broken arm) and I got the call-up. I figured they wouldn’t move me to a different position without a reason, and it made sense.

“My coaches kind of hinted something was coming and said, ‘Take some ground balls at third base.’ But they left second and third open. I didn’t take it seriously, until one day in Portland they said, ‘You’re playing third.’ I just said, ‘OK.’ ”

Easley started all four games of the Angels’ series last weekend at Oakland, getting his first hit, RBI and error in Sunday’s 5-4 loss. He’s not polished and he sometimes seems to surround grounders rather than field them, but that can be refined. He’ll probably start most of the remaining nine games on the Angels’ road trip, which continues in Boston, with Gaetti seeing occasional duty at third.

“He has the physical tools to be a good player,” said first base coach Bobby Knoop, who was a major league second baseman 14 years. “He seems to be very comfortable about himself as a player and those are pluses. Then it’s probably a question of experience and knowledge of the game. . . . He could probably adapt to playing third and being such a good athlete, probably adapt pretty well.”

Easley has chosen not to ask Gaetti for advice. “I don’t confront him with questions. I want to figure things out myself,” Easley said. “He has helped me on a few occasions, saying “Relax, settle down,’ things like that.”

And Gaetti, a four-time Gold Glove winner at third, has chosen to wait for Easley to approach him.

“He’s going to have to learn how to play the position. I don’t have a problem talking to him,” Gaetti said. “He has to do what he thinks he should do, keep swinging the bat, if you make a mistake, try to learn from it.

“He’s in a tough position, having to learn how to play a position in the big leagues. There are some things he has to learn, positioning-wise. He’s going to have to learn the hitters, if playing third is what’s intended for him. He’s going to be all right. Besides,” Gaetti said with a wry smile, “I’m not in a real position to give him my expertise on playing third base. He doesn’t need to ask me.”

So far, Easley has decided an aggressive approach is best.

“They haven’t tried to overload me with things to think about. I’ve just tried to react,” he said. “You don’t have to play through every ball like at shortstop. You still have to read hops, and it’s a more straight angle than all those crooked angles at short. Bunts are the one thing I’m trying to learn, how to play bunts, slow rollers, the popup like (Saturday, when he and catcher Mike Fitzgerald became confused and a popup fell in). Knowing when to take control and call somebody off on a bunt, little things like that.

“It’s on-the-job training for me, but my attitude is I expect to do it right 100 out of 100 times. I know I’m going to make some mistakes; I’m human. We all are. But I don’t want to make costly mistakes, and the ones I want to avoid are more so the mental ones, the ones that can be avoided.

“I try to stay within myself and keep my emotions under control. Sometimes I get mad because I’m a perfectionist. I want to be better than I really can be. If that’s the way I have to be to succeed, so be it. If there’s any limitations I’ll know it because I’ll be pushing to find out. I’m not at all intimidated. I know I can play this game no matter what position they play me.”

Those who have seen him play believe him, despite his 29 errors at shortstop and one in six games at third on Edmonton’s notoriously bumpy infield.

“He’s very impressive,” said infielder Ken Oberkfell, Easley’s Edmonton teammate for half the season. “I’ve never seen him play third base, but I know he’s a good offensive player. He ran well, had a little power, although in that ballpark you can’t really judge. He made some errors, but again, it’s tough to judge in that ballpark because that infield is like a minefield. He’s got a lot of talent.

“Third is not an easy position. I started out playing second and it took me a year to adjust to third base. Once I adjusted, I realized it was a reaction position. You just react to the ball. He seems a little timid, but that’s understandable in his first few games. I just hope he doesn’t start pressing for hits. He can hit. I saw him hit there.”

Easley is eagerly anticipating the Angels’ upcoming series at New York, since he used to live “15, 20 minutes tops” from Yankee Stadium and most of his family still lives in the Bronx. He’s also looking forward to seeing his Edmonton teammates called up in September and also to next season, when Easley, Kevin Flora and Tim Salmon figure to be in the Angels’ regular lineup.

“Kevin has lots of speed and some pop also. He’s a weapon,” Easley said of Flora, a second baseman who has spent much time on the disabled list because of an ankle injury. “He gets on base and he can definitely steal second and third or score from first on a double. Tim Salmon can do it all. I always tell him he should steal some more bases because he runs extremely well for a big man.

“Let’s hope we’ll all be together next season. We all came up together and want to play together in the major leagues.”