BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Ryan’s Final Anaheim Stadium Start

The telephone rang in Angel Manager Buck Rodgers’ office at 5:33 p.m. He listened, wrote down the names of the Texas Ranger probable starters, and had one question: “So, this Ryan going Friday, is he a right-hander or left-hander?” Rodgers asked, laughing.

Nolan Ryan, baseball’s all-time strikeout king, is scheduled to make his last appearance at Anaheim Stadium Friday. “I’ll be the one behind the curtain that night,” said Angel starter Chuck Finley, who will face him.

The only ones who appear to be annoyed about Ryan’s start being Friday is the Angel front office. You see, the Angels had already sold 35,000 seats for Friday’s game because it is a group discount night. The Angel front office was hoping he would start Saturday, where there is no scheduled promotion, and fully capitalize on Ryan’s final appearance.

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Angel rookie third baseman Eduardo Perez will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test today to examine his inflamed right elbow. Preliminary X-rays were negative, but he has been told not to throw.