Angels Paying for Errors of Their Ways

As the Dodgers and San Diego Padres vie for the major league lead in errors while sinking deeper in the National League West, several American League playoff contenders continue to bungle their way toward the postseason.

The Oakland Athletics, in the thick of the American League West and wild-card races, had made a league leading 128 errors entering Saturday’s games, threatening the Dodgers (133) and Padres (131) for the major league lead. The Chicago White Sox, with the AL Central virtually wrapped up, had made 119 errors. The Angels, still in the division and wild-card races, had 122.

In the AL, of course, it has always been very human to err.

The emphasis is on offense, with the designated hitter helping often-explosive attacks overcome often-shoddy defenses.

The Angels’ erratic play, for example, has been something of an overlooked aspect in an otherwise promising season, but the fact is that third baseman Troy Glaus (30 errors), shortstops Kevin Stocker and Benji Gil (34 combined), second baseman Adam Kennedy (17) and first baseman Mo Vaughn (14) all went into Saturday leading the league in errors at their position, although the Stocker/Gil combination was merely tied with Chicago’s Jose Valentin.

That’s 95 infield errors for those five Angels, including 31 on the much easier right side, forcing that young and injury-wracked rotation to throw hundreds of more pitches.

“Some teams in this league do seem to have a philosophy that they can outhit their mistakes, but that isn’t the case with the Angels,” bench coach Joe Maddon said. “The coaches spend a lot of time talking about how many more games we would have won if we had caught the ball. We’re concerned. We’re also working on it and think it can be corrected.”

Glaus, a former UCLA shortstop, is in only his second full major league season and still learning the nuances at third. Kennedy, a former Cal State Northridge shortstop, is still adapting to second base in his first full major league season.

“Adam has made a lot of progress in the second half and should continue to make progress,” Maddon said. “Troy’s error total is an absolute aberration. I still believe he’s the best third baseman in the league. Most of his mistakes are on throws, and that has everything to do with his footwork, which can be cleaned up. We tend to raise the bar automatically because of what he does on offense, but he’s still learning a new position.”

The loss of Gary DiSarcina, of course, created a measure of instability at shortstop and that, too, may have impacted Glaus and Kennedy. The lumbering Vaughn is what he is, although the Angels continue to work on his footwork while knowing the gold is in his bat, not his glove.

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Tom Lasorda lost a potentially valuable pitcher on his U.S. Olympic team when the Cleveland Indians ordered top prospect C.C. Sabathia home from Australia Tuesday. The Indians had OK’d Sabathia’s Olympic appointment if used as a starter with a 100-pitch limit. They reconsidered when Lasorda opted to use the 20-year-old left-hander in relief.

The Indians may also have to start Sabathia during a glut of make-up games over the next eight days (there is even a three-team doubleheader scheduled), although they had previously said he was not ready and did not want him to make his debut amid pennant pressure.

Why would they now reconsider, exposing Sabathia to that heat after having him fly halfway around the world?

“I’ll let John Hart answer that,” Manager Charlie Manuel said of his general manager. “I guess we want to see how quick C.C. can bounce back from jet lag.”