Back From Surgery, McDowell Is in Control

The Angels haven’t had a lot of luck recently with players coming off surgery, so Jack McDowell’s performance Sunday was an especially nice turn of fortune.

McDowell, pitching to hitters in a game situation for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery in May, pitched four innings of the Angels’ 9-4 split-squad victory over Arizona at Tempe, giving up one hit and one earned run. He threw 55 pitches--33 strikes--struck out two and walked two.

“That was very, very impressive,” said Manager Terry Collins, who said he was afraid to walk into the training room after setbacks to catcher Todd Greene and second baseman Randy Velarde. “That’s a pretty good lineup they ran out there. His stuff was good and his command was very good.”

McDowell’s reaction was more low key.

“For me, [the surgery] hasn’t been a concern for a long time,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting ready for the season. I threw all my pitches, fastball, curve and the forkball. I was a tad erratic, but I was pretty happy with my command overall.”

McDowell retired the Diamondbacks in order in the first and third. Arizona scored twice in the second when third baseman Troy Glaus lost Matt Williams’ popup in the sun and former Angel Jorge Fabregas homered to right-center.

“It feels like any other spring to me,” said McDowell, who averaged 32 starts and 224 innings per season between 1990 and ’96. “You just want to get your feet on the ground, tighten up your stuff and hope to be where you want to be when the season starts.”

*

Allen Watson has had mixed results in his three spring starts, but the Angel left-hander has been consistent in one key area: he has not given up a home run in eight Cactus League innings.

“I’m trying to keep the ball down and stay away from home runs this year,” said Watson, who gave up a major league-leading 37 homers in 1997. “My sinker is working, and I’m getting a lot of ground balls with it.”

Watson fought off severe flu-like symptoms Sunday to throw three innings. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out two in the Angels’ 9-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants in a split-squad game at Las Vegas’ Cashman Field.

Gary DiSarcina had a two-run double, and Norm Hutchins, Phil Nevin and Norberto Marin had RBI doubles for the Angels. Watson was scheduled to throw four innings, but a fever, sore throat and the chills limited him to three.

“My legs were weak and achy, and I didn’t want to hurt my arm,” Watson said. “Sometimes when you’re sick you concentrate more. I didn’t have any extra velocity, but my ball was moving more and I kept everything down.”

*

He may be second-in-command behind Manager Terry Collins, but Angel third-base coach Larry Bowa got top billing in Las Vegas over the weekend.

In 12-foot-high block letters that would have made Siegfried & Roy proud, the Palace Station Hotel’s marquee blared: “MEET CALIFORNIA ANGEL LARRY BOWA AT TONIGHT’S DRAWING.”

“That was awesome, wasn’t it?” said Bowa, who drew winners for the hotel’s cash raffle Saturday night. “Dave Hollins said, ‘We’ve got all these superstars and Bowa gets top billing?’ I said check my bubble gum card, I had 2,200 career hits.”

Bowa, who managed the Angels in Las Vegas, had team officials get several pictures of the marquee.