With Season’s End, Questions Begin for Angels : Baseball: They survive season and finish tied for fifth place after 9-5 loss to Texas Rangers.

With little power in his lineup and an offense that figured to be no better than adequate, Buck Rodgers knew his wits would be tested this season. He didn’t know his recuperative powers would be pushed to their limit, too.

A season like no other ended Sunday for the Angels with a 9-5 loss to the Rangers before 21,986 at Anaheim Stadium. Although far from satisfied with his team’s 72-90 record--its worst since a 70-92 finish in 1983--Rodgers gained new appreciation for the idea of simply getting through a season.

“It’s over. I survived--barely,” said Rodgers, who was away for 89 games because of injuries he suffered in the team’s May 21 bus accident.

“But I think we learned a lot this year. A lot of good things happened,” he said after the Angels finished in a fifth-place tie with the Kansas City Royals in the AL West. “We didn’t finish well, but we didn’t finish last. We finished last last year (at 81-81). . . . This year only three teams in the division finished over .500, which means a lot of teams have work to do in the off-season, and we’re one of them.”

One of their tasks is to find a fifth starter, a search Bert Blyleven might have helped by ending the season as he started it.

Blyleven (8-12) gave up 12 hits and six runs in 4 2/3 innings Sunday to lose his fifth consecutive decision and seventh in his last eight starts. Among the hits he yielded were a first-inning single in Brian Downing’s last at-bat before retiring and a third-inning home run by Juan Gonzalez, which gave the 22-year-old outfielder the major league home run title with 43.

Gonzalez shared the AL lead with Oakland’s Mark McGwire until his second at-bat Sunday, when he hit a Blyleven pitch to left field for a 4-0 Ranger lead.

Rodgers is not sure if Blyleven will fit into the Angels’ plans next season. Blyleven, 41, was 3-0 and had a 1.67 earned-run average on June 16, but his breaking pitches became inconsistent as the season wore on. He won only one game after Aug. 20 and remains 13 victories short of 300 after giving up 150 hits and 70 earned runs in 133 innings, for an ERA of 4.74.

“I don’t think you’re going to go one way or the other with Bert until you see how the club’s made up and what we do over the winter,” Rodgers said of Blyleven, who left Anaheim Stadium without talking to reporters.

The Angels have more questions than answers going into the off-season, but it’s certain several players in Sunday’s lineup won’t be back. Among them are reliever Scott Bailes, who hopes a submarine delivery might revive his career; and first baseman Lee Stevens, who batted .221.

For others, though, 1992 was pleasantly memorable.

Said Tim Fortugno, the 30-year-old rookie who won a spot in the bullpen: “I couldn’t have enjoyed it more, from my first start to giving up George Brett’s 3,000th hit (Wednesday). I got a taste of what it’s all about after 6 1/2 years in the minors, and it was a dream come true. In that sense, I walk out of here with my head up.”

Angel Attendance

Sunday: 21,986

1991 (81 dates): 2,416,236

1992 (81 dates): 2,065,444

Decrease: 350,792

Average: 25,499