Players Prepare for Their First Look at an Old Friend Turned Opponent

The Angels’ nine-game trip continues today in Cleveland, where the Angels will experience firsthand, for the first time, the odd sight of their friend and former teammate, pitcher Chuck Finley in an Indian uniform.

Then things will get really strange Wednesday when the Angels step into the Jacobs Field batter’s box against Finley, the left-hander who spent 14 years with the Anaheim franchise before signing a three-year, $27-million deal with Cleveland last winter.

“It’s going to be weird, man,” Angel first baseman Mo Vaughn said. “These guys are going to be in a little fog for a while, going against a guy they battled with for all those years.”

Vaughn has been in that haze before. He spent six years in Boston playing with pitcher Roger Clemens, a teammate he credited with “teaching me how to play the game,” before Clemens signed with Toronto in 1997. The first time Vaughn faced Clemens as a Blue Jay, he went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch.

“It doesn’t hit you until you see the guy warming up in the bullpen and walking across the field to the other dugout,” Vaughn said. “I mean, I’m going to feel it a bit too. Chuck Finley was one of the reasons I came to Anaheim. He was one of the pitchers I hated to face.”

Vaughn played only one season with Finley, but Tim Salmon played seven years with him, Garret Anderson five, and closer Troy Percival and left fielder Darin Erstad four each.

Finley was more than a teammate. He was the Angels’ best pitcher, a team leader, the most popular player in the clubhouse and the last link to the franchise’s last playoff team in 1986. So there should be plenty of emotion Wednesday.

“I’ve never been in this situation before--I played with those guys for 14 years, so it’s going to be kind of strange,” Finley said. “But I’m not going to lay cookies down there just because they’re my friends. Right now they’re just another team standing in the middle of the road.”

The road has not been kind to Finley, who is 3-4 with a 4.04 earned-run average and 74 strikeouts--ranking him second in the American League--entering Wednesday’s start.

The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA at home but 1-3 with a 5.59 ERA away from Jacobs Field. After winning his first three decisions, Finley has lost four of his last five starts and hasn’t won since April 29.

Run support for Finley has been spotty. But he can’t blame the Indian offense for his woes. Many of his starts have included one weird inning when things go haywire. For example, Finley retired 11 straight against the Chicago White Sox Friday before giving up two bunt singles and a triple and three runs in the fifth.

The Angels won’t amount to a breather in Finley’s schedule, either. Anaheim entered Sunday ranked second in the league in batting (.290) and second in home runs (78) before smashing four more homers in the fifth inning against the Royals. The Angels’ 48 home runs in May breaks the franchise record of 44 set in August 1982.

“I’m sure he’ll have a lot of incentive facing his former team,” Salmon said. “It’s going to be interesting to see if we learned something playing behind him all those years that will help us hitting against him.”

ON DECK * Opponent--Cleveland Indians, three games.

* Site--Jacobs Field, Cleveland.

* Today--10 a.m.

* Record vs. Indians--1-9 in 1999.

* TV--Channel 9 today and Tuesday, ESPN Wednesday.

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

* Records--Angels 26-24, Indians 25-21.

TODAY

ANGELS’ JARROD WASHBURN

(1-1, 4.66 ERA)

vs.

INDIANS’ JIM BROWER

(0-0, 6.75 ERA)

* Update--Ken Hill, continuing his strong rehabilitation from a strained rib-cage muscle, threw 60-65 pitches for 12 minutes in the bullpen at about about 80% velocity Sunday. Pitching coach Bud Black said he expects Hill, who wasn’t expected back until July or August, to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment “within a few weeks.” The Angels’ four home runs in the fifth Sunday was both a club record for the Angels and a franchise record for home runs allowed in an inning for the Royals. Brower is a right-hander who was recalled from triple-A Buffalo last week and has made two big league relief appearances.

Tuesday, 4 p.m.--Scott Schoeneweis (5-2, 5.00) vs. Dave Burba (4-1, 5.23).

Wednesday, 4 p.m.--Seth Etherton (0-0, 5.40) vs. Chuck Finley (3-4, 4.04).