Baseball Gods Lifting Angel Fans to Heaven

July approaches, and the seasoned baseball fan begins sifting in earnest for clues. What tip-offs suggest that the team has a chance? Not just to play decent ball the next three months, but to (gulp) be special? A World Series contender, perhaps?

Notice I said the seasoned fan, not to be confused with the casual fan.

The casual fan sees the team is in first place in late June and believes that all is fine and dandy. The seasoned fan, weathered by years of false starts and misplaced trust, knows that first place in June is about as bankable as a letter from Publisher’s Clearinghouse. So, like the laboratory scientist, the seasoned fan waits for irrefutable proof that the team is destiny’s darling.

Thus, the painstaking search for clues.

The task is especially painful for longtime Angel fans. Tormented or bored for so many years, they can’t be faulted for considering the search either cruel or pointless. If the virtual All-Star teams assembled at Anaheim Stadium in the early ‘80s couldn’t get to the World Series, why keep hoping? Who can forget the playoff debacle against the Red Sox in 1986 or the monumental collapse at the end of the ’95 regular season?

Weren’t those all teams of destiny? Didn’t they all give 110%, never say die and play with heart?

Is there any reason to think the current Angels have been touched by the gods?

Until last Thursday night, the answer remained elusive.

On that night, the seasoned fan saw something that made him sit bolt upright in his chair.

The scene: two outs in the ninth inning, Angels needing one more out to beat the Dodgers. The Dodger hitter lifted a routine fly ball that should have ended the game. Instead, two Angel outfielders collided, the ball squirted away and a run scored. The tying run stood on second base.

The seasoned fan has seen this kind of thing before and knows what should have happened next. What always happens. When a team makes a bonehead play like that, it loses. The baseball gods simply don’t waste their time by having two players run into each other on an easy play if that team is meant to win.

Accordingly, the Dodgers quickly loaded the bases, and the Angels prepared to accept their fate.

Then, amazingly, the last Dodger struck out. The Angels won, 3-2.

Eureka! The seasoned fan, now slack-jawed with disbelief but exalting in what the moment meant, recorded the date. That wasn’t just a victory; it was a reversal of the natural order of things.

As such, it represented the final bit of proof, validating all the evidence that has mounted since April.

Chuck Finley dyed his hair in spring training. Would he have done that if something magical weren’t about to happen?

Pitchers counted on before the season have dropped like flies. In addition, playing second base for the Angels has proved as dangerous as being Spinal Tap’s drummer. Yet, instead of all the replacements falling on their faces, they’re playing well. A pitcher named Steve Sparks, who was 0-8 in the minor leagues before being called up, is now 3-0 in the majors.

Cecil “Big Daddy” Fielder started the season hitting like Big Mommy, but now has 50-plus RBI. Tim Salmon can barely walk but has still contributed.

Don’t you see how it’s all meant to be?

Something is luring Angel fans to the ballpark, and it isn’t bargain-priced concessions. The team has drawn 1.25 million so far, compared with 936,500 for the same number of games last year. The average attendance is 29,000, up about 7,300 a game.

Understandably, though, seasoned Angel fans haven’t been sure. If they were, the park would be full every night. They want to know if having the second-best record in the league going into this weekend (behind the Eastern Division Yankees) is a mirage. Most important, they don’t want to be deceived again.

Until Thursday’s game, their concerns were valid. Since then, it’s rather obvious that Angel fans have nothing to fear.

Some may wonder how so much can be read into a muffed pop fly in a game in June. With all due respect, those people simply don’t understand baseball. What clearer sign could they possibly want?

But, Angel fans, if doubts creep in on some August or September night, remember last Thursday’s game. Remember the ninth inning and how it couldn’t possibly have happened if the Angels weren’t special.

People will call you nutty, but you’re not.

You’re just using good sound baseball logic.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821, by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.