BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Voodoo Nothing New to Rodgers

Several of his Angel teammates laugh about it, but Manager Buck Rodgers says that Luis Polonia’s superstitions about his voodoo dolls shouldn’t be taken so lightly.

If Polonia really believes that the wooden doll he purchased in Kansas City, called “Mughambi,” was responsible for ending his 0-for-20 slump Tuesday, so be it, Rodgers said.

“Really, it’s nothing compared to some of the things I’ve seen,” Rodgers said of the superstition.

Rodgers remembers when pitcher Fred Kuhaulua reported to spring training with the Angels in 1977 and told them that he was unable to lift his left arm. The Angels examined him, found nothing physically wrong, but were told by Kuhaulua that this was much worse than an arm injury.

Kuhaulua informed the Angels that one of his acquaintances got angry with him during the winter, and the consequence was that the mother put a spell on him, preventing him from lifting his arm.

The Angels, not having any idea what to do, called up Tom Sommers, their farm director. He told them they had no choice but to telephone the mother in Hawaii and pleaded for them to remove the curse.

“He couldn’t comb his hair or even pitch,” Rodgers said, “but the day the mother called him and removed the spell, he was fine.

“That’s why you can’t take these things lightly, because these guys believe in these things.”

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Although it’s premature to say how Gary Gaetti will fit in with the Kansas City Royals, Rodgers says that Gaetti is playing as if there has been a huge burden lifted from his shoulders. “He looks like he has been just been released from a cage,” Rodgers said. “I think he felt like he was in a cage in Anaheim, but a lot of that was his own making. It was like he kept waiting for the fans to get on him and always had bad vibes. “It’s like he has a free mind, now.”

Gaetti, who was kept out of the starting lineup Wednesday, has batted .375 this series with a homer and two RBIs.

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Reliever Ken Patterson, who perhaps is the endangered pitcher on the Angels’ staff, has unusual statistics this season. He has allowed only two of 20 inherited runners to score this season, but owns a 6.92 ERA.

“Right now, he’s not throwing any pitch that hitters don’t like,” Rodgers said. “He keeps getting in trouble at the start of innings, but I don’t have the luxury to just pull him out. The way we’re going now, we could use about eight guys in the bullpen.”