Team Identifies Its Meekness

The season was only eight games old but it already felt like an out-of-the-pennant-race September in the Angel clubhouse Thursday afternoon.

Getting pounded on the field while going down meekly at the plate tends to create such an environment, especially following what team officials considered a positive spring training. So Angel hitting coach Mickey Hatcher called a hitters’ meeting in an attempt to ease the players’ minds after their sluggish start.

“I just told them that they’re going to be fine,” Hatcher said. “They’ve got to dig in there and compete. We’re coming off a good spring training and I can see their frustration. There’s no time to be frustrated; it’s time to compete.”

Through eight games, the Angels were batting .212 as a team and the only Angel to have hit a home run was third baseman Troy Glaus, who had three.

Plus, five of the Angels’ starters Thursday night were batting below .195.

Hatcher said the Angels have been taking too many first-pitch fastballs for strikes and he could tell by their body language in the batter’s box if they were going to take a pitch or swing away.

“I shouldn’t be able to tell that,” Hatcher said. “To a pitcher, that’s a free pitch.”

But the meeting wasn’t all about mechanics. “Guys need to loosen up and have fun,” Hatcher said. “I want these guys to swing themselves out of it.”

Said Manager Mike Scioscia: “Some guys are battling some ghosts of September that we thought we [exorcised] in spring training. But all in all it’s early.”

Angel closer Troy Percival, on the 15-day disabled list since April 3 with a strained muscle in his rib cage, played catch Wednesday and will throw a bullpen session today.

Mariner right-hander James Baldwin, who was not offered a contract by the Dodgers after being traded to them last summer, said he’s found a home in Seattle and that he harbors no grudge toward the Dodgers, who he hoped would sign him.

“It’s a business,” said Baldwin, who signed a one-year contract with an option in Seattle. “In this game, you expect a lot, but you have to be realistic.

“But here, they make you feel at home.... These guys don’t just hope to win; they expect to win.”

ON DECK

Opponent--Oakland Athletics, three games.

Site--Edison Field.

Tonight--7.

TV--Channel 9 tonight and Sunday, Fox Sports Net Saturday.

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

Records--Angels 3-6, Athletics 6-4.

Record vs. Athletics (2001)--6-14.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

RAMON ORTIZ

(1-0, 2.57 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’

TIM HUDSON

(1-0, 1.46 ERA)

Update--Ortiz has never beaten the Athletics, going 0-2 with an 8.62 earned-run average in three appearances. Hudson has beaten the Angels more often than any other opponent. Hudson is 8-1 with a 3.16 ERA in 10 career appearances against Anaheim, including 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA in six games last season.

Saturday, 7 p.m.--Jarrod Washburn (0-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Erik Hiljus (0-1, 7.50 ERA).

Sunday, 1 p.m.--Kevin Appier (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Barry Zito (0-0, 2.13 ERA).

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.