BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Players Dispute Phillips’ Statement

Some players took exception to a quote from former Angel Tony Phillips, who recently told the Chicago Tribune that the Angels suffered from dissension last August and September, when they failed to hold an 11-game lead.

“All of a sudden it was no longer, ‘We.’ There was a lot of secret talk,” said Phillips, now the Chicago White Sox left fielder. “Everything should have been brought out in the open. We were no longer on the same page.”

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina, who traveled with the team while he recovered from an early August thumb injury, said he “didn’t sense guys were back-stabbing or anything. That’s his point of view, but I think guys were still hanging together.”

Infielder Rex Hudler admitted there might have been some second-guessing, “but that usually happens when teams are struggling.” As for the secret talk, “I didn’t see much of that . . . but it was no secret we stunk.”

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Reliever Troy Percival, who has a 0.77 earned-run average this spring, came to camp hoping to add a changeup to his repertoire, which consists of a 95-mph fastball and sharp-breaking curve. But he has thrown the pitch sparingly in 11 outings.

“I have the changeup if I need it, but until people show they can hit my fastball and curve, I’m going to hold onto it for a while,” Percival said. “Then when they hit those pitches, I’ll come up with a split-fingered fastball, screwball, then a knuckleball . . . don’t laugh, I have a good one.”