Angels Suffer Through a Catchers-22 : Baseball: Starter Myers, reserve Billmeyer are injured as the Red Sox score a 5-3 victory.

John Dopson always ridiculed those who talked about the ghosts of Fenway, wondering how any adult can actually believe this place is haunted.

He spent five years pitching for the Boston Red Sox, and never once did he sense any evil spirits tormenting the opposition. He figured it was nothing more than an excuse for losing.

Dopson, pitching for the first time in his career as an opponent at Fenway, vowed to prove to his Angel teammates Saturday that this place is like any other. There is no curse, no hex and no spell cast upon those who dare play the Red Sox.

Well, guess who quickly became a believer, and is convinced the demons are for real.

The Angels watched in horror as they lost, 5-3, and witnessed the cruel happenings to their starting catcher, a bullpen catcher and a reliever, all of whom are heading on different flights out of town.

“Wow, what a day,” Dopson said. “It started off weird and got a whole lot worse. I guess what they say about this place is right.”

Greg Myers, the Angels’ starting catcher, was put on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a possible strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He will be examined today to determine if surgery is necessary and will be replaced on the roster by Jorge Fabregas, who is batting .118 at triple-A Vancouver.

Myers’ injury occurred in the fifth inning in a home-plate collision with Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell. Mo Vaughn hit a fly ball to center fielder Chad Curtis and Greenwell tagged from third, Curtis’ throw arriving at the plate as Greenwell did. Greenwell lowered his left shoulder, and his elbow caught Myers flush in the face.

Myers was knocked backward, the ball came flying out of his glove and he lay motionless on the ground. He was helped off the field, and X-rays at Children’s Hospital showed that no bones were broken.

“I remember my neck snapping back and ringing in my head,” Myers said, “but when I came to, that’s when I felt my knee. It wasn’t moving.”

Mick Billmeyer, the Angel bullpen catcher, didn’t even make it to the first pitch. He was warming up Dopson in the bullpen before the game and was expecting Dopson to throw a slider. Instead, a fastball shattered a bone in his left arm. He will be sidelined four to six weeks.

“The only good thing about it,” said Billmeyer, pointing to his cast, “is that Bo (Jackson) signed it and wished me a happy birthday. I think I’ll cut off his part, sell it for $10,000, and pay for my car.”

Reliever Mike Butcher, who had a 16.62 earned-run average, was optioned to Vancouver. He will be replaced by Ken Patterson, who has a 9.53 ERA at Vancouver.

“You can’t get mad when things are going this bad,” Butcher said. “I don’t think it’s anything physical or mechanical, but mental. It was like a roller-coaster inside my head.”

Dopson, who gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in four innings, is 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA and becomes the leading candidate to depart when Joe Magrane returns in two weeks.

“It was a tough day for me,” Dopson said, “but a real bad day for catchers.”

The Angels have now gone 612 days since winning at Fenway Park. They have not won here since Aug. 20, 1992, when Bert Blyleven was the winning pitcher. They have lost a franchise-record eight consecutive games at Fenway, and have not won a series in Boston since 1983.

“The way things are going here,” Billmeyer said, “we’d fall off the Hindenburg and land on the Titanic.”

Rookie Chris Turner will inherit the bulk of the catching duties. He is batting .111, and is hitless in his last 18 at-bats.

The Mild, Mild West

The Angels lost their second game in a row to fall two games below .500 but still lead the new AL West. A look at the standings:

Team W L GB Angels 8 10 -- Oakland 7 10 1/2 Texas 5 10 1 1/2 Seattle 5 11 2