Tavares: Team to Consider Minorities

Angel President Tony Tavares said the team would consider a minority hire for the general manager, as well as manager.

“I think the error made in baseball is not looking at all candidates, whether it’s for general manager or manager,” Tavares said. “I don’t think that equal rights means you don’t hire the best guy. Everyone will have an equal opportunity and we will hire the best guy.”

Among the minority candidates available are Dave Stewart, the assistant general manager with the Toronto Blue Jays; Omar Minaya, the assistant general manager for the New York Mets, and former New York Yankee general manager Bob Watson.

The Angels already are considering Don Baylor and Chris Chambliss for the manager’s job.

Tavares also denied that Bill Bavasi was fired from his post as Angel general manager.

“If I wanted to fire Bill, I would have fired him,” Tavares said. “I’ve pulled the trigger on that before, as you all know.”

Tavares fired coach Ron Wilson after he had led the Mighty Ducks to the NHL playoffs in the 1996-97 season.

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Lou Pote began the year as a starting pitcher and is finishing it as the Angels’ closer. Strange, but true.,

“It’s hard to believe,” said Pote, who has saved the last two Angel victories. “I would have thought that just making the major leagues was far-fetched when the season began.”

Pote moved into the closer role because Troy Percival is out with inflammation in his right shoulder. Percival, who has not pitched since Sept. 25, was examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum Thursday and will not pitch in the last two games.

The “promotion” came as a surprise to Pote.

“I did the closer role in [double-A] Midland at the start of last season and I wasn’t any good at it,” Pote said. “[There] weren’t a lot of close games for Midland the first part of the season, so I wasn’t getting any work. They decided to just have me start.”

Pote was 7-9 with a 4.50 earned-run average as a starter at triple-A Edmonton before being called up Aug. 9. He is 1-1 with a 2.17 ERA in 19 games with the Angels.

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Darin Erstad was scratched from Friday’s game because of a knee injury suffered in Thursday’s game. . . . Angel outfielder Jeff DaVanon’s fifth-inning single was his first major league hit.

ANGELS’ AL LEVINE (1-1, 3.56 ERA) vs. RANGERS’ RICK HELLING (13-10, 4.81 ERA)

Edison Field, 7 p.m.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Levine, who has mostly pitched in obscurity this season, gets his first start. He replaces Mike Fyhrie, who has a tender right elbow. “Al has done a great job this year and it has hardly been noticed,” said Joe Maddon, the Angels’ interim manager. “We wanted to go with the freshest pitcher we had [in the bullpen].” That, apparently, wasn’t Ken Hill, a former member of the rotation who hasn’t pitched since going 1 1/3 innings against Baltimore Sept. 18. Levine pitched two innings against Oakland Tuesday.