Lesson for Today: Baseball Is a Small World

The big shots at Disney should have seen this.

After a day in which their first-place team may have lost a championship two months early, they needed to see this.

They should have watched the Angels trudge onto Edison Field on Saturday and aimlessly stumble through an eight-run loss to the Boston Red Sox.

They should have seen the Angels give up two runs on walks, two more after walks, and another on a fly ball that dropped behind the pitcher’s mound.

They should have heard the fans, loyal beyond all reasonable belief, finally booing nearly everyone from Pep Harris to the player with the 28-game hitting streak.

They should know that this is what sometimes happens when you are in first place, desperately need starting pitching, yet do not trade for a starting pitcher before the trading deadline while your main rival in Texas picks up two.

They should have seen Manager Terry Collins afterward, struggling to lead a room filled with doubt.

“I do not care about the Texas Rangers,” he said testily. “I don’t care about them. I don’t care what they do. All I care about is us.”

They should have talked to the general manager, Bill Bavasi, who is nobly blaming it all on himself, wondering what his inability to make a deal has wrought.

“I tried everything, but maybe I could have done something else, I’ll have to examine it,” he said. “Sure, it has a negative effect. The players probably feel, ‘Yeah, [the Rangers] did something, we didn’t, doesn’t anybody care?’ ”

They should have heard his players confirm this, with many still quietly stunned that the Rangers also acquired a new left side of their infield.

That the Rangers are now clearly better.

“You always tell yourself you can’t let other things bother you, but you’re human,” Cecil Fielder said. “Sometimes this stuff gets to us.”

Listening to your bosses ask you to win the American League West with a makeshift rotation is, apparently, one of those times.

“On the whole, from the front office down, I think we all might have been a little disappointed,” Fielder said.

The big shots at Disney needed to bake slowly in this long Saturday afternoon, and now they need to look at the newspaper today.

There, they will see history.

Their Angels will be tied for first place, eight games behind.

“It doesn’t feel like we are [in first place], does it?” Fielder said. “Physically, we’re fine. Mentally, we’ve got to pick it up.”

No, Disney had nothing to do with Bavasi’s failure to bring in a pitcher on Friday. Bavasi emphatically fell on his sword over this one.

It was his bad, he said. Maybe he didn’t offer the right combinations for the right people, he said. He will figure it out, he promised.

Bavasi sweated for hours over the phone without Disney interference, he could have made any deal he wanted without Disney approval, could have even acquired Roger Clemens if the price was right.

The problem was, the price was never right.

The price will never be right when you are a New York-sized team working with a Milwaukee-sized budget.

“I need to do a post-mortem on this, see exactly where we went wrong, if we went wrong,” Bavasi said.

Except we don’t think it was him who totally went wrong.

Not having enough cards is not Bavasi’s problem, it is Disney’s.

The big shots there need to tuck all of this away for next winter, because this week fell apart last winter.

When the St. Louis Cardinals dangled Todd Stottlemyre and Brian Jordan, the Cardinals wanted major leaguers in return.

Because the Angels didn’t spend the money on big free agents and important role players during the off-season, the Angels don’t have the depth to give anybody two decent major leaguers.

The Rangers do.

When the Montreal Expos were talking about Carlos Perez, they wanted a major leaguer and a couple of top minor leaguers.

While the Dodgers could do it while leaving their major league roster virtually unchanged, the Angels couldn’t come close.

Those who are allowed to stock up in the winter usually are able to get better in the summer.

Until Disney gives the Angels the freedom to sign the likes of Darryl Kile or Andres Galarraga, they will never be in that league.

“Sure, we could have gotten some help, but what kind of hole do you want to blow in your team?” Chuck Finley said. “We’re not that deep at the top of our organization, my understanding is that most of our talent is in the lower [minor] leagues.”

When that happens, you go with what you’ve got.

Collins held a brief meeting before Saturday’s game to tell his team just that, saying, “Here we are. Take a look around. It’s just us. Everyone has to leave it on the field for the next 55 games.”

They looked around, all right, at which point they promptly decided to leave it in the dugout during an 11-3 defeat. Not only did Garret Anderson’s hitting streak end, but he was jeered for jogging after a fly ball in right field that landed in front of him for a single.

Maybe their fortunes will change with the impending return of Ken Hill, Jack McDowell and Randy Velarde from injuries. Maybe bringing up Troy Glaus to play third base will be as good as a trade.

Maybe the Angels deserve better than to be forced to get lucky.

The big shots at Disney should have been underneath Edison Field late Friday night, when Angel reliever Harris marched out of the clubhouse and toward the TV on the hallway wall.

It was tuned to two announcers loudly discussing the numerous baseball trades that had just occurred.

Harris turned it down, and marched back inside.