Angels Release Popular Pitcher Abbott

The once magic but now tragic Angel career of Jim Abbott came to an inglorious end Monday when the team released the struggling pitcher, swallowing the remaining $5.6 million on his contract and severing ties with one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Abbott, who in 1996 suffered through one of the worst seasons in baseball history with a 2-18 record, was given the option of returning to the Angels’ minor league team at Vancouver or being released.

After spending the past week at his Newport Beach home with his wife and 3 1/2-month-old daughter, Abbott decided that he didn’t want to live the uncertain existence of a minor leaguer.

Abbott, who reached the major leagues despite having been born without a right hand, stopped short of announcing his retirement, but if he attempts a comeback with another club, it will be on his terms.

“To go back to the mound and pitch now would be to go back out on a limb and expose myself to a lot of the hurt,” Abbott, 29, said in a conference call with reporters. “That’s not stopping me from playing. I’m not afraid of failure.

“But I really, really wanted to be on the Angels and do well for them, and going somewhere else, where I don’t care as much for the people and the area, is not as appealing for me at this time.”

Abbott did not like the prospect of “placing my family in limbo for a long time,” but he also said his release might have been best for him and the Angels.

“I feel that if I’m not a contributing member to the Angels on the major league level, then I’m a distraction to the organization, and they need to move away from that,” Abbott said. “I don’t want to be a martyr or anything, but I felt my presence was a disturbance to both sides.”

Does he think he’ll ever pitch again?

“I don’t know--I think I can, and I believe that in my heart,” Abbott said. “I worked really hard this winter and spring and felt I made some positive steps . . . but my family is most important at this time of my life.

“I don’t want to sacrifice other priorities right now, and I think being away from them for an extended period of time is not in my best interest.”

Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi described the decision as emotional and painful, “but this is part of the game,” he said. “We don’t like releasing anyone who has more time on a guaranteed contract--we don’t like throwing away money--but we’re doing the right thing.”

Angel pitcher Chuck Finley thinks a break from the game is exactly what Abbott needs.

“I thought he’d bounce back, as strong as he is, but maybe he can take a year off and then come back strong,” Finley said. “You hate to lose a player of Jim’s quality, but sometimes these things happen. He had the positiveness you want to see in people. He’s done some amazing things.”

Just reaching the big leagues despite his handicap was considered amazing, but not only did Abbott do that, he went directly from the University of Michigan to the U.S. Olympic team to the Angels--bypassing the minor leagues--in less than a year.

Abbott won 12 games as an Angel rookie in 1989, handcuffing hitters with his cut fastball and turning thousands of disabled persons into baseball fans. He was an impressive 18-11 with a 2.89 ERA in ’91.

A contract dispute after the 1992 season led to his highly unpopular trade to the New York Yankees, where he pitched a no-hitter in 1993. Abbott signed with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent in 1995.

But with the Angels gunning for the American League West championship in ‘95, they sent four players to Chicago in a July 31 trade that brought Abbott back to Anaheim, where he went 5-4 for the Angels.

Though Abbott’s fastball was not as sharp as it was in the early 1990s, the Angels signed him to a three-year, $7.8-million contract in January 1996. But the ’96 season was a disaster from start to finish.

“Basically, I got into a statistical hole and let it be too much for me,” Abbott said. “The mistake I made was letting [my record] define who I was. I started pitching tentatively. Whenever I got runners on, every pitch became critical, and that’s where I broke down.”

Abbott went through a rigorous winter weight-training program and worked extensively with Angel pitching Coach Marcel Lachemann, and he appeared to regain some pop on his fastball this spring.

But control was still a problem, and in Abbott’s last two spring outings, he gave up eight runs and five walks in 2 2/3 innings against Oakland March 16 and five runs and six walks in three innings against Colorado March 21.

Two days later, the Angels sent Abbott home while both sides evaluated his status.

“I think physically Jim is fine, but maybe he’s trying to do too much with the ball,” Bavasi said.

“I wish I had the exact answer, but there were a whole lot of people who are smarter than me working on it, and they didn’t come up with one. . . . I just think it was something mental.”

Abbott’s release was particularly tough for Lachemann, who nurtured Abbott as a pitching coach during his early years, spent 1 1/2 years as Abbott’s manager in Anaheim and has always been very close to the pitcher.

“I just want Jimmy to do what he wants to do,” Lachemann said. “He’s done a lot for this organization, as well as a lot for other people, and now it’s time for him to do what’s best for himself.

“If that’s playing baseball again, then that’s fine too.”

Abbott’s biggest regret, he said, was not winning a game in Anaheim Stadium after the 1995 trade. “I’m not proud of that,” he said. “And I still can’t understand it.”

Abbott made a point Monday to thank writers “who have always been fair to me,” and Angel fans, who gave him standing ovations after several of his worst outings last year.

“They supported me when they had no business supporting me,” Abbott said. “And I appreciate that.”

Times staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this report.

* CLASS ACT: Even during the rough ’96 season, Abbott’s primary concern was for his team, a sportswriter recalls. C1