This Series May Get ‘Em to <i> the </i> Series

Here come the big A’s to the Big A. Rename the ballpark.

Here comes Jose Canseco. Fasten your seat belts.

Here comes Rickey Henderson. Fasten your bases.

Here comes Dennis Eckersley. Remember, he can be gotten to in the ninth inning.

Here comes Dave Henderson. Remember, he can get to you in the ninth inning.

Here comes Dave Stewart. Last time he pitched at Anaheim Stadium, his manager let him start the All-Star game.

Here comes Tony La Russa. Last time he managed at Anaheim Stadium, he let one Angel play in the All-Star game.

Here comes Oakland, so come on, respond.

Remember, these people are trying to steal one of our pro football teams. You know, the one we stole from them.

The next few days could carry the Angels into their first World Series. Head-to-head play against the Oakland Athletics, starting Friday night. Nobody is a close third in the American League West. Nobody they can’t beat in the American League East.

Heaven’s gate is open for the Angels. Time to walk through.

Then, next summer, Doug Rader can manage the American League All-Stars and let Chuck Finley be the starting pitcher. Perks of the job.

Only one thing, at this hour, is watering down what should be a jam-packed slugfest between the Angels and A’s this weekend. As you know, this being the Year of the Injured Athlete, we can expect that several key players may be used sparingly.

Already, Canseco is hurting, as are Claudell Washington, Brian Downing and Lance Parrish of the Angels.

Since this is the biggest series of the season for both sides, we are going to assume that if they have the strength to chew tobacco and spit, they will play.

At full strength, these teams are pretty evenly matched. The Bay Area Bombers have all sorts of sluggers, from Canseco and Mark McGwire to Dave Parker and Terry Steinbach, but it’s the Angels who lead the league in home runs.

Oakland also has all sorts of classy pitching, from Stewart and Mike Moore to a newly healthy Eck. Yet, it’s the Angels who lead the league in earned-run average.

Defensively, the A’s are air-tight again, what with Walt Weiss back in the lineup. It’s the Angels, though, who have excelled all season long, who don’t tighten up when the game gets tight, who have the best record in the league in one-run decisions.

The Angels aren’t just out to prove they are as good as the A’s. They are out to prove that they are superior to the A’s.

Won’t be easy. Take a minute and think about just how talented the Athletics are, to have stayed near the top of the standings so long with so many stars on the sidelines.

This is a credit to La Russa, who was one of the game’s best managers when he was with the Chicago White Sox, and has, if anything, gotten better. La Russa’s so good, he probably could last two full seasons with the New York Yankees.

It’s not totally Tony’s fault that there were only two Angels on the All-Star roster, or that only one of them--Devon White--got to play in his own home park, but what the heck, the Angels need incentive, so let’s remind them of it.

The Angels have done very nicely under their own manager, Rader, who would have manager of the year locked up by now were it not for Frank Robinson, who has done such a wonderful job at Baltimore, despite the umpires being against him and all.

By now, the Angels could have been a couple of games in front of the pack, were it not for painful losses like the one to the Orioles on Mike Devereaux’s home run, which was in fair territory about as much as the third-base coach’s box was, or the one at Seattle in which a huge lead went down the drain.

Relief pitching could be the difference between the Angels and Athletics right now. Oakland is in great shape, with Eckersley rejoining Rick Honeycutt and Todd Burns and all. California is a little wobbly, with Bryan Harvey and Greg Minton not nearly as effective as they can be. In a close game this weekend, it might be wise for Rader to keep a fairly rested starting pitcher in the bullpen, just in case. We don’t want to erode Harvey’s confidence, but if the players have the team’s best interest at heart, as they claim, then everyone will understand. Nobody figured on the Angels coming this far, but that doesn’t mean they will feel satisfied by finishing a close second. They want this one, for everybody from the ages of Gene Autry and Jimmie Reese to the ages of Kent Anderson and Jim Abbott. They want it for guys such as Brian Downing, who has waited a long time for a diamond ring.

“It isn’t enough to just play well,” Rader said the other day. “That part’s important, but we’re out there to win, not just to be respectable.

“I know it isn’t always good to put too much emphasis on winning. But when you consider how long the California Angels have gone without being in a World Series, everybody around here is a little tired of building for the future. This is the future.”

You can tell it’s August, by the way some people are playing. Chili Davis, who went into a monster slump at midseason, is back busting home runs. He was just named the American League’s player of the week. Jack Howell has played a Brooks Robinsonian third base of late, and Tony Armas has been a great help in the outfield. Armas is having fun showing the A’s there’s still some life in the old boy.

More than anyone else, the Angel who has brought the club to this point is Bert Blyleven. Pitching like a kid again while acting like one in the clubhouse, Blyleven has been a gift sent from heaven, a happy-go-lucky footnote to the deals that the Angels didn’t make, the ones for Nolan Ryan and Bruce Hurst.

Blyleven’s new nickname ought to be Bigger Train, because he just passed Walter (Big Train) Johnson on the strikeout list. Now sixth, Blyleven has a chance to pass Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry before the season is over, then go after Tom Seaver next year. He won’t catch Ryan or Steve Carlton, but few ever will.

Blyleven was just in a World Series two seasons ago, but he doesn’t want to tell the Angels what it was like. He wants to show them.