Rangers Not in a Mood to Reflect

Talk about the Seattle Mariners, the next team up? No problem. The Texas Rangers would be happy to participate in any discussion of Ken Griffey Jr., et al. Or about the joys of playing in the Kingdome. Or, heck, about the clouds and the ferry rides and espresso.

But it was not easy to nudge the conversation toward the Angels. There was just no getting some guys to even hint at what they’ve thought of this patched-together conglomeration of talent and pulled hamstrings. There would be no trapping any of the Texas Rangers into even a wink and a smile and a hint that they have no idea why the Angels are still in this division race, however tenuously.

Playing on the big screen TV was one of those Chevy Chase “Vacation” movies, which seemed appropriate seeing as how the Rangers have just about guaranteed that the Angels can begin vacationing on Monday. There was big laughter when the Clark Griswold family arrived at WallyWorld, which mocked Disneyland in the movie--sort of the way the Rangers’ playing has mocked the Disney team in the last week.

But to hear the Rangers talk, the Angels have the talent of the Yankees. The 1927 Yankees. “A lot of good players over there, a lot of talent,” Lee Stevens said. “They have good players,” Juan Gonzalez said. “We never underestimated the talent over there,” Mike Simms said.

So don’t ask Texas players if they ever were tempted to ask “Who are those guys?” Not when the Angels led the AL West for so much of the final two months of the season. Not when the Angels were tied with the Rangers for the division lead as recently as Monday afternoon. “I won’t talk about them,” Ranger left fielder Rusty Greer said. “Is that what you want to talk about? I have nothing to say.”

But there was the sense in the Ranger clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, three hours before the final regular-season game against the Angels and after consecutive 9-1 drubbings of Team DL, that the Rangers were no longer thinking of the Angels as still-live rivals. It was OK to look ahead to Seattle, but that business of the Angels? Over and done with.

“We never expected that we were going to be able to run away and hide from this team,” said Stevens, who once played for the Angels. “We knew the Angels had some talent. And they’ve gone through a lot of obstacles to get where they are.” Stevens’ voice trailed off. He had spoken of the Angels totally in the past tense. He would not, would never, say that he couldn’t understand how it was the Angels had ever led this division or how it was that even with four games to go the Angels would still have a chance to win the division.

Stevens, if he wouldn’t criticize the Angels or express sympathy for them either, was able to give an excited account of the thrill of acquiring three big-time players: Todd Stottlemyre, a quality pitcher who has beaten the Angels twice in a week; Todd Zeile, the starting third baseman; and Royce Clayton, the starting shortstop. Which is, for those scoring at home, the left side of the infield.

“That does a lot for the attitude of a team,” Stevens said. “Three great moves that the team was willing to do and that’s something, personally, that I think all the guys on this team appreciated.”

“I think the day when we heard about these moves,” said Simms, an outfielder, “we all looked at each other and thought, ‘Management wants us to win.’ They get a player here, a player there, of that quality, and the confidence of the team goes way up. And the moves have paid off. From the other side, what the Angels felt when we did this, I don’t know. But I know we felt good.”

Mark McLemore, Texas second baseman and another former Angel, also used the phrase “commitment to win” about his team’s management, but then glared and said, “I don’t chose to talk about the other team,” when asked about the Angels.

And, really, what was there to talk about? If the Rangers admitted out loud what a puny lineup they had been pounding on for a week, then they would have to admit that it had been their own underwhelming play that had kept the Angels around. There is no fun in that, and so the Rangers paid the bland, perfunctory comment and went back to watching the Griswolds finish up their vacation. Then they went out and tried to finish off the Angels again.

Talk about the Angels anymore? Why bother?