Lackey is putting his right arm in

OK, so what do you call that dance again?

Lift left leg, pump arms, lift right leg, pump arms, pound fist into glove, howl to the heavens.

Oh, yeah,

The Lackey Pokey.

You do the Lackey Pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about.

John Lackey’s mound celebration after escaping a two-on, none-out jam in the seventh inning against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday was hardly lyrical but wholly symbolic.

At age 28, performing at his peak for an Angels team headed toward baseball’s peak, he has indeed turned himself around.

He is no longer a hothead, he is an extinguisher. He is no longer a thrower, he is a pitcher. He no longer inspires sighs, he is potentially Cy.

Of all the splendid pitchers darting up and down the 5 Freeway this summer, he is the most fun to watch, from first fastball to final dance.

Especially when that dance appears to be wonderfully executed without a trace of rhythm in his body or a thought in his mind.

“I was gassed, I was too tired to give a good celebration,” he said with a grin after working seven innings of the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the A’s at Angel Stadium. “What you saw out there, that’s all I had left.”

He shook his head.

“For the first time ever, I actually told Scioscia, ‘You’re right, I am done,’ ” he said.

But by then, the Athletics were done, worn down by 90-mph fastballs and 79-mph breaking stuff and heaps of emotion that Lackey now flings on to the other guys.

Seven innings, three trouble spots, zero mind-altering tantrums.

Seven innings, one run, and a second consecutive Lackey victory.

“John has become good at channeling some of that emotion and turning it into a positive,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You can turn that sort of thing back in your favor, and John did that tonight.”

That emotion began churning in the fourth inning, with the score tied, 1-1. Mike Piazza was on second base after a double, there were two out, and Lackey threw Nick Swisher a curveball in the dirt that catcher Mike Napoli barely stopped.

The catcher and pitcher met in front of home plate. Napoli handed Lackey the ball and turned to walk away. Lackey grabbed him by the front of the chest protector and dragged him back to the mound for a chat.

Said Lackey: “I was just telling him, ‘I’m throwing that pitch again, and I’m not gonna miss this time, so be ready for it.’ ”

Said Napoli: “The guy’s a bulldog.”

Swisher fouled off the next pitch, then grounded a fastball to second base for an out and an escape.

In the next inning, there was more trouble, after Mark Ellis led off with a single and raced to third when Napoli threw wildly on a stolen base attempt.

Lackey was furious, slamming his hand into his glove and shouting toward the ground. A couple of years ago, this anger would have resulted in runs. On Saturday, it produced only resiliency.

“I’m becoming better at stepping behind the mound and not carrying things over from pitch to pitch,” Lackey said.

Sure enough, it took him only seven more pitches to walk off the mound. He fooled Marco Scutaro into hitting a grounder to Orlando Cabrera, who threw home to nail Ellis. Then he got Jason Kendall to fly out.

“He is so much more mature now,” reliever Scot Shields said.

That maturity showed

itself again, finally, in the seventh inning, after Eric Chavez doubled and Swisher was hit by a pitch.

Thanks to a missed bunt by Ellis that resulted in a rundown of Chavez, Lackey needed only 11 more pitches to finish the inning. It ended with a strikeout of Scutaro and that revealing dance.

Most of the Angels are too quiet or careful to show such outward intensity. With Darin Erstad and Adam Kennedy gone, Lackey considers it not only his personality, but his duty.

It is no coincidence that he dresses in a locker that once housed Chuck Finley and Troy Percival. Both were that rare breed of pitcher who can become a clubhouse leader. Now it is Lackey’s turn.

“I think it’s my time to lead the younger guys, yeah,” he said. “I’m talking more in the clubhouse this year. I’m calling more people out, but I’m doing it in a fun way.”

He looked over at Napoli with raised eyebrows.

“Hey, just ask Nap,” he said.

Napoli looked back, grinned and shook his finger in obvious disagreement.

“John,” he said, shaking his head.

With five wins in six games, the Angels have equaled the best start in their history.

Lackey makes two of them.

*

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.