Head in the Clouds : Angels’ Fast Start and New Attitude Have Buck Rodgers Feeling Heavenly

Angel Manager Buck Rodgers flung his clothes into his suitcase Thursday morning, called for the bellman and anxiously waited for six hours before boarding the team’s charter flight for Baltimore.

“You can’t blame me for getting excited, can you?” Rodgers said. “Hey, I get to see the new ballpark. . . .

“After many inconveniences, I finally get to see the place.

“It’s called Camden Yards, right?”

Rodgers, hired by the Angels on Aug. 26, 1991, wound up on a hillside off the New Jersey Turnpike the last time he tried to reach Baltimore. He was laid up for three months after the May 21, 1992, bus crash, and by the time he returned, the Angels had already played in Oriole Park at Camden Yards the second and final time.

In fact, considering that Rodgers was hired after the Angels had made their last East Coast trip in 1991, Rodgers has not managed in Baltimore since 1982, when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Hey, with the way we’re playing now,” Rodgers said, “I’ll

tag along with them wherever they want to go.”

The Angels, who were rained out Thursday at Milwaukee and will open a three-game series beginning today against the Orioles, have everyone in the organization feeling a bit giddy these days with their 5-2 record--equaling their finest start in club history. A team that was expected to finish in the cellar of the American League West has emerged as the league’s biggest surprise the first week of the season.

“I think people think we’re playing just to silence all of our critics,” Angel third baseman Rene Gonzales said. “Hey, we’re not about that. We just want to go out there and have fun.

“What do you think, it’s showing, huh?”

The Angels, who used to be known for going their separate ways after games, have become quite a close-knit team.

Seventeen players got together on their off-day for a “Paint Ball” war in which they shot pellets of paint at one another in simulated war games. Veterans Chili Davis and Gonzales invited rookie J.T. Snow and newcomer Torey Lovullo to dinner after Monday’s first road game. During Wednesday’s game, in near-freezing temperatures, coach Ken Macha could hear the reserves clapping and cheering from where he stood in the third-base coaching box.

The esprit de corps reached such extremes that Rodgers has the distinct feeling he was the only one exuberant by Thursday’s rainout against the Brewers. He was hoping for a rainout simply to allow him the luxury of delaying the need for a fifth starter for another week. The game is expected to be rescheduled Aug. 27 or Aug. 28 as part of a doubleheader.

“We’ve got a team right now that can’t wait to get to the ballpark,” Rodgers said. “I was probably the only one who wanted to get rained out; everybody else wanted to play.”

Who can blame them? The Angels are batting .312, with six regulars hitting at least .300, and are batting .367 with runners in scoring position. They have stolen 11 consecutive bases, scored 17 runs in the eighth and ninth innings the last two games, scored 31 runs during the last three games and have four comeback victories.

They also are winning games, Rodgers says, that he never thought possible.

How in the world could the Angels win games in which Scott Sanderson yielded a first-inning grand slam, Mark Langston lasted only three innings and Chuck Finley gave up four runs in the first two innings?

“It’s crazy,” Rodgers said, “but I think part of the reason we’re going so good is because of our emotion. It’s contagious. It’s that kind of emotion you pray for as a coach or manager. You want to keep it going as long as you can.”

There will be time soon enough, Rodgers says, when the Angels’ emotional high will be diminished. They have yet to face a stellar pitching staff, and the idea of stepping in against Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson isn’t too appealing.

But considering that the Angels are the youngest team in the division, with six everyday players having fewer than 2 1/2 years of major league experience, the first week could prove to be beneficial to their confidence.

“I think it’s important that we’ve gotten off to a start like this,” Davis said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys in here, and I think this will help prove to them they can play.

“The big thing is we don’t have just one or two guys carrying this team. No one has the burden of carrying the load on their shoulders. Everyone’s contributing, and that’s important.

“It’s a long season, I know, but I think some people are starting to get the idea that this might be quite a different season than anyone thought.”