Finley Is Resting Easier When It Comes to Family

What should have been a joyous occasion for Steve Finley -- the birth of his fifth child in late January -- became a highly stressful period for the new Angel center fielder, who reported to camp Sunday in advance of Tuesday’s first full-squad workout.

On Jan. 23, shortly after beginning her ninth month of pregnancy, Finley’s wife was hit in the face by a line drive while attending her son’s Little League game in Del Mar, Calif.

Amy Finley suffered a broken nose, but when doctors couldn’t stem the bleeding, they were forced to induce labor, some 3 1/2 weeks before her due date. Amy gave birth to a daughter, Sophia, on Jan. 26 -- the same day Steve Finley’s 61-year-old father, Howard, underwent quadruple bypass surgery in Kentucky.

“That’s not a three weeks I’d wish on anybody,” said Finley, the former Dodger who signed a two-year, $14-million deal with the Angels in December. “It was scary because I was worried about my wife and the baby. Then, the day after she got hit, we found out my dad needed open-heart surgery.”

Amy Finley was hospitalized for 10 days and still suffers from fatigue and light nosebleeds, but the baby is fine. Howard Finley’s recovery is going well.

“The great thing is the baby is healthy and my dad is getting better,” said Finley, a 16-year veteran.

Finley, who turns 40 in March, is a four-time Gold Glove winner who will team with Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson to give the Angels what should be one of baseball’s best all-around outfields.

After helping the Dodgers win the National League West last season after his July trade from Arizona, Finley thought he’d be playing center field for that other Los Angeles team in 2005.

But the Dodgers made no attempt to re-sign Finley during a winter makeover in which key players Adrian Beltre, Shawn Green, Alex Cora and Jose Lima also departed.

“Usually, you don’t see sweeping changes like that to a division winner, but I’m paid to play baseball, not make decisions,” Finley said. “Who knows? They might have a great year, and if they do, great. If they don’t, there will be a lot of questions.”

The biggest will probably be, how did they let Beltre (.334 batting average, 48 home runs, 121 runs batted in) get away?

“He gobbles up everything at third, drives in big runs and was just coming into his own,” Finley said. “Football puts a ‘franchise player’ tag on some guys. Adrian was a franchise player.”

Finley said he was told by Dodger General Manager Paul DePodesta after the trade that “if I did the job, they’d have every intention of keeping me.” Finley hit .263 with 13 homers and 46 RBIs in 58 games, including a walk-off grand slam in the division-clinching win over the San Francisco Giants on Oct. 2.

“I did what I was supposed to do, and I never got a call the whole off-season, save for two to ask if I was interested in moving to a corner outfield position,” Finley said. “I didn’t give an answer. I didn’t feel one was deserved.

“That was the only sour thing about the Dodgers. I like honesty. I like doing business the right way, and I didn’t feel that was doing business the right way. But they have a business to run. It doesn’t have to be fair.”

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Finley has been called the fittest man in baseball. Angel batting instructor Mickey Hatcher poked his head into a gathering of reporters at Finley’s locker Sunday and said, “Ask him why he looks like he’s 20 years old.”

The outfielder sticks to a strict training regimen, watches what he eats and prides himself on avoiding any performance-enhancing substances, so he was very happy to see baseball adopt a new steroid-testing policy with more severe penalties.

“For all the guys who haven’t done [steroids] it became guilt by association, and that shouldn’t happen,” Finley said. “Hopefully, the new policy will deter everybody.... You have to be concerned about the long-term effects.”

What about former slugger Jose Canseco’s claim in his new book that steroids “can add 30 years to your life” if properly managed?

“Look who’s saying it,” Finley said. “When you’re putting something into your body that you’re not supposed to, it can’t be any good. Look at Lyle Alzado. He’s the poster child for what steroids can do to your body.”

Alzado, a star NFL defensive end, attributed excessive steroid use to the brain cancer that killed him in 1992 at age 43.

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Manager Mike Scioscia said he’s leaning toward a lineup with Chone Figgins leading off and Darin Erstad batting second. Guerrero, Anderson and Finley probably will bat third, fourth and fifth, followed by shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

The bottom of the order will be filled by rookie third baseman Dallas McPherson, catcher Bengie Molina and the designated hitter, with some possible adjustments -- such as Cabrera batting second -- against left-handed starters.