Legends of the Fall : Angels Vow to Put Their ’95 Disaster Behind Them and Learn From It

There were six letters to Angel pitcher Mark Langston, all postmarked on the same October day, with the same return address, and bearing the same basic message: “Don’t let one game ruin your career. Everything will be all right.”

Langston couldn’t help but laugh as he sat on the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse floor in January and read each one.

“It’s like this lady took it harder than me,” said Langston, the losing pitcher and tragic character in a 9-1 playoff game loss to the Seattle Mariners that determined the American League West champion last Oct. 2.

“For about a week after that game, I’d be walking around my house, stop, shake my head and say, ‘Damn!’ Especially after I saw how well Seattle did in the playoffs. But after that week, I was over it.”

But can the Angels get over one of the worst collapses in baseball history? Can they cope with the stigma of having blown an 11-game lead in early August and being labeled chokers?

Few expected them to beat Seattle ace Randy Johnson in that playoff game, which produced a scene that will be etched in the minds of Angel fans for years--Langston lying flat on his back at home plate, staring at the Kingdome ceiling, wondering what else could go wrong after Luis Sojo’s bases-loaded, broken-bat double had blown open a close game in the seventh inning.

But what about the weeks preceding that game?

Can the Angels take the negatives of 1995--the two late-season, nine-game losing streaks; the quickest disappearance, 35 days, of a double-digit lead this century; the horrendous pitching and batting slumps--and turn them into positives?

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina, whose severe thumb injury in early August might have triggered the collapse, believes the Angels must recover if they are to contend again in 1996.

“We can’t be dwelling on the blown lead because it’s going to negate all the progress we’ve made,” DiSarcina said. “We can’t let last year destroy this year.”

The key, Manager Marcel Lachemann and players believe, will be applying the lessons of 1995 to ’96 and focusing on the positives, not the negatives, of last season.

Lachemann, for instance, said he needs to rest his starters more during the grueling summer months, even if it means fielding weaker lineups on certain days, and do a better job of pacing relievers such as Troy Percival.

“The tendency is to go for the win today and take your chances with the next game,” said Lachemann, several of whose players gave way to fatigue and injuries last August and September.

“But you learn that the immediate game, while it is important, may not always be the top priority. I have to keep an eye on workloads. I may have to take some chances and lose a game so we can win two down the road.”

First baseman J.T. Snow learned that when you go into a skid, you need to pump the brake pedal gently, not jam it to the floor.

“Sometimes when you’re struggling, the best thing to do is take a step back, maybe not press or try so hard,” Snow said. “Early in the year, it seemed every night someone came up with the big hit.

“But late in the season, everyone felt like he had to be the guy to get the big hit, throw the complete game, and when you do that, you put too much pressure on yourself, and you don’t allow yourself to play like you can.”

DiSarcina developed new respect for regular-season games.

“Had we won one more game during the season, we wouldn’t have had to play Seattle, so that changed my perspective,” he said. “I used to say after a loss, ‘Hey, we’ll get ‘em tomorrow.’ Now, you really realize every game is important, and that will make me bear down more.”

DiSarcina will make one other minor adjustment.

“I think I might slide into second base a little differently,” he said.

He hurt himself trying to break up a double play against the Mariners in Anaheim Stadium Aug. 3, and the Angels were never the same again.

Sliding to the right of the base and reaching back with his left hand to grab the bag, DiSarcina tore ligaments in his thumb and was sidelined for seven weeks.

He was hitting .317 at the time but his consistent defense and quiet leadership were missed the most. The Angels tried several middle-infield combinations but none clicked and, by mid-August, the Angels had begun to crumble.

Third baseman Tony Phillips had sore hamstrings but refused to leave the lineup, and the offensive spark plug of May, June and July was misfiring in August and September, batting .198.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds strained his lower back in early September and failed to drive in a run in 26 of his last 31 games. Snow, designated hitter Chili Davis and left fielder Garret Anderson tailed off after their hot first-half pace.

An offense that averaged 6.2 runs through Aug. 15 averaged 3.9 the rest of the way. After Aug. 16, Angel starting pitchers combined for a 10-24 record and a 6.35 earned-run average.

The Angels fell into an endless rut, in which pitchers surrendered early runs and batters pressed to make up deficits. During the two losing streaks, the Angels failed to even hold a lead for 73 and 75 innings.

The result? The Angels lost 29 of their final 43 games while Seattle went on a tear, winning 35 of its last 54. The Mariners won their first division title; the Angels secured a spot alongside the 1978 Boston Red Sox, 1969 Chicago Cubs, 1964 Philadelphia Phillies and 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers in baseball infamy.

Still, Lachemann doesn’t expect the scars of 1995 to have a huge impact on ‘96, because he believes the Angels began the healing process in the last week of the season, winning their last five regular-season games, including an emotional four-game sweep of Oakland, to force the playoff against Seattle.

“My feeling is, the last five games of the season were far more indicative of the character of that team,” Lachemann said. “We trailed Seattle by three games with five to go, and we could have easily finished eight games out. Time will tell, but I don’t look at last season as a total, negative collapse.”

Snow cringes when he thinks about what the off-season might have been like, had the Angels not surged in the last week of ’95.

“It would have been really tough, had we not done that,” he said. “To battle back showed everyone, including the players, a lot. What’s ironic is, we played those last five games like we did most of the year, and that left a good taste in our mouths, because we knew we were capable of that.”

DiSarcina said his ideal scenario this season would be for Langston to be on the mound when the Angels clinch the division title.

“I would love that,” Langston said. “I would love to be in the dugout when we clinch it too. I just want to be a part of that. Last season has left a hungry taste in a lot of guys’ mouths.”

(In Southland Edition:)

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Collapse of ’95

Tracking the Angels’ loss of a commanding lead in the West Division race. Chart shows games ahead--or behind--in division race.

Aug. 3: +11

Aug. 14: +10

Aug. 21: +9.5

Aug. 28: +7.5

Sept. 4: +5.5

Sept. 11: +5

Sept. 18: +3

Sept. 25: -1.5

Oct. 2 ----