Sparks Back After a Long Absence

Exactly one year after he underwent elbow reconstruction surgery, Steve Sparks sat in the visiting dugout at the Ballpark in Arlington on Saturday, reveling in the thought that he was about to return to the big leagues after missing all of 1997.

“You sit here and think about all those days rehabilitating,” said Sparks, a knuckleball specialist who will start for the Angels against the Rangers on Monday. “It was fun being with my kids all year, but you miss the game and playing at this level. You really appreciate the game more when you’ve been gone for a year.”

Sparks, 32, injured his elbow in his last spring training start of 1997. The former Milwaukee Brewer right-hander had retrieved an errant throw behind the first base bag and heard his elbow “pop” as he faked a throw home.

He was initially diagnosed with a strained flexor tendon, but Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angels’ team physician, discovered two months later that Sparks’ elbow ligament had actually torn off the bone.

The Angels signed Sparks to a minor league contract during spring training, and although he had a combined 0-8 with a 5.37 earned-run average at double-A Midland and triple-A Vancouver, Manager Terry Collins believed he was the best choice to replace injured Ken Hill in the rotation.

“The Rangers murder left-handed pitchers, and there’s nothing wrong with throwing someone who has a whole different pitch,” said Collins, who relied on knuckleballer Dennis Springer for much of 1997. “He could help out.”

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Angel left fielder Darin Erstad and Ranger pitcher Rick Helling, the only North Dakota natives playing in the major leagues, will square off today for the first time since both played in the Arizona Fall League in 1995.

Erstad also faced Helling in an American Legion game in the summer of 1990, when Erstad was 16 and Helling was 19.

“The one thing I remember is he threw twice as hard as anyone I had ever seen in my life,” Erstad said. “I remember thinking that this guy was going to be great.”

TONIGHT ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (7-2, 2.65 ERA) vs. RANGERS’ RICK HELLING (8-3, 4.62 ERA)

The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, 5 p.m.

Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Update--You would think having their best pitcher starting tonight would give the Angels an advantage, but Finley is 3-7 with a 7.04 ERA in his last 10 starts in Arlington. The left-hander has a lifetime 7-12 record and 4.43 ERA against the Rangers. The Angels, however, did catch a break when Gold Glove catcher Ivan Rodriguez sprained his left ankle Friday night. The league’s batting leader did not play Saturday night and is not expected to play tonight or Monday night.