Fielder Gone, and So Is Win Over Indians

From designated hitter to designated for assignment, Cecil Fielder’s declining stock with the Angels took a final free fall Wednesday.

General Manager Bill Bavasi and Manager Terry Collins met with Fielder in Collins’ office for about three minutes before Wednesday’s game. A short time later, Fielder was cleaning out his locker.

The official announcement was not made until after the Angels’ 6-5 loss to Cleveland in front of 43,104 at Edison Field because Todd Greene, who was activated after Wednesday’s game, will not join the team until today in Chicago. And there’s no sense fighting for a division title with anything less than a full squad.

Fielder, who had two hits in his last 16 at-bats and was batting .214 over the last five weeks but was still tied with Darin Erstad at 68 for the team lead in RBIs, was designated for assignment, which means the Angels have 10 days to trade him, release him, or ask him to go to the minor leagues, which they won’t do.

“A move like this is never easy and it’s especially hard when you’re talking about a player like Cecil Fielder,” said Bavasi, who added he is working on a couple of possible trades. “Over the last few days, we’ve made changes in the lineup and it’s not a knock on Cecil, but we think it’s a better lineup.”

The Angels reasoned that Greene would better fit the role of part-time player coming off the bench and Fielder would be happier playing every day somewhere else.

“Like I told Cecil, I didn’t feel we were getting the [offensive] production we needed from him,” Collins said. “We weren’t scoring runs and we decided to go with a little more speed.”

That, of course, is not one of Fielder’s attributes. But a number of his teammates obviously felt the Angels were failing to take into account the intangibles the 12-year veteran brought to the team.

“There are so many things he does in this clubhouse that people don’t know about,” catcher Phil Nevin said. “They’re taking away our best leader. He’s the only guy who’s been through the wars of the World Series and won it.

“They brought him in here to hit and for his leadership, and he’s done both. I don’t know what else he could’ve done for this team.”

Chuck Finley said Fielder, who had signed a $2.8-million, one-year contract, was the “cream of the crop” when it came to leadership and a constant source of inspiration. “He doesn’t need to play this game,” he said, “but he does because he loves it. And guys see that. Yeah, we’re going to miss him.”

Fielder, who said he knew the move was in the works for a couple of days, chose to take the high road, charitably pointing out that you can’t blame the Angels for making moves they believe will improve the team.

“It’s definitely a disappointing day,” he said, “and I feel I could still help this team win. But I’ve been in this game a long time, and sometimes things just don’t work out. They feel they need to go in a new direction.

“I haven’t been myself, but no matter how bad I was doing I had a chance to drive in 100 runs. I felt this team could’ve challenged for the division with me in the lineup. But I’ve still got the fire and as soon as I get the opportunity, I’ll do everything I can to help someone else win.”

The Angels were spared the awkward possibility they would have to use Fielder on Wednesday--and maybe even the embarrassment of having the guy you just fired win a game for you--when closer Troy Percival failed to hold the Indians in the ninth inning.

Percival, who earned his 30th save Tuesday night, gave up a one-out double to Jim Thome. Garret Anderson retreated to the wall, lunged to his right at the last minute, but the ball hit the wall next to his glove and Thome ended up on second.

“He was fighting the sun the whole way,” Collins said.

Manny Ramirez saw a Percival fastball very clearly, however, depositing it 408 feet into the bullpen beyond the left-field fence. It was the eighth home run Cleveland batters have hit against Percival in his career and the fifth time in three seasons he has come into a game against the Indians with a lead or the score tied and left a loser.

“I guess Troy said it best,” Collins said. “He’s a fastball pitcher, and they’re a fastball-hitting team.”

The Angels scored in the first on Dave Hollins’ walk, Troy Glaus’ double and a sacrifice fly by Matt Walbeck. They took a 3-1 lead in the third when Tim Salmon and his injured left foot made it all the way around to third after his two-out shot to right hit the top of the wall, Jim Edmonds walked and Hollins ripped a two-run double to right.

The Indians scored three times in the sixth on four singles off Angel starter Omar Olivares, but Hollins’ bases-empty homer to right in the sixth tied the score. And Salmon’s seventh-inning solo shot to center--his third homer in three games and eighth this year against Cleveland--gave the Angels the one-run lead they are always so glad to hand over to Percival.

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See Ya, Cecil

Cecil Fielder was designated for assignment by the Angels after 103 games even though his statistics were similar to those throughout his career. A look at his average 103 games with each team he has played for: *--*

Team AVG HR RBI Angels .241 17 68 Toronto .243 15 34 Detroit .259 26 80 Yankees .260 18 67

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