Angel Third Base Job Is Awarded to Arias

Growing up in Tucson, Ariz., hundreds of miles from the nearest major league baseball stadium, George Arias was far removed from the big leagues.

In fact, he has been to only two regular-season major league games, once when his Little League team was honored in Dodger Stadium and another when his community college team, in Northern California for a tournament, took in a game at the Oakland Coliseum.

But if all goes well this spring and summer, Arias, 24, will get a complete tour of American League parks and an up-close view--right from the third base position.

Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann confirmed Wednesday that Arias has won the third base job over veteran Tim Wallach.

“I always dreamed of playing in the major leagues, but I never really thought about playing in all those big stadiums,” said Arias, who is trying to become the first Angel third baseman since Carney Lansford in 1978 to make the jump from double A to the big leagues. “It’s still stunning. This hasn’t really hit me.”

It will Friday, when the Angels play the Dodgers in the first game of the Freeway Series in Anaheim Stadium, and Tuesday, when they open the season against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I hope it doesn’t hit me all at once,” said Arias, who hit .405 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in this spring. “I don’t know how I’m going to react until I’m there. I just have to stay relaxed, calm.”

That was Arias’ approach all spring, and that may be why he won the job. He maintained the belief throughout camp that he would be sent to triple-A Vancouver, so he never felt pressured to make the major league roster.

That allowed him to concentrate only on baseball, and the results were stunning. He showed power and discipline at the plate--he had eight walks and only four strikeouts--and quickness, good range and a strong arm at third.

Lachemann admitted he did not consider Arias a candidate to make the team--let alone start--entering spring training. Arias hit .279 with 30 home runs and 104 RBIs at double-A Midland last season but also made 29 errors. And he hadn’t played an inning of triple A.

But Arias made several outstanding defensive plays and committed only one error in 20 spring games, and he showed much more range at third than Wallach, 38, who has been bothered by sore calves.

“I had never seen him before,” Lachemann said. “The reputation he had defensively and the numbers [of errors] are nowhere near an indication of the kind of defensive player he can and will be. And that’s an important factor on our team because we have three left-handed starting pitchers.”

It does not appear Arias will have to live with the guilt of sending a popular veteran packing. Lachemann said Wallach would likely make the opening-day roster as a reserve--and something of an insurance policy.

“It does help to have Wallach there if for some reason it doesn’t work out [with Arias], but I don’t want George to feel he’ll be hovering over his shoulder,” Lachemann said. “This is not going to be a one-day thing or a one-week thing. He’s going to get a chance to play.”

Breaking in with a team expected to challenge for the division title might put added pressure on a rookie, but Lachemann believes being part of such a potent lineup could work in Arias’ favor.

“We’re going to let him know he’ll have a chance to have some 0 for 4s without losing his job,” Lachemann said. “The rest of it will be seeing how he adjusts to the league and how the league adjusts to him. The better you get, the more opponents zero in on you, but in our lineup, he might get lost in the shuffle.”

Arias, who will bat seventh behind Garret Anderson, doesn’t think he’ll be a marked man.

“I don’t think [opposing pitchers] will even know who I am, compared to guys like Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon, Chili Davis and J.T. Snow,” he said. “They’ll probably pitch around Garret to get to me, but I like that challenge.”