Angels Fans in Heaven as Star Returns : Baseball: Jim Abbott, the one-handed pitcher who was traded in 1992, gets a warm homecoming from admirers.

California Angels fans, who have seen hero after hero traded or just plain shown the door, gathered here Thursday night to rejoice in a rare reunion.

Jim Abbott, born without a right hand but nonetheless a formidable pitcher, was traded by the Angels at the peak of his skill and popularity. Thursday he returned to the fold after 2 1/2 seasons with enemy teams, and a large, enthusiastic crowd blew a collective kiss.

“Most of us feel trading Abbott was the worst move we ever made,” said souvenir seller Sue Hess of Orange. “And [bringing him back] is the best move we ever made.” Many agreed.

“The phones have been crazy all day,” said Debbie Engle, the stadium lobby director. “It’s Jim Abbott, and they want season tickets.”

With news out that Abbott was back and due to start Thursday’s game, lines began forming at Anaheim Stadium at 4 p.m.--1 1/2 hours before the gates opened and more than three hours before game time.

“You bet I’m excited,” said Jack Kirby of Westlake Village, who had left work early and driven two hours to stand in the ticket line. “I wouldn’t miss him. . . . He’s going to be a great draw for the club.”

At the gates, members of the Angels booster club in full booster-club uniform were handing out specially minted buttons for the event reading “Class Reunion/Jim Abbott/1995.”

More than the usual pregame crowd bunched up behind the Angels’ dugout on the third-base line, hoping to get a close look at Abbott.

He appeared 25 minutes before game time, stepping out of the dugout and heading toward left field to limber up. The crowd sent up a loud and long cheer, and when Abbott went into the bullpen to warm up, a swarm of fans lined the rails there.

Abbott smiled and waved, acknowledging the cheers.

As he walked from the bullpen to the dugout just before game time, the crowd gave him a long standing ovation. The already large crowd was still swelling with new arrivals 45 minutes after the game had started.

By then, Abbott and those who had seen his rookie season in 1989 must have been suffering from a case of deja vu. This second debut at Anaheim Stadium, just as his first, was against the Seattle Mariners. And just as in 1989, they jumped on Abbott early, putting him behind.

And just as in 1989, that mattered not at all to Angels fans, who cheered the strikes and booed the balls.

“We’re just so happy he’s back,” said Linda Meyer of West Covina, who was dressed head to toe in Angels colors. “He’s just so inspirational.” She is an elementary school teacher, “and my kids always talk about him.”

Abbott cradles his glove over his right forearm, delivers his pitch, then quickly slips his left hand into the glove to field batted balls. If he catches one, he cradles the glove with his right arm, pulls out the ball and makes the throw.

He had so perfected the maneuver by the time he played high school baseball in Flint, Mich., that he played outfield, first base and shortstop besides batting cleanup. One team, testing his fielding, ordered eight consecutive batters to bunt. He threw seven of them out.

The Angels used their first draft choice to acquire Abbott in 1988 and never sent him to the minor leagues. He became the team’s most popular player almost immediately, but in the midst of salary negotiations they traded him to the New York Yankees in 1992.

On the eve of his return to Anaheim Stadium as a Yankee the following season, he told a reporter the unexpected trade still affected him.

“Sometimes I still feel a little pain,” he said. “That was my first [professional] uniform. I still miss many of the guys. I still miss much about the area, but it’s all behind me.”

But Thursday the 27-year-old star was back in an Angels uniform, and Terry Sterling of Ontario couldn’t have been happier.

“It think it’s great,” he gushed. “He shouldn’t have left in the first place.”

Times staff writer Len Hall and correspondent Alan Eyerly contributed to this story.

* RELATED STORY: C1