Role Player Is Perfect Fit for This Extra-Large Angel

They had name cards for everyone on the table when the Angels introduced their off-season acquisitions Wednesday, probably to make sure that nobody mistook Matt Walbeck for Phil Nevin.

There was no need to identify or introduce Cecil Fielder. He’s the one everyone came to see, the lone Angel move in the last few months that deserved more than just a line in the transactions column.

Now the Southland has Shaq Daddy and Big Daddy--both of whom were injured for a good portion of 1997. The difference is, Shaq’s still in his prime.

Fielder won’t hit 51 home runs again. Of course not. He’s an Angel now.

How many established players come to Anaheim and have career years? The list pretty much consists of Don Baylor and Bobby Grich and stopped growing 16 years ago.

It appears Fielder is destined for the longer list, the one that contains the names of Fred Lynn and Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield and Dave Parker and . . . we’ll cut it off there.

Fielder has a few too many gray hairs in his goatee and atop his head to suggest he’s capable of another year like 1990, when he had those 51 homers and 132 RBIs for the Detroit Tigers.

But unlike so many Angel teams of the past, this one doesn’t need a career year from an aging star. Not with guys like Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds and Darin Erstad around.

It would be perfectly fine if Fielder could repeat his 1993 numbers, when he hit .267 with 30 home runs and 117 RBIs. Is that too much to ask? It shouldn’t be, since he had 39 home runs and 117 RBIs just two seasons ago.

He sure looks ready. He’ll never be svelte, but the Big Daddy isn’t quite so big anymore. He definitely weighs less than his listed weight of 250 pounds, although Fielder was unable to provide us with more accurate numbers.

“I haven’t checked,” he said. “I just know I feel great.”

He almost looks ready to take part in Manager Terry Collins’ aggressive offense.

“He’s going to have to run,” Collins joked. “He’s going to have to pick it up a little bit.”

“I do have a stolen base, you know,” Fielder replied.

Actually he has two stolen bases, both in 1996.

“Really?” he said upon hearing the info. “I did? I didn’t know that.”

Just remember, the basepaths can be dangerous. He dislocated his thumb on a slide last year, and that forced him into a two-month stint on the disabled list.

And there could be a drawback to this weight-loss thing. I remember a television story during his big homer days in the early ‘90s that suggested Fielder’s power came from his large posterior. (It prompted one of the great moments in TV news history when, after the piece finished, a Chicago sportscaster turned to the anchorwoman, glanced down and said, “You know, you look like you could be a pretty good home run hitter.”).

But whatever Fielder loses because of his diminished behind, he can probably make up for with his improved attitude. His state of mind is nothing like last year’s, when he made an unsuccessful demand that the Yankees trade him.

He didn’t like the idea of being a platoon designated hitter and made it clear. Then he took flak for it. Why is it that the same people who always complain about how the DH is an affront to the purity of the game are the first to criticize a player for being selfish when he says he wants to play in the field and not just swing the bat?

Collins plans to use Fielder at first base a few times, which should keep him satisfied.

Fielder sounded happy enough already.

Now he’s happy to be back home, not too far from his high school in La Puente. He’s happy to be far away from the madness of New York and the Yankees. And he’s ready to show that, at age 34, he isn’t finished yet.

“This guy’s determined,” Collins said. “He realizes he’s got some things he’s got to prove. He wants to make sure everybody realizes he’s got a lot of baseball left. We’re going to have a good time watching this guy play this summer.”

So what’s remaining in Fielder’s bat?

“I’ve got numbers left,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what they’re going to be. If I’m healthy and playing a full season, they’re going to be some good ones.

“You’ve got so many guys that can put up numbers, you’re not going to be dependent on one or two guys to get it done. That’s why this game is a team effort. I’ve been in Detroit for seven years and put up individual numbers, but that didn’t do that team any good. We were going home at the end of that season. Your whole goal is to win. No matter who gets it done, you want to win.”

He got his chance to win with the Yankees, earning a World Series ring in 1996 and a playoff appearance in 1997. But he also experienced the downside of being a Yankee: dealing with George Steinbrenner and living in New York.

“Playing my first few years in Toronto, then also playing for a lot of years in Detroit, it’s more laid-back,” Fielder said. “New York is high-stress. From the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed, it’s high-stress.”

His only stress here might be obtaining enough tickets to satisfy the friends and relatives, but, he said, “I think my mom has already set the ground rules for people to leave me alone.”

And who would want to mess with the Big Daddy’s momma?