ANGELS: ONE GAME FOR THE TITLE : COMMENTARY : Skimming Through a Few Pages of Angel History

Thirty-five seasons of Angel baseball are almost in the book--will there be just one more page, or a can’t-put-it-down final chapter?--and what are we to make of them? What are we to call this heartbreaking tome?

The Agony And . . . A Lot More Agony.

Withering Heights.

Hunt For Dead October

For those lacking the fortitude to plow through the entire gut-wrenching text of Angel history, a Cliff Notes version is provided herewith:

BEST TEAM

The 1986 Angels, by about 45 days over the 1995 group.

Seattle isn’t the only team to mount a rousing comeback during the past six weeks; the ’86 Angels were as good as gone in this category as of Aug. 15, in the estimation of too many pundits entranced by the beautiful arcing home runs of Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds and J.T. Snow. It became a popular topic of press box debate in early August: The ’86 or ’95 Angels--take your pick. Early results foreshadowed a 1995 landslide. I remember listening to one temporarily dazzled writer, who had covered both teams, give every positional matchup except catcher to the ’95 Angels.

Damion Easley over Bobby Grich?

Garret Anderson over Brian Downing?

Tony Phillips over Doug DeCinces?

Fortunately, 45 days is enough time for one to regain one’s grip. The whole race hadn’t been run by Aug. 15--and say this for the 86ers: They completed every step of their regular-season journey and deserved to be in the World Series. Their infield defense (Wally Joyner-Grich-DeCinces-Dick Schofield) was at least as sound as ‘95; they had Gold Glove winners at catcher (Bob Boone) and center field (Gary Pettis); they had a deeper starting rotation (Mike Witt-Kirk McCaskill-John Candelaria-Don Sutton) than ‘95; and as crotchety as they were, their veterans kept a volatile team from falling apart, at least until the fifth game of the playoffs.

Those veterans, I’m willing to bet, wouldn’t have allowed an 11-game lead to turn to dust in barely a month.

WORST TEAM

Longtime Angel sufferers still get misty-eyed over the motley crew of ’68 (67-95; .227 team batting average) and the Arson Squad losers of ’74 (68-94; Orlando Pena leads the club with three saves) and punchless wonders of ’75 (72-89; 55 home runs as a team).

But statistically--and aesthetically--the mantle of Worst Angel Team Ever has to go to the 1992 Angels, as the franchise dabbled in expansion caliber baseball for the second time in 30 years.

The ’92 Angels will always be remembered as the Bus Crash Angels, and that near-tragedy did emotionally drain the team for weeks. But on paper, there can be no denying: This was a bad, bad team.

Lee Stevens (.221) couldn’t replace Joyner at first base. Bobby Rose (.214) couldn’t hold down second base for more than a month. Gary Gaetti (.226) shared the team leadership in home runs with 12. Junior Felix (.246) was the only Angel to drive in more than 48 runs. Luis Polonia (.286) led the team in batting average. Manager Buck Rodgers went through five catchers--Lance Parrish (.233), Greg Myers (.231), John Orton (.219), Mike Fitzgerald (.212) and Ron Tingley (.197).

Von Hayes, Hubie Brooks, Alvin Davis, Ken Oberkfell and Rob Ducey all logged serious playing time on this squad.

Buoyed by such offensive support, Jim Abbott recorded a career-best 2.77 ERA--and finished 7-15. Mark Langston led the staff in victories at 13-14. Joe Grahe ended the year as bullpen ace.

This was the first step in Whitey Herzog’s grand rebuilding plan, and we should have been tipped off then and there. The ’92 Angels finished the year at 72-90, 24 games behind Oakland, and played over their heads to accomplish that.

ALL-TIME TEAM

First base--Joyner (‘86-91): He wasn’t Roy Hobbs, after all, and maybe he could have gutted out the shin injury in the ’86 playoffs, but he batted .288 over his Angel career, drove in 100 runs twice and started on the last two Angels teams that won 90 games.

Second base--Grich (‘77-86): The first inductee into the Angel Hall of Fame, and the only Angel second baseman to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs in a single season.

Third base--DeCinces (‘82-87): Arguably the Angels’ MVP during their AL West championship runs of ’82 and ’86. Hit .301 with 30 homers and 97 RBI in ‘82; had 26 homers, 96 RBIs and carried the Angels down the stretch in ’86.

Shortstop--Jim Fregosi (‘61-71): At least until Gary DiSarcina makes the AL All-Star team five more times.

Catcher--Boone (‘82-88): He won four Gold Gloves with the Angels--and Mike Port kept trying to cut his salary. Fed up, he bolted for Kansas City after the 1988 season--for a raise of $1.

Left field--Downing (‘78-90): Leads the Angels in every important career hitting category except average, triples and stolen bases. Still carries a grudge over the tackiness in which his 1990 release was handled, which is why he still refuses the Angels’ invitations to join their Hall of Fame.

Center field--Mickey Rivers (‘70-75): Fred Lynn was a World Series player before joining the Angels; Devon White after leaving them. Mick The Quick still holds the franchise single-season records for most steals (70) and triples (13). He also reached the World Series, after being traded to the New York Yankees.

Right field--Tim Salmon (‘93-present): The best player on the ’95 Angels, the best player the Angels’ farm system has ever produced.

Designated hitter--Don Baylor (‘77-82): Still the only Angel to win the AL MVP award. Pending Salmon’s election one of these years.

Right-handed pitcher--Nolan Ryan (‘72-79): How many World Series might the Angels have reached if he had stayed? Let’s see: ’82 . . . ’84 . . . ’85 . . . ’86 . . .

Left-handed pitcher--Frank Tanana (‘73-80): “Tanana and Ryan and two days’ of cryin.’ ” As soon as the Angels find some hitters, he hurts his arm. Then they trade him.

Relief pitcher--Bryan Harvey (‘87-92): The Angels’ leader in career and single-single saves and, blown-out elbow or no, the Angels should never have left him unprotected in the winter of ’92.

TAG TEAM

From Bill Rigney to Lefty Phillips to Del Rice all the way to Buck Rodgers and Marcel Lachemann, Angel managers keep coming and going, at a rate of one every 2 1/2 seasons, which means Lach, if history holds, has nothing to worry about this season. He only has 1 1/2 seasons in.

The managerial roll call, in order of time served (interim caretakers not included:)

1. Bill Rigney. Games persevered: 1,332. Highlight: Lasted more than eight years, a tenure better than twice as long as any Angel manager to follow him.

2. Gene Mauch. Games persevered: 711. Highlights: Two tours of duty, three 90-victory seasons, two AL West titles, quit both times on his own accord, only ex-Angel manager never fired.

3. Fregosi. Games persevered: 486. Highlight: Won the Angels’ first divisional title for Gene Autry, who said Fregosi was “like a son to me.” A year and a half later, Fregosi was fired by his surrogate dad.

4. Doug Rader. Games persevered: 448. Highlight: Won 91 games in 1989, 80 in 1990, didn’t make it through 1991.

5. Phillips. Games persevered: 447. Highlight: First Angel manager expected to make the playoffs and fail horribly. That was 1971, when the Angels were AL West favorites for the first time. Then Tony Conigliaro retired after 74 games, Alex Johnson blew a gasket, Roger Repoz batted .199, the Angels finished 76-86 and Phillips was fired at season’s end.

6. Dick Williams. Games persevered: 341. Highlight: Former pennant winner in Boston and Oakland hired to “save” the franchise, lost the first 10 games he managed with the Angels.

7. John McNamara. Games persevered: 324. Highlight: Managed the Angels before and after Mauch did.

8. Rodgers. Games persevered: 311. Highlight: First Angel manager to be fired for being too good a quote.

9. Bobby Winkles. Games persevered: 236. Highlight: Watched Winston Llenas set club single-season pinch-hit record in 1973.

10. Lachemann. Games persevered: 218. Highlight: April-August, 1995.

11. Del Rice. Games persevered: 155. Highlight: Had good seat for 39 starts by Nolan Ryan.

12. Cookie Rojas. Games persevered: 154. Highlight: Once broke up entire team by railing at them, “You’ve hit bottom rock!”

13. Norm Sherry. Games persevered: 147. Highlight: “Nice guy” who replaced “mean guy” Williams, quickly replaced by “nicer guy” Dave Garcia.

14. Dave Garcia. Games persevered: 126. Highlight: Fired in May, 1978, with Angels five games over .500.

BEST TRADE

Fregosi to the Mets for Leroy Stanton, Don Rose, Francisco Estrada and a young, wild right-hander named Nolan Ryan is tough to beat, anywhere, by any general manager, in any era.

For the record, Harry Dalton pulled the trigger on this one, on the 10th of December, 1971, surely one of the greatest days in Angeldom.

Along with the strikeouts, the no-hitters and the sole reason to live for Angel fans during the bleak early ‘70s, the trade also brought the Angels a fairly decent power hitter in Stanton, who hit so many home runs in 1975 (14, to lead the team), Orange County decided to name one of its cities after him.

Or so the legend goes.

WORST TRADE

Doug Corbett for Tom Brunansky used to be the standard bearer here, but while Corbett was indeed a bust in his first Angel season, 1982, he did contribute 10 saves to the Angels’ 1986 division title. And throw-in Rob Wilfong platooned effectively with Grich on that same ’86 club.

At some point this season, Dave Parker for Dante Bichette eclipsed Corbett-Brunansky, and the gap widens with every home run Bichette cranks into the Coors Field jet stream.

Bichette nearly won the triple crown while powering Colorado into the playoffs in only its third season. Parker? He barely lasted two thirds of a season, driving the can’t-miss Angels of ’91 out of the race by August, with 91 strikeouts and his mastery of the 4-6-3 double-play grounder.

BEST MOMENT

“Ground ball to Carew . . . he flips to Tanana covering . . . and the Angels win the American League West.” On Sept. 25, 1979, the Angels finally finished first in something besides disappointment and tragedy. It was their first division title after 18 luckless seasons and it kicked off an eight-year run in which the Angels won three AL West titles and placed a close second twice.

Who’d have imagined then that 1979-1986 would be the glory years?

WORST MOMENT

Donnie Moore to Dave Henderson, of course.

Is there even a runner-up?

Well, all right. Better check back on that one tomorrow.