Finley, Greene Take Small, Sturdy Steps

A camp filled with broken bones and back spasms and strained hamstrings received a double dose of good news Tuesday.

Chuck Finley made his first spring appearance, looking strong in a one-hit, two-strikeout, 24-pitch inning in a 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox, and Todd Greene caught for the first time in nine months, picking off a runner at first during his three-inning stint.

“We’re starting to mend,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But as nice as it is to see those two guys out there, we don’t want to get carried away. We have to realize this is the first step.”

Finley, slowed by upper-back spasms, struck out Tyrone Pendergrass and Gabby Martinez, both with nasty breaking balls, to open the game, and after Jeff Abbott singled, Finley got Paul Konerko to ground out.

“The good thing about it is I walked onto the field and walked off under my own power,” Finley said. “It felt pretty good. I’ve been throwing for a while, so my arm is not that far behind.”

Finley’s next start will be Saturday or Sunday, and he’d like to push himself to at least 45 pitches. Greene, who hasn’t caught since last June because of shoulder problems, probably will catch again in three or four days.

“The way I feel right now, I could catch again [today],” said Greene, who hopes to catch at least three games a week this season. “My legs are more sore than my shoulder, so that’s good.”

Greene bobbled the ball and did not throw to second on Abbott’s stolen base in the first, but after blocking a ball in the dirt in the third, he caught Abbott leaning too far off first.

“I’m excited, but I also know catching three innings is a lot different than catching nine,” Greene said. “I won’t know how much I can play until I catch nine, but the way it feels now, I don’t think that will be a problem.”

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Her days as Angel majority owner winding down, a media guide with the picture of her late husband on the cover in hand, and a Gene Autry patch sewn onto her jacket, Jackie Autry headed to her Tempe Diablo Stadium suite Tuesday hoping for a little divine intervention this season.

“He’s up there in heaven,” she said of her late husband, the longtime Angel owner who died Oct. 2. “If we can’t win it this year, the Angels ought to be renamed something else.”

The Walt Disney Co. recently notified Autry that it plans to pick up the option to purchase the remaining 75% of the Angels, and Autry expects the transaction to be completed by March 31.

A baseball source said the final sale of the team will be “significantly more” than the $120 million originally reported, and Autry said proceeds eventually will go to the Gene Autry Museum. Autry will have Edison Field box seats and the use of a luxury suite for the rest of her life.

“Michael Eisner [Disney chairman] and Tony Tavares [team president] have made me feel very welcome,” said Autry, who sold 25% of the Angels and gave up managing control of the team to Disney in 1996. “They’ve gone out of their way to acknowledge Gene’s contributions to baseball.”

Though Gene Autry splurged on free agents in the late 1970s and 1980s, the Angels were known more for their penny-pinching ways in the waning days of Autry’s ownership. Asked what she thought of Disney’s six-year, $80-million investment in Mo Vaughn, Autry smiled and said:

“No comment . . . but I met Mo for the first time today. He’s awesome. He will be a major asset to this club.”