This Reunion Took Awhile

He was there on that fateful December morning when the trigger was pulled and he was helpless, powerless, unable to do anything but watch as his best friend in the business was blown away, all the way to New York.

Worse still, Tim Mead had the dirty task of breaking the news to the media. That was Mead’s job then--director of public relations for the Angels, or, in the official parlance of the period, “Weekly Bearer of Bad Tidings.” Mead was the one who got to announce on Dec. 6, 1992, “the California Angels have traded Jim Abbott to the New York Yankees . . .”

He still regards it as one of the two worst days of his professional life.

“That and Game 5 of the ’86 playoffs,” Mead says. “The bus crash would have to factor in there, too. To me, those were the toughest.

“I remember getting ready to make the announcement in front of 300 people in a packed conference room and telling my wife, ‘This is one time when I truly don’t like my job.’ ”

Mead’s response, though not immediate, was to change jobs.

From Angel publicist to Angel assistant general manager.

From the guy who types the news release to the guy who makes the news to be released.

From a conscientious objector to a grave injustice to a player in the power structure with enough clout to maybe do something about it.

Mead became Bill Bavasi’s assistant in January of 1994 and says “from Day 1” he began working on the re-acquisition. “I remember saying, ‘Billy, I’m really not a scouting assistant general manager, or a player-development assistant general manager, but I can tell you this: I think Jim Abbott would be a great fit here.’ ”

So the “class reunion” that those freebie badges distributed to Angel fans promised Thursday night turned out to be decidedly third class.

So Seattle scored once off Abbott in the top of the first and twice more in the top of third and a whole bunch more in his six-plus innings, en route to a 10-7 streak-killing Angel defeat.

In Mead’s mind, this was still a momentous night in the history of the franchise because “without being unprofessional, to me, it’s what’s supposed to be. People in Milwaukee felt Paul Molitor never should have been anything but a Brewer. People in Orange County feel the same about Jim Abbott. He should have never not been an Angel. . . . He’s always been associated with the Angels. He may have a no-hitter in the Yankee record book, but he’s still an Angel.”

Blowout or no, with or without the seventh-inning hook, Thursday was a milestone for the franchise--the truest example of “fan appreciation” seen in these parts since September ’86. The people wanted Abbott back and, for once, the Angels proceeded to give the people what they want.

If not a singular event in Orange County, it is close.

The people here wanted professional football. Georgia Frontiere gave them the Rams, then moved the Rams to St. Louis. Before and after, same effect: No professional football in Orange County.

The people here want a few hockey players who can move them to leap out of their seats, screaming. The Mighty Ducks give them ticket prices that move them into their seats, screaming.

But the Angels brought back Abbott. If they never win another game--no need to panic; it’s just a figure of speech--they will always have that. From last Thursday on, no one can ever again say the Angels never gave anything back to the community.

Abbott’s return to Anaheim Stadium also signaled the fans’ return to Anaheim Stadium. Thursday’s crowd of 34,674 was an increase of more than 11,000 from Wednesday. Part of that, Mead noted, was because of a group-discount promotion, but Mead was being modest. Mostly, it was because of Abbott, who received two standing ovations before he threw a pitch--one as he walked into the bullpen, the other as he walked out of it.

The applause, according to Mead, was 1 1/2 years in the making.

“We tried hard to put a deal together with the Yankees for him during spring training of ‘94,” Mead said. “I don’t think Jim Abbott was ever ‘out of sight, out of mind’ with the people in this organization.”

Not with Mead maintaining daily contact with Bavasi. Mead and Abbott became tight during the 1989 season, when Mead served as virtually a personal publicist for Abbott, sifting through the rookie’s mountain of fan mail, interview requests and public-appearance dates.

“I got to see things with Jim that I’d have never seen in any other situation,” Mead said. “I saw how kids with handicaps looked at him. I saw him shed tears with people. I saw him give hope to people. . . . Later, when I saw him at charity events wearing a different uniform, I always felt, ‘He should be doing that in an Angels uniform.’ ”

Often, he mentioned the same thing to Bavasi.

“With Bob [Fontaine, Angel scouting director] and me, it was always, ‘How can we talk Billy into this?’ ” Mead said. “I know a few times Billy had to put up his hands and say, ‘Listen, that’s enough. This is the budget, it’s not going to happen, let it go.’ ”

But Mead and Fontaine pressed onward, “extolling Jimmy’s virtues,” as Mead laughingly put it, until, finally, Bavasi decided to make the trade, just to give his eardrums a break.

Abbott has been better than he was Thursday night, but Thursday night, for the first time in 2 1/2 years, he was an Angel in Anaheim. That has to count for something.

“I told Jim he took a 2 1/2-year sabbatical,” Mead said as he watched old No. 25 try it again as new No. 52. “Now, it’s time to come back to work.”