With Hudler, Angels Have a Leg to Stand On

Now that Dick Schofield is back, filling in for this era’s injured Angel shortstop, the most likely candidate to replace the injured Angel second baseman should be obvious.

But at 46, Bobby Grich sadly reports his range isn’t what it used to be.

“If I could run, I’d give it a try,” Grich said as he laughed into the phone from his home in Long Beach.

“I still can turn it a little bit. When I work out with the minor leaguers, I take some double-play balls and I can make the pivot all right. And my arm, actually, is fine. I’ve always been blessed with the strong arm . . .

“But if you could see me run, you wouldn’t want me out there. It’s ugly.”

Shame, because the last time the Angels won one of these division titles, nearly a decade ago now, Schofield-to-Grich was the Old Faithful of double-play combinations.

And if it worked once . . .

“It’d be like old home week,” Grich mused. “The double-play combo that never went out of style.”

Grich played his last major league game on Oct. 15, 1986--Game 7 of the Boston-California American League championship series. Grich announced his retirement shortly after the final out at Fenway, the Angels haven’t been back to the playoffs since, draw your own conclusions.

Grich now plays mostly golf--he’s up to 67 on his personal quest to play Golf Digest’s “100 Greatest Courses in America”--when he isn’t tutoring 19-year-old second basemen as the Angels’ roving minor-league infield instructor. The closest approximation to actual baseball game competition Grich has seen this year was an all-day slo-pitch tournament in July--with Grich, Doug DeCinces, Fred Lynn and Steve Garvey brought in as ringers for the Western Digital corporate headquarters team.

“We ended playing 13 three-inning games,” Grich said, “and, of course, we won every game. It was slo-pitch, so we all went about 45 for 45. In 13 games, I ran around the bases 45 times. I was so stiff and sore, I couldn’t walk for three weeks.”

OK, so a comeback tomorrow is probably unlikely. But Damion Easley’s left knee is sprained, the prognosis is day to day, Chico Lind already has been run in and out of here--what other options do the Angels have?

Rob Wilfong?

Johnny Ray?

Bobby Rose?

Rex Hudler?

Actually, yes, Rex Hudler. His was the name on Tuesday night’s lineup card, right in the slot where Easley’s used to be. Anything wrong with that? Well, the Angels have had their doubts--that was the reason for Lind’s trial and error when Easley first moved to shortstop to replace Gary DiSarcina--and putting Hudler’s .242 batting average alongside Schofield’s light timber is still not their idea of a long-term solution.

But Tuesday’s medical news was hopeful for the Angels--no torn ligaments, only a sprain, Easley could be back as soon as the weekend. Until then, it will be Hudler, at least until the engine overheats, and Grich can see an upside in giving a shot to a hyperactive utility man with one finger perpetually stuck in the electrical socket.

“Hudler’s a little streaky,” Grich said, rather diplomatically, “but he’s such a big personality, he can be a great guy to have out there this time of year. I’d love to see Rex Hudler go on a tear for three weeks. That’s the best thing that could happen for the California Angels.

“He’s somebody who can get hot and inspire a team. He loves to play the game, he has great enthusiasm. This kind of guy can be contagious on a baseball team.”

Grich alluded to Elrod Hendricks and Paul Blair, a couple of teammates during his days with the Baltimore Orioles.

“They were always yakking and laughing and keeping us loose,” Grich said. “They were one of the hidden reasons behind the Baltimore Orioles’ success. You didn’t read much about that then, but those kind of characters are very valuable to have on a team.”

When these remarks were relayed to Hudler during batting practice Tuesday, his normal used-car-salesman-on-a-coffee-binge delivery slowed to a hushed, reverential tone.

“Bobby Grich. Man, that’s who I patterned myself after,” Hudler said. “I liked his toughness, his mental toughness, the way he hung in there on the pivot. I liked the way he dropped to one knee to field a ground ball. I loved the way he played.

“We’re both about the same size, a couple of 200-pound second basemen. We’re not going to give away anything on a double play. I try to play like he did. Very tough. A lot of my football background goes into that.”

That same mentality prompted Hudler, a prep All-American wide receiver who was recruited by Notre Dame, to stomp into Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann’s office after the club announced it was recalling Lind for the purposes of starting at second base.

“I had a lot of questions there,” Hudler said. “I had to call Lach into his office and ask, ‘What’s up?’ I felt I had earned that position. What, I was good enough to play second base when we were one game up, but not good enough when we’re 11 up?”

Lachemann told Hudler that Lind and his Gold Glove were worth a try, if only to rule out the option. When it didn’t work, Easley returned to second base and Schofield was brought back to play shortstop. Then, when Easley was stretchered off Monday night, the eternal question had to be broached once more:

To play or not to play Hudler.

So what caused Lachemann to change his mind this time?

“It’s the defense I play, no question,” Hudler said. “During the last month, I showed him I can turn the double play and do it during crunch time. That’s what won him over. Finally. In September.”

The rest of this week belongs to Hudler and after that, who can say? Even Hudler has no idea. But that’s part of the package, part of the fun with Hudler. In the lineup, out of the lineup, in a slump, on a tear, in control, out of his gourd--he’s a tad “streaky,” as Grich puts it.

Hudler listened to that assessment and nodded again.

“I am a streak player,” he agreed. “And another streak is coming. It’s coming tonight.”