Taken Out at Old Ballgame

That didn’t take long.

From the first inning of the first game, this Angels-Rangers showdown turned into a no-down.

Juan Gonzalez sent a Chuck Finley pitch into the left-field seats for a two-run homer in the first. Later the Rangers tacked on, oh, seven insurance runs and there was little left to accomplish in this three-game series.

The Angels came in hoping to cut their 6 1/2-game deficit to the Rangers in the American League West standings in half. Now the most they can gain by the end of it is one game.

All we were looking for was some type of sign from the Angels, an indication that it would be worth watching them some more.

They couldn’t even provide suspense. Monday night’s 9-1 loss had fans leaving in the fifth inning.

Really, it was over in the first inning. Gonzalez didn’t catch all of Finley’s split-finger fastball. At first he wasn’t even sure it would leave the park. But it was as if the ball recognized that this was Gonzalez at the plate and it was the Angels vs. the Rangers, so it dutifully carried on into the bullpen. And you knew, just knew that the Rangers would win.

We’ve come to expect the worst from the Angels. It’s quite a drop-off from the spring training hopes.

At this point we’re not asking for a World Series or even a pennant from either of the region’s baseball teams. Just salvage a little dignity. Get out of the basement, both of you. At least make things interesting for a couple of months until college football arrives.

The Angels know that, technically, this week’s games won’t decide their season. They might have even been a little amused at all the newfound optimism.

“A week ago we were 10 games out and the gravestones were being etched,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said before the game.

Don’t inscribe the gravestones yet, but you can start thinking of an epitaph. As hard as it might seem to believe, the first time the Angels faced the Rangers this season the Angels took three out of four games. That was in April. That was about trying to establish a season. This was about trying to save it.

We all remember what happened the last time the Angels played the Rangers with anything riding on it. With the division lead there for the taking, in the most important September series for the franchise since the season-closer against Seattle in 1995, the Angels came out like sedated beagles and rolled over to the Rangers by a combined score of 25-3 in the three games.

No one could realistically expect the Angels’ depleted lineup to keep pace with the Rangers. The Angels’ No. 4 and 5 hitters Monday night entered the game with a total of 65 runs batted in. Gonzalez, the Ranger cleanup hitter, had that many on his own and the No. 5 hitter Rafael Palmeiro had 64.

But the Angels had a right to believe their mainstay Finley could outduel Texas’ Mike (Have Arm, Will Travel) Morgan.

Didn’t happen. While Finley made all kinds of mistakes--including serving up a three-run, opposite-field home run to No. 9 hitter Royce Clayton--Morgan came within one strike of a shutout.

That’s the way it’s gone for the Angels this season. It’s not just that they’re missing the players they don’t have. They’re not getting enough out of what they have.

If there’s one Angel who deserves to be mentioned in the same category as Texas’ fearsome hitters it’s Mo Vaughn. He has half as many most valuable player awards as the two-time winner Gonzalez, which in this case is a nice compliment.

Except Monday night Vaughn wasn’t half the player Gonzalez was. In the third inning, when the Angels were still in the game, Vaughn struck out with runners on first and third and two out. In the sixth inning he turned a leadoff single by Randy Velarde into a double-play with a grounder.

Gonzalez provided that tone-setting home run in the first, plus two singles that led to crossing the plate two more times.

If this guy played all of his games at Edison Field he could win the MVP every year. He has a .312 average with 17 home runs and 51 RBI in 170 career at-bats here.

He’s immune to whatever curses are beneath this jinxed soil. You want proof? Ranger pitching coach Dick Bosman broke his hip earlier Monday. According to a press box announcement, he injured it while rollerblading “in the vicinity of Edison Field.” Enough said.

The Rangers better get out of here before any more bad things happen to them.