Jim Riggio With the pennant stretch in...

Jim Riggio

With the pennant stretch in major league baseball starting to heat

up, Burbank’s Mike Magnante is expecting to get a call from a general

manager offering a job.

Magnante, a 1983 Burroughs High graduate, was released by the

Oakland Athletics on Friday after being designated for assignment

July 30.

Magnante, a left-handed pitcher, is back at home in Burbank and

ready for anything that might come his way.

“I pitched yesterday and I’m throwing every other day,” Magnante

said. “My routine won’t change. I’m still throwing off of mounds. I’m

not sitting around doing nothing.”

Magnante, 37, said he needs to be on a major-league roster for

nine more days to get a maximum retirement pension, which is given to

players with 10 years or more service in the big leagues.

“The image of players is that ‘Screw him, he’s making a million

dollars a year and he’s worried about his pension,’ ” Magnante said.

“The reality is, I’m not. They actually do a great job of taking care

of us.”

Magnante said he currently has 9 3/4 seasons of major-league

service toward his pension, and the difference between that and a

full 10 years is very little.

The Athletics designated Magnante for assignment after trading for

Cleveland left-handed reliever Ricardo Rincon. Magnante said the

Athletics did him a favor by officially releasing him on Friday after

just three days, in order to help him find another job quicker.

Under the terms of being designated for assignment, the Athletics

had 10 days to trade, release or demote Magnante.

“It happened at the last minute, about 15 minutes before the game

started,” Magnante said about first being informed about Oakland’s

move. “They [the Athletics’ staff] All came down and talked to me.”

Magnante said he has no hard feelings toward the Athletics, for

whom he spent more than 2 1/2 seasons.

“It’s a good organization, and they wished me well,” Magnante

said. “There is nobody I don’t like there. Billy Beane [the

Athletics’ general manager] sat there with me and suggested I go to

the Angels because he knew I lived down here, even though we’re

competing in the same division as them.”

Magnante said his release didn’t come as a total surprise, as he

had sensed things might be in the works.

“The A’s weren’t using me like they had the year before,” said

Magnante, who went from a set-up man to a pitcher who threw in games

the team trailed or had big leads in.

Magnante said he understands the logistics of why he was let go.

“They are always looking to the future. They replaced me with a

guy who is 27,” Magnante said. “He generally throws harder and he’s

more of a strikeout pitcher than I tend to be.”

With rosters set to expand to 40 players Sept. 1, Magnante figures

he’ll get his chance by then.

“I think someone will give me a shot,” Magnante said. “Right now,

I’m just enjoying being home and spending time with my family.”

Playing for four major league teams, Magnante has a 26-32 career

record and a 4.08 earned-run average.

He was also a standout at UCLA and is a member of the Bruin

Baseball Hall of Fame.