A Diagnosis for a Return?

The Angels now know that Troy Glaus is headed to shoulder surgery Friday. In the macho environment of the clubhouse, some of the third baseman’s peers may have preferred to see him hang in, keep trying to perform as the designated hitter despite a discomfort that only Glaus could measure, but at least the diagnosis, decision and direction have brought a degree of resolution amid the uncertainty of so many other injuries.

Now too, there is finally a diagnosis and direction -- if not an immediate timetable -- involving the mysterious condition that has forced center fielder Garret Anderson to sit out the last 25 of the Angels’ 40 games.

In consultation again Wednesday with Craig Milhouse, the team physician, and David Brown, a Pasadena rheumatologist, it was determined that Anderson’s fatigue and upper-back discomfort are the result of early undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis.

Anderson will begin taking oral medication immediately and can start working out in a pool and on an exercise bike and treadmill in a week, the Angels announced during the late innings of a 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

“It’s a long road ahead, but the fact that there’s a road is encouraging,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We didn’t have a direction on where to go before, and now we’re confident we have a direction. We know Garret is going to get better, it’s just a matter of when. Hopefully, we’re now on a course of action that will get him back and playing.”

With Darin Erstad and Tim Salmon also on the disabled list, the injury toll may be catching up to the Angels, who have scored three runs in the last 34 innings.

Glaus is probably out for the season, and it’s not clear when Anderson will be back or what his long-term prognosis is.

Doctors had ruled out rheumatoid arthritis, but continued evaluation led to the diagnosis of a condition that can cause irreversible bone damage if not detected early, according to the Australian Journal of Medicine. Symptoms have to be present for six weeks to fit the criteria, and the description of “undifferentiated” refers to the fact that the source is undetermined.

Neither Milhouse nor Brown was made available to the media because of new and tougher federal confidentiality statutes, but the stoic Anderson now has a diagnosis, at least.

“Even though Garret may not show it,” teammate Salmon said, “this is the first time he’s ever been on the disabled list, and you know it’s been killing him and you know it’s for real.

“You see him walking around and he just doesn’t look comfortable. He’s just kind of hunched up. The biggest thing from what he says is that he just hasn’t been sleeping good. He has periods of relief but nothing sustained. He isn’t the type of person to come in here moping, but it’s as if he’s been saying, ‘Just give me a diagnosis.’ I think he’s seen every doctor in town.”

The Angels have produced the best record in baseball without Anderson and almost half of their regular lineup, but at some point the reality was bound to intrude.

Anderson is the major league hit leader since 1995, and the promise of his return was relief -- to Anderson and the Angels.

“We’ve always worked hard to say that we’re more than a one-man team, but Garret is definitely at the heart of everything we’ve accomplished,” said Tim Mead, the club’s longtime vice president of communications. “The fact that he’s won the owner’s trophy in four of the last five years shows the regard in which he’s held by teammates.”

The regard can also be measured by the four-year, $48-million contract extension he received in April after Arte Moreno had emptied his wallet on Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon and others.

Anderson was in the process of rewarding Moreno’s faith, hitting .339 through 15 games, when his mysterious condition developed.

“Garret is truly proud of the fact that he plays 160 games a year,” Mead said. “As somebody who puts family first and likes to have everything planned out, the uncertainty has not been a good friend. He may be a very private person and very unemotional, but he’s been chomping at the bit.”

The Angels have been flooded with letters and e-mails from cranks and professionals offering advice, and “we’ve tried to respond to all of them by telling people we have a very capable medical staff which is working on the problem,” Mead said.

The problem has now been identified, an elusive step.

“We have something tangible to address now,” Scioscia said, “and that’s given Garret and all of us a little relief and peace of mind.”

There may be no way of knowing when he will be more than a missing piece, but as with Glaus, the Angels, at least, have a form of resolution.