A Fan’t Return

Eight-year-old Steve Trachsel was in the upper deck of Anaheim Stadium in 1979, screaming like a banshee, when the Angels played the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Championship Series. After the game, he bought a Rod Carew T-shirt. Later, a Nolan Ryan poster adorned his bedroom wall.

For years, Trachsel has thought about what it might be like to play for the Angels, from before his time as Troy High’s star pitcher to his days at Fullerton College and Long Beach State and even through his seven-plus years in the major leagues.

Today, even as the right-hander takes the mound for the first time at Edison Field, Trachsel still won’t have any better idea. After all, he’ll be wearing a Tampa Bay Devil Ray uniform.

But that’s OK, Trachsel says. He’s happy with his new team for now. And he continues to hope, even though Angel officials told Trachsel’s former agent during the off-season that the team didn’t want the then-free agent--at any price.

“It’s just part of the game,” said Trachsel, soft-spoken with an easy smile. “They were honest with me, saying, ‘Hey, we don’t think we can afford you, or it’s [not] something we can do at this point and time.’ That was fine. . . . There’s always the possibility.”

Getting Comfortable

The Devil Rays, in last place in the American League East, were struggling with a 9-13 record through Friday. Trachsel, 61-70 in his career, and an all-star with the Chicago Cubs in 1996, was projected as the team’s third or fourth starter, but he got the opening-day nod after injuries to Wilson Alvarez and Juan Guzman decimated the rotation.

Trachsel is 1-1 in five starts with a 6.08 earned-run average. He has struck out 18 and given up nine walks in 26 2/3 innings.

“I feel real comfortable,” said Trachsel, who signed with Tampa Bay on Jan. 13 after spending his career with the Cubs, who drafted him in the eighth round in 1991. “Pitching-wise, it’s been kind of up and down. I’ve been kind of going good-start, bad-start, that type of thing.

“But I think that’s just because I’m trying to make the adjustment to the American League game. I didn’t think it would be as different as it is. It’s more of a breaking-ball type of league. You have to really be able to throw off-speed pitches for strikes, and my control a couple of times hasn’t been real sharp, so it’s gotten me in trouble.”

Tampa Bay pitching coach Bill Fischer says Trachsel must effectively utilize all his pitches--an “average” fastball that sets up his curveball, forkball and splitter--if he hopes to be successful today against the Angels and his counterpart Kent Bottenfield, a former teammate in Chicago.

Trachsel might also get the chance to face Angel catcher Matt Walbeck. The two came up together in the Cubs’ farm system, and Walbeck caught Trachsel in his major league debut in 1993.

“Steve’s had success, he’s had some failure--he’s been through it all,” Walbeck said. “I think his overall experience is going to help that team. I know he’s going to get the innings and throw strikes. He’s just a guy I think any team would really want.”

He just wasn’t a guy the Angels wanted. At least not last winter.

According to published reports, Trachsel, 29, sought a three-year contract in the $20-million range. He was coming off a season in which he led the major leagues in losses, finishing 8-18 with a 5.56 ERA. But Trachsel, who received the third-worst run support among National League starters, has always been a pitcher teams could count on to throw a lot of innings.

Trachsel’s former agent, Alan Meersand, approached Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman about a possible deal, but he didn’t get far. Meersand, who was fired by Trachsel during spring training, declined to comment about the details, but earlier told The Times, “Stoneman said he didn’t like [Trachsel] at any price. Stoneman told me, ‘Every inning that Steve Trachsel would pitch for us would be an inning he would take away from a younger guy.’ When I heard that, I was floored.”

Trachsel eventually signed a one-year contract with the Devil Rays for a guaranteed $1 million with $4.5 million in incentives. If he pitches at least 200 innings, which he has in each of the past four years, he will receive an additional $1.75 million. If he pitches 210 innings, the figure goes up to $2.25 million. And if he starts at least 31 games, which he has the past four seasons, he will get an additional $1.75 million.

Trachsel hopes the incentives don’t become a distraction.

“It’s not something I want to have to think about, especially in September,” he said. “I don’t want to be sitting here going, ‘I’m four innings from 200, and I can get paid if. . . .’ I don’t want that at all.”

Fond Memories

Roy and Betty Trachsel of Yorba Linda have watched their son pitch as a professional in Southern California before, at Dodger Stadium and at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium.

But today will be special because he’ll be back in Edison Field.

“It should be a good game,” Roy Trachsel said. “We’re looking forward to going and hope Tampa Bay wins, but we’ll be outnumbered.”

Said Steve: “It’ll be exciting. I’ve played long enough so that I think I’ll be able to block most of [the distractions] out. After the game, being able to see all my friends and family in the stands, that will be real special.

“It’s great. This is where I grew up, and it’s probably where I’ll move back to whenever I retire. It’s just a lot of memories of this stadium and this area.”