Tavares Had Holes to Fill

The team did not land a marquee free agent this winter, and there was no blockbuster deal involving a big-name player. But Angel President Tony Tavares believes the team, trying to rebound from a last-place finish in 1996, did address its most pressing needs.

The Angels lacked starting pitching, so they traded for Kansas City’s Mark Gubicza and San Francisco’s Allen Watson. They lacked production at third and first base, two traditional power spots, so they signed free agent Dave Hollins and cleared room for promising outfielder Darin Erstad to play first.

They lacked intensity, character and leadership, so they hired fiery Manager Terry Collins and added gritty veterans such as Hollins, catcher Jim Leyritz and designated hitter Eddie Murray.

“Certainly, changes had to be made,” Tavares said. “Too often, I’d be watching a game [last season] and I didn’t feel like we were competing, or caring about losing like we should. I felt there was a leadership void, and some guys didn’t play as hard as they could. That may be incorrect, but it was just a feeling you’d get watching them play.”

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Compared to the media crush on a certain Dodger pitcher, this was Nomo Lite. Still, Angel right-hander Shigetoshi Hasegawa was amazed that about 20-25 Japanese reporters and photographers surrounded him in Tempe Diablo Stadium on Saturday, a day before pitchers and catchers were to begin workouts.

“I’ve never had this kind of attention,” Hasegawa said of the swarm of notepads, tape recorders, boom mikes and minicams. “I don’t want it to become a distraction for my teammates.”

Even Hasegawa had to admit the attention may be disproportionate to the story. The former Orix Blue Wave right-hander had a 57-45 record in Japan’s Pacific League, he does not have a Nomo-like fastball and he’s merely competing for the No. 5 spot in the Angel rotation or a bullpen job.

“If I have big success, it will be OK, but right now I’m like a minor leaguer, so this is kind of crazy,” Hasegawa, 28, said. “Maybe they have nothing else to write about in Japan.”

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Angel pitcher Todd Van Poppel may be the early favorite for freak injury of 1997. Van Poppel, baby-sitting his nephews, wrenched his back while jumping to avoid one of the cycling youths, and he underwent surgery to repair a bulging disk in January. Van Poppel is undergoing therapy in Texas and will report to spring training around March 1. . . . Along with a pair of muttonchop sideburns, reliever Mike James is sporting a pierced tongue. “It didn’t really hurt,” James said of the procedure. “The doctor just grabbed my tongue with some forceps and poked [the needle] right through. But is was pretty swollen the next day. I couldn’t eat for a few days.”