Hudler Gets Bugs Out of Angels, 8-5

He used to eat bugs to motivate his teammates in St. Louis. He swallowed a worm last season while playing for the Yakult Swallows in Japan.

“I rode the pine a lot,” Rex Hudler said, “and got bored. I had to come up with something to get my teammates going. So I always had to resort to something crazy.

“You know, those things didn’t taste too bad--kind of like bacon--but my wife told me she doesn’t want me to do that stuff anymore.”

So Hudler has taken the conventional approach, and is relying now on his bat, which he used effectively to lead the Angels to an 8-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night in front of 12,626 fans at Tiger Stadium.

“These have been the three most exciting months of my life,” said Hudler, who went three for three with a double, home run and two runs batted in. “My wife gave birth to our first baby. Mr. (Bill) Bavasi offered me a major league contract. And now this. It’s a small miracle.

“I’m just happy for the team, really. I mean, my mom and dad don’t even have me on their fantasy baseball league, so I’m not worrying about numbers.”

Since being moved into the leadoff spot last Wednesday, Hudler is batting .625 with five doubles, three homers and seven RBIs. He has hit a home run in each of the last three games he has started.

New Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann, who had never seen Hudler until last Thursday, started him at second base against a right-handed pitcher for the first time Saturday. He tried it again Tuesday against Bill Gullickson. Now, Hudler, 33, just might be staying in the lineup until further notice.

Who could have imagined that someone who was out of the major leagues at the end of the 1992 season, spent last season helping his team win the Japanese World Series and was released this spring by the San Francisco Giants, is becoming an Angel savior?

“Fortunately, I picked a good year to come back, with the rabbit ball,” said Hudler, who is batting .429 and has a .786 slugging percentage. “I have the greatest batting coach in the world in Rod Carew. I’ve got everything you’d possibly want.”

It’s his infectious personality, his ability to make everyone around him a little more cheerful, that has endeared Hudler to his teammates. Pitcher Mark Langston had been trying to get the Angels to acquire him for the last four years, and now that he’s here, his teammates wonder if he is for real.

“Mark told me all the stories about him,” said Angel starter Chuck Finley (4-3), who won his third consecutive game, yielding seven hits and five runs--three earned--in six innings. “It’s like you can’t believe it until you see it. His enthusiasm is very welcome.”

Langston said: “He’s one of the most exciting guys I’ve ever seen play. Nobody I’ve ever played with has the intensity he has. He’s picked this whole team up. Believe me, his attitude is contagious.”

As for the worm incident in Japan, Hudler said: “Jack Howell started asking the Japanese players on the team how much they’d give to see me eat a worm. He got about about $600 (worth of yen), so how could I refuse. It was a great spirit-lifter, but then the manager told the media: ‘Guess what my crazy American did today?’

“Next day, one headline said: ‘Crazy American eats worm.’ ”

The Angels (21-25) certainly are responding to Hudler, winning five of their last six games. It also appears that the bullpen might be responding to Lachemann, compiling a 0.59 earned-run average in the last six games, with a 1-0 record and four saves, including Joe Grahe’s seventh Tuesday.

“They’re probably doing it in spite of me,” Lachemann said.

This victory, though, was special for Lachemann. It was against Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson, his high school idol. Lachemann, his brother Rene, and Oakland coach Jim Lefebvre used to be batboys for Anderson’s American Legion team, Crenshaw Post 715.

“I couldn’t be happier for Marcel,” Anderson said. “I told him I was going to send him a telegram (when he was named Angel manager), but my minutes are very precious. I didn’t think I should waste them since he was coming to town in a few days.”