Never Too Early for Angels to Start Worrying

Apparently dismissing the impact of an unbalanced schedule on the importance of a solid start, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia continues to insist division titles are not lost in April.

Maybe Disney requires employees to live in Fantasyland.

Scioscia, of course, has to present a positive face. He is also right in the context that no lead should be insurmountable when there are 138 games left.

Nevertheless, the combination of a 7-12 record in the season-opening intra-division games, the sizzling start of the Seattle Mariners and the overall inconsistency of the Angels has added up to something more than April showers. The Angels head into today’s final game of the first month trailing Seattle by 10 games, a troubling deficit compounded by other concerns.

* After his 240-hit, .355 rampage in 2000, Darin Erstad concedes he has been plagued by back spasms, which have contributed to his 154-hit pace and .242 average.

* Troy Glaus, on another 40-plus homer pace, continues to battle the strike zone, whiffing more than once every four at-bats and on a pace to strike out 169 times, six more than last year.

* Garret Anderson, who emerged as a legitimate run producer with his 35 homers and 117 RBIs, is hitting for neither average (.247) nor power (three homers), has only 12 RBIs while playing indecisively in left field.

* Wally Joyner (.156) and Scott Spezio (.225), Mo Vaughn’s first base replacements, have combined for two homers and seven RBIs.

* Tim Salmon has shown signs of shaking his usual April misery but is on pace to hit only 21 homers. Catchers Bengie Molina and Jorge Fabregas have combined for only one homer and 11 RBIs, and the designated hitter is virtually nonexistent, with Glenallen Hill sidelined by a rib injury and ailing bat (.135).

Yes, it is early, as Scioscia says, and the offense may click, but the point is, it has to because the Angels can’t duplicate Seattle’s little-ball approach or pitching. April, if anything, has confirmed concerns about Anaheim’s mound corps. Scott Schoeneweis has made five solid starts, and Ismael Valdes has been promising in three. However, Valdes remains plagued by familiar blister and fingernail problems, Ramon Ortiz, Pat Rapp and Jarrod Washburn haven’t delivered two alike, and middle relievers Lou Pote, Al Levine and Ben Weber may need midseason transplants.

Division titles may not be lost in April, but confidence can be.

“With the unbalanced schedule this year, a good start was more important than ever,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said last week. “We haven’t won anything yet and there’s a long way to go, but we began the season by beating the teams we have to beat in our division, and that has to help your confidence.”

*

Flirting with another no-hitter only 22 days after no-hitting the Baltimore Orioles, Hideo Nomo lost it in the seventh inning Thursday night when Minnesota’s Torii Hunter hit a sinking liner on which the normally reliable Darren Lewis got a late start and barely missed a sliding catch.

Bob Ellis, a radio man from Lawrence, Mass., scoring a major league game for the first time, didn’t watch a replay before making his call. He did afterward and felt it was the right one.

No one disagreed, although Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe raced to the library clips to review a 1979 incident in Anaheim when Buzzie Bavasi, then Angel general manager, stormed the press box after official scorer Dick Miller of the L.A. Herald-Examiner had scored another sinking liner an error when another reliable fielder, Rick Miller, also missed a sliding catch, keeping alive a no-hit bid by Nolan Ryan.

“You’ve embarrassed us on national TV,” Bavasi roared at Miller, who stood by his call.

The incident prompted most newspapers to prohibit their reporters from serving as official scorers. Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette showed more restraint Thursday night, and Nomo won, 3-1, yielding only the one hit in seven innings.