Escape From Philadelphia : After an Unnatural Final Season With the Phillies in 1991, Von Hayes Seeks a Productive Return With the Angels

MESA, Ariz. —  They still call Von Hayes a natural, and more than a decade after his slashing bat and Paul Bunyan stride carried him to the major leagues, he still looks the part.

Whether in the batter’s box during an intrasquad game or testing a new bat in the equipment room at the Angels’ spring training complex, Hayes’ swing is smooth, powerful. That uncoiling of arm, that twist of torso--those are the things he was meant to do with his 6 feet 5 inches and 186 pounds.

“He should hit 15 home runs accidentally,” said his new manager, Buck Rodgers.

Hayes hit no home runs for the Phillies last season, his most frustrating during a career that has been respectable, if not as successful as predicted. A broken right arm--he was hit by one of Tom Browning’s pitches June 14--limited him to 77 games.

Hayes had distinguished himself as a versatile and steady run producer for eight seasons, peaking at 46 doubles and 98 runs batted in during the 1986 season. His return from the injury last September was a factor in his batting average dropping to .225 and made him a target for the notoriously fickle fans in the city that booed Santa Claus.

“I should have just scratched the year out and not

tried to come back, but I’m real stubborn that way,” he said. “I feel if there’s any chance of coming back you should try. In this business, it’s pretty easy for someone to take your spot. I tried to open some eyes and let some people know I was healthy.”

He opened the eyes of Rodgers, long a National League manager before he moved to the Angels last August; and Whitey Herzog, who spent 10 years in the NL before becoming the Angels’ senior vice president in September. The Angels were among the five clubs Hayes listed as acceptable when he asked the Phillies to trade him, and Rodgers wanted him enough to give up left-hander Kyle Abbott, who had been untouchable.

“We still think he has some good years left in the big leagues,” said Rodgers, who plans to have Hayes bat third and play right field. “I envision him getting back to being a complete ballplayer, a guy who can bunt, run, cut, slash. . . .

“He’s not the guy who hit 26 home runs in 1989 and tried to lift (the ball) after that and got away from his natural swing. The thing that makes Von Hayes a complete ballplayer is that he’s a natural. He can beat you in the outfield with his speed and arm and defense as well as on the basepaths. He’s gotten away from that.”

Getting away from Philadelphia became Hayes’ priority after the booing he heard last season.

Having learned to live with the expectations heaped on him when he was the “one” in a five-for-one trade that moved him from Cleveland to Philadelphia in December of 1982, Hayes settled into a solid career with the Phillies. He averaged more than 33 doubles, 82 runs scored and 74 RBIs from 1984-89 and twice drew more than 100 walks in a season. He played right field, center field, left field, first base and third base and hit in every spot in the order but eighth.

He passed up free agency twice, signing a three-year, $3.9-million contract for 1987-89 and a three-year, $6.4-million contract that will pay him $2.2 million this season in its final year.

“My first year in the big leagues, I set goals, things that I could potentially reach,” Hayes said. “I’ve done most of them, but they’ve all been in different seasons. If I did them all the same season, it would be an MVP year.”

But those were the expectations after the Phillies acquired him for Manny Trillo, George Vuckovich, Julio Franco, Jay Baller and Jerry Willard.

“There was a lot expected of him,” said Angel catcher Lance Parrish, Hayes’ Phillie teammate in 1987 and ’88. “They traded a couple of popular players for Von, and it’s difficult to go into an organization with that hanging over your head. At that time, he was viewed as a prospect more than anything else, and he produced.”

The instant he stopped producing, he was jeered by the fans.

“They can make it very uncomfortable for you,” Parrish said. “It’s one thing to go on the road and get abused by fans in other cities. You expect that. It’s nice to have a refuge at home, where you expect to be supported. . . .

“It’s hard to understand what it’s like to have people on you every single day. People in Philly almost enjoy that reputation. It’s tough on you, especially when you’re the type of player who works very hard, who comes in for all kinds of extra work and is a non-vocal type of personality who doesn’t mouth off in the paper.”

Hayes asked to be traded.

“It got to the point where I really looked forward to playing on the road, it was so frustrating,” he said. “Baseball is one of the few sports where you can get booed before and after the incident, walking to the plate and back. It got to be such a negative atmosphere, I wanted to try someplace else. . . .

“(The fans) can be helpful when things are going good because they can motivate you, and once you’re motivated you can keep going. In that sense, there were some positives to the situation, and it enabled me to have some good years there.”

But because he is 33 and he believed that the Phillies wouldn’t have good seasons this year or next, he decided his best chance of playing for a contender was by being traded. He also listed the San Francisco Giants--he grew up in Stockton--San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Dodgers as acceptable teams.

“The main thing any player wants is to be with a team he thinks can win at that particular moment and isn’t just looking at the future,” he said. “Philly has an awful lot of good players, but I didn’t think the organization was doing things to win now. Our real problem there, since 1986 on, was trying to get some starting pitching that can win 18-20 games. We’ve never gotten anything like that.

“There were no moves made to sign free agents. It became a tough place to acquire free agents. Before my career was done, I wanted to get on a team that had a pitching staff that might take some pressure off of the offense.”

A successful season by Hayes would ease the pressure on Angel pitchers, who are unlikely to have abundant offensive support. By buying out Dave Winfield’s contract and losing Wally Joyner to free agency, the Angels lost 182 RBIs from a team that ranked 13th in the American League in most offensive categories. The only proven producers are Parrish, who is coming off a .216 season, and Hubie Brooks, who is recovering from neck surgery.

Rodgers plans to emphasize aggressive baserunning and a creative offense, a strategy Hayes endorses heartily.

“I love this kind of game,” he said. “We didn’t do enough of it in Philly. In 1984 they let me run a lot and I stole 48 bases.

“The next year, we had a guy behind us, Mike Schmidt, who had the philosophy that he could drive in more runners from first base than from second because he’d get better pitches with a runner on first. The team concept changed. Juan Samuel left and Milt Thompson was traded. We went to the hit and run instead of straight stealing. It was boring baseball. That’s why I’m excited about this, using the hit and run and stealing.

“I saw the Pirates win game after game after game when Jim Leyland had them bunting in the first inning. You get a run or a couple of runs and your pitchers hold them. . . . If I can get into my game of being a line-drive, all-fields hitter, it will be perfect for me.”

If Hayes is uninjured, said Rodgers, “40 doubles should be his goal, rather than 20 home runs. If he gets 40 doubles, he’ll hit 20 homers by accident. He can drag the ball past the pitcher’s reach and get on base in a lot of ways. He can score 85 runs and drive in 85.”

Hayes feels comfortable this spring, although he is following his pattern of starting slowly.

“It isn’t the first time in my career I’ve come off an injury-slowed season,” he said. “In 1988, I had elbow surgery. I hit for a low average (.272) and I hit six home runs. I came back in ’89 and had a good year and hit 26 homers.

“It’s a mental adjustment. The older you get the more you have to try to get yourself off to a good start. I don’t think my physical tools have diminished as much as the mental part. After 12, 13, 14 years, you lose that edge. That’s my main battle, getting mentally tough again. It’ll be there. I’m really looking forward to this season.”