Bass’ Respite Happily Over

Outfielder Kevin Bass is four for seven in his last two organized baseball games, though it has been 1 1/2 years between them.

Bass, a 37-year-old with more than 13 years of major league experience, is trying an improbable comeback after sitting out the 1996 season because no team wanted him.

His quest for an Angel reserve job began on the right foot Wednesday when Bass went two for four, with a double and two RBIs, and made a nice running catch in right field, leading his team to a 5-2 victory in an intrasquad game in Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Bass went two for three in his last game, as a member of the Baltimore Orioles against the Detroit Tigers on Oct. 2, 1995.

“To get another chance--you can’t ask for anything more than that,” said Bass, who played for Angel Manager Terry Collins in Houston in 1994. “I take nothing for granted. You never know when your last game, your last at-bat, is going to be, so I play as hard as I can.”

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Jim Abbott, trying to rebound from a 2-18 season, walked three batters in one inning before getting out of the jam. He looked better in the next inning, giving up a single before retiring three in a row. He threw 40 pitches, 18 for strikes.

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Japanese right-hander Shigetoshi Hasegawa struck out two and retired another on a grounder in one inning. . .Left-hander Allen Watson was also impressive, retiring all six batters he faced in two innings. George Arias and Jorge Fabregas had two hits. . . . The Angels agreed to terms on 1997 contracts for pitchers Robert Ellis, Mike Freehill, Pep Harris, Darrel May and Jeff Schmidt and outfielder Orlando Palmeiro. . . . Regular-season single-game tickets go on sale on Saturday in Anaheim.