Phillips in Holding Pattern

Tony Phillips returned to the Angels on Tuesday afternoon, and it was as if his arrest on felony possession of cocaine charges Sunday morning had never happened.

Within seconds of his arrival, Phillips’ cackle could be heard all over the Comiskey Park clubhouse. He joked with teammates, screamed at a reporter for calling his Scottsdale, Ariz., home Monday, and even signed autographs and chatted with fans behind the Angel dugout before the team’s 8-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Then things began to change. The Angels, backing off their plan to return Phillips to action, announced soon after the game started that Phillips, who was not in the lineup, would not play pending a meeting this week with doctors representing major league baseball and the Players Assn.

Phillips will travel to New York in the next few days--arrangements were still being made Tuesday night--to meet with Dr. Joel Solomon, who represents the union, and Dr. Robert Millman, who represents the baseball clubs.

The Angels said they would make a determination of Phillips’ status after the meeting and a full review of all the facts. There is a chance, if doctors recommend Phillips undergo drug counseling, the temperamental leadoff batter could be lost to the team for two to four weeks.

If doctors recommend counseling and Phillips refuses, Phillips could face disciplinary action, most likely in the form of a suspension.

Team officials stressed that Tuesday’s action was not a suspension, and they were not acting on a recommendation from the commissioner’s office, American League office or the players’ union. It was a team decision.

Phillips, who was charged Tuesday with felony possession of a controlled substance by the Orange County district attorney’s office, will return to the team after being evaluated by the doctors, a process that will take several hours. He will remain on the Angels’ 25-man active roster until the next course of action is determined.

Phillips declined comment about his arrest before the game, his teammates and manager vowed that it would not be a distraction, and the entire organization tried to take a business-as-usual approach to the situation.

“Whether it’s me, [Manager] Terry Collins, Tony Phillips or our players, we have nothing further to say regarding the Tony Phillips situation,” General Manager Bill Bavasi told a gathering of about 25 reporters before the game.

“The reason we’re not talking is we have a pennant to try to win, and the more we talk about this, the more it distracts the ballclub.”

Collins echoed Bavasi’s sentiments.

“We have to realize this is something that happened, and there’s a lot of publicity because of it,” Collins said. “But the only thing that matters is what goes on the field.”

But what about Phillips, who was found in an Anaheim motel room early Sunday “with a loaded pipe in one hand and a lighter in the other,” according to Anaheim police?

“That’s an individual thing as opposed to a team thing,” Collins said. “Certainly, Tony is dealing with what he has to as an individual, but we have to focus on our job as a team, which is to try to stay with Seattle in our division.”

Asked if he felt Phillips let the team down, Collins said, “This is not a personal thing. I don’t think Tony meant to hurt anyone. It just happened.”

The Angels, who remained in first place in the American League West despite Tuesday’s loss, have dealt with their share of adversity over the years, and they seemed to have built up an immunity to outside distractions.

“We’ve had a lot of problems, and this franchise has dealt with [the deaths of reliever] Donnie Moore, [batting instructor] Deron Johnson, [coach] Jimmie Reese and Michelle Carew [daughter of batting instructor Rod Carew] over the last few years,” shortstop Gary DiSarcina said.

“There are a lot of things that have happened to this team that happen to people in all walks of life. Michelle Carew’s death [in 1996] was a huge loss for everyone, but if we can overcome the loss of a family member, we can overcome anything.

“We’re a resilient bunch of guys. I’m sure this team will remain focused and stay even with Seattle. Everything else besides baseball is irrelevant, in my opinion.”

Second baseman Luis Alicea said he would welcome Phillips back to the team.

“When he comes in here we’re going to walk with him and go from there,” Alicea said. “He’s part of the team and he’s going to help us. . . . Every team has problems--it’s how you deal with them that’s important. We’re going to leave this outside and go on and play the game.”