Competitive Spirit

Dinner on a warm spring night in Arizona. There is good food and drink and the baseball stories keep everyone at the table amused.

The conversation suddenly turns, taking on a new, competitive tack.

Larry Bowa, a shortstop for 16 distinguished seasons in the major leagues, announces to the group: “I had 2,200 hits.”

Dave Parker, a veteran of 19 seasons in the majors, quickly ups the ante: “I had 2,700, and yours were all singles.”

Rod Carew, a Hall of Famer after 19 years in the big leagues, throws down the trump card: “I had 3,000 hits. You guys hoped to get hits. I went up and got ‘em.”

Terry Collins, who never played a game above triple A, tries his best to measure up: “Well, I hoped for five at-bats a week.”

Laughter all around.

It’s only one vignette, to be sure, but it’s also an unmistakable sign attitudes have changed. No longer will they be known as the laid-back Angels.

Bowa and Parker, who instigated the game of “Can you top this?” the other night over dinner, have been enlisted to help give the Angels a long-needed kick in the rear end.

Tony Tavares, Angel president, took a long, hard look at his club during the off-season and cringed. It wasn’t so much that the Angels lost games in 1996, it was how they reacted to losses. Or rather how they didn’t react.

Tavares’ stomach burned and his head ached as the Angels stumbled to a 70-91 record and a last-place finish in the American League West, 19 1/2 games behind first-place Texas.

But when Tavares visited the clubhouse after games, he was struck by the players’ indifference. The mood in the coaches’ locker room wasn’t much better. Plus, there was discord to go with acceptance.

Tavares leaned on General Manager Bill Bavasi to clean house. Hiring a new staff was Collins’ call after he was named manager in November. But in Bowa and Parker, Collins found two ideal candidates to satisfy Tavares’ demand for more energy in the clubhouse.

Bowa, a 5-foot-10 firebrand of a player with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, was hired to coach third base and tutor the infielders.

Parker, hard to miss at 6-5, was a player for Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Oakland, Milwaukee, the Angels and Toronto. He was given the job of coaching first base and instructing the outfielders.

“One of the tough things about playing in Southern California is there are so many distractions,” Tavares said. “It’s very easy to get lulled into an acceptance of your fate. I went to too many games last year where I didn’t see a full-fledged effort. There wasn’t an expectation to win. I felt it had to change. Bill felt it had to change.

“I used to go into the coaches’ room last year and it wasn’t real good in there. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good. There was some tension. It’s different now. You get the sense they all get along and like each other.”

Left-handed pitchers Chuck Finley and Jim Abbott were at spring training only a few days, but noticed a marked difference in the Angels.

“We were stretching on the field and we were saying it was like we were standing on a New York City street corner,” said Finley, an Angel since 1986. “Everyone was talking and making fun of each other. The big thing is that guys like Bowa and Parker force everyone to open up.

“Parker is going to rag you. If you’re dogging it, he’s going to tell you you’re dogging it. Even if you’re going good, he’s going to do it. Everything I hear about Larry is the same thing.

“I predict this year there’s going to be 10 to 12 clubhouse fights.”

MR. INTENSE

Larry Bowa, 51, came to the Phillies from Sacramento, determined to make his mark in the major leagues. He dived for grounders, made strong throws, stole bases and turned singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

“I always played like every game was going to be my last one,” Bowa said.

Good thing too. Phillie fans are notoriously tough, but they embraced Bowa like few others. He hustled and produced. Who could ask for more?

“I can’t accept losing,” Bowa said. “I can deal with it, but I can’t accept it.”

That notion carried Bowa through 2,222 games as a shortstop, second-most in major league history behind Luis Aparicio’s 2,581. He was only a .260 lifetime hitter, but batted .375 in the Phillies’ six-game victory over Kansas City in the 1980 World Series.

When his playing days were done, Bowa turned to managing--unsuccessfully for the San Diego Padres in 1987 and ’88. He was hired as the Phillies’ first-base coach after the Padres fired him in 1988.

Now Bowa is an Angel and he’s fully aware of the demands of his new job.

“I don’t think the Angels are laid back,” he said. “It’s easy to put a tag on a West Coast team like that. On the East Coast, players have to deal with the fan reaction and the press. In the East, a loss is like a death in the family. California fans, and I’m not saying they’re laid back, but I don’t think they expect 110% effort.

“East Coast fans demand it.”

The question is: How long will it take for Bowa to alter long-standing perceptions of the Angels?

“I don’t think it can be done in a six-week spring training period,” he said. “It’s going to change gradually.”

There are differences already, however. Hustle is expected. Mental mistakes are not.

“If there are missed signs with us, I don’t think it’s going to be shoved under the rug,” Bowa said. “Mental mistakes and lackadaisical play are going to get you screamed at. We’re going to be relentless.

“The best thing is when players are policing themselves. You need four or five guys to confront someone if they’re not going to run out a ground ball.

“You get different reactions with peer pressure.”

THE COBRA

“We want to make it a little like a family,” Dave Parker, 45, said of the Angels. “We want a close-knit ballclub with a family atmosphere.”

Parker should know all about family. After all, he was a central figure in the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates of the late 1970s.

“In my era, that’s the way it was,” Parker continued. “We’d sit around and talk baseball. We’d go out and have dinner together.”

Parker learned to be a major leaguer from the man the Pirates called Pops, Willie Stargell.

“He was a major influence to me,” Parker said. “He could have had 30 strikeouts in a row or 30 home runs in a row and you’d never know the difference by talking to him. He was always the same person.”

Parker now hopes he can pass along what he learned from Stargell to Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon. Like Bowa, Parker knows he’s supposed to affect change.

“My thing is I’m not going to try to rework their skills,” Parker said of the Angel outfield. “I’d rate this outfield as the best in the American League. It’s been written about and talked about all over the media and TV. All right, we’ve got the talking part done. Now let’s show how it’s done on the field. Let’s start to prove it.”

Parker is making his coaching debut this season. He had been playing in a 35-and-older baseball league and running several fast-food franchises in Cincinnati when he bumped into Collins during a visit to Riverfront Stadium last summer.

They were teammates in the minors in 1972 and remained friends over the years. Parker asked Collins about the possibility of joining his staff some day.

The Houston Astros fired Collins as manager at season’s end, but the Angels soon hired him. Recalling his conversation with Parker, Collins decided to take a closer look.

“I had been trying to come back to baseball,” Parker said. “I had been offered some minor league coaching jobs, but nothing I really wanted to take. Five or six weeks after the season ended, Terry called and asked if I was serious.”

Collins interviewed Parker in Houston and offered him a job later that night.

“He called right after I got home and said, ‘I’d like to hire you,’ ” Parker said. “I think I bring a little more to this organization than just teaching outfield knowledge. I know I have to display clubhouse leadership.

“That was the understanding when I took the job.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Do as I Did . . .

The Angels’ coaching staff includes three players who totaled nearly 8,000 hits between them during a combined 54 years in the major leagues:

Rod Carew

* Former infielder beginning his sixth year as Angels’ hitting instructor.

* Played 19 seasons in major leagues from 1967-85, including last seven with the Angels.

* Collected 3,000th career hit on Aug. 4, 1985 at Anaheim Stadium against Twins.

* Selected to American League All-Star team in each of his first 18 years, including 16 as a starter.

* Had 3,053 career hits, batting .300 or better 15 times and winning seven batting titles.

* Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame and Angels’ Hall of Fame in 1991.

Dave Parker

* Former right fielder, making debut as Angels’ first-base coach.

* Played 19 seasons in major leagues from 1973-1991, including part of the 1991 season with the Angels.

* Had career figures of 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs, 2,712 hits and a .290 batting average.

* Named National League Most Valuable player in 1978, selected for seven All-Star games and awarded three Gold Gloves.

Larry Bowa

* Former shortstop in first season as Angels’ third-base coach.

* Played 16 seasons in major leagues from 1970-85, coached for Phillies nine seasons and managed Padres from 1987-88.

* Holds National League records with 2,222 games played at shortstop and six seasons leading the league in fielding.

* Had 2,191 hits in career, and batted .375 in 1980 World Series for Phillies.