Percival Won’t Let Pain Stop Him

The prudent course of action regarding Troy Percival would be to give the Angel closer these final six games off, so as not to risk further injury to his inflamed right shoulder.

Of course, prudence has never been Percival’s strength. The machismo-filled right-hander, who would probably retire before making an excuse for a poor performance, will go weeks before admitting his arm might be bothering him, and he has no intention of giving in to this ailment.

“I’ll pitch again this year,” Percival said. “There’s no need to risk anything, but I’d like to go out there and prove I’m healthy and can pitch before the year is out.”

The Angels may have something to say about that--the bet here is that Percival will not talk his way onto the mound this week. There’s simply too much for the Angels to lose.

The question is, was the sore shoulder a factor in the longest slump of Percival’s five-year career, a 19-game stretch in which he gave up 15 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings (8.27 ERA) and blew six of 12 save chances since Aug. 8?

“I don’t know,” Percival said. “You always feel things when you’re out there, and you don’t think about them. I’ve been hit and miss with this. I can always throw hard . . . but the thing you lose is your control, the feel for throwing the ball.”

Percival, who was pulled in the 10th inning Friday night, feared the injury might be serious, but X-rays and an MRI test showed no major damage.

“I’m hoping to throw again by Tuesday,” Percival said. “I’ll do what they say, but I’ll be out there before they want me to be.”

*

Mariner center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. can become a free agent after 2000, and he says his wife and children, who live in Florida during the school year, will be a major consideration in his next contract. “I want to be around more,” Griffey told the Seattle Times. “In fact, in my next contract I’m going to get Saturdays off in spring training if I’m with a team that has camp in Florida, and I want Saturdays and Sundays off if I’m with a team that trains in Arizona.” . . . Angel right fielder Tim Salmon on Saturday night’s diving “catch,” in which he scooped the ball up with his bare hand after it squirted out of his glove: “The ground can’t cause a fumble, and I had the ball in my glove until I hit the ground.”