Wallach Loses Battle, Still Has Respect

Tim Wallach may have lost the battle for the Angels’ third base job to rookie George Arias, but he certainly hasn’t lost the respect of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda or Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann.

“Any club that has Timmy is very fortunate,” Lasorda said. “He’s a tremendous asset just by being in the clubhouse, a tremendous leader. The Angels have a lot of young guys and he’ll keep them in line, keep them believing in themselves. He’s a manager’s delight.”

Lachemann, who played Wallach at first base in Wednesday’s Cactus League finale in Tempe, Ariz., is already convinced.

“He will help this team win,” he said. “He can give J.T. [Snow] a rest at first and he’ll play some third. And he’s out there helping the kid [Arias] every day, which in itself says a lot about Tim Wallach.”

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The Angels have 31 players on hand for the Freeway Series, six of whom will be gone when the rosters are trimmed to 25 Sunday. “It’s not going to be easy, but that’s good,” Lachemann said. “We’ve gone through four or five different rosters in the last few days, but there are so many different scenarios, it’s really complex.” . . . A crowd of Japanese reporters, on hand for Hideo Nomo’s start, gathered around Angel infielder Jack Howell, who played in the Japanese League from 1992 to ’95. “Look at that,” Howell said, smiling. “Do you believe they followed me all the way over here?” And what did they ask him? “If I had ever hit against Nomo.” . . . The Angels sold the contract of right-hander Willie Fraser to the Orix Blue Wave of the Japanese League on Friday. Fraser, 31, signed a minor league contract with the Angels in December and was 0-1 with an 11.74 earned-run average in five spring-training appearances. . . . Jim Edmonds singled in the first inning, giving him at least one hit in all 20 spring-training games in which he’s played. . . . Chan Ho Park, who was supposed to start tonight’s game for the Dodgers, pitched Friday night. Pedro Astacio and Ismael Valdes will pitch tonight.