SPRING '97 TRAINING : HEART ATTACK

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Feb. 15, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Walt Disney Co. gave the Angels a face lift this winter, providing the team with new uniforms, a new logo, new name, remodeled stadium, and a slew of new players and coaches.

But new Manager Terry Collins will begin a much trickier surgical procedure on the Angels this weekend:

A heart transplant.

The Angels sagged and dragged their way to last place in the American League West last season, and among the many reasons for their decline was a lack of leadership and character.

But Collins, known for his feisty demeanor and aggressive approach to the game, is confident his intensity will rub off on the Angels, creating more of a nasty attitude--an edge, if you will--in a clubhouse that was benign in 1996.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little argument every now and then,” Collins said, and he wasn’t referring to player-umpire spats. “They can be between players, between a player and the manager. . . . It’s all part of the game. It’s an intense business.”

It’s not that Collins, fired as the Houston Astro manager last October after three winning seasons, is a proponent of clubhouse shouting matches, batting-practice beanballs or furniture-flinging free-for-alls.

He simply thinks it’s unhealthy to bottle up the frustration and anger that accumulate during a long baseball season.

“I doubt you’ll see many fights,” Collins said. “In Houston there was one fight. One guy wanted to beat me up. But I don’t challenge players--I’m just going to get my butt kicked--so it’s not a smart thing to do.

“But if two guys don’t get along, these things happen. It’s usually hidden, but it goes on. Like when Lou Piniella was in Cincinnati, he had a lot of guys on that [1990 World Series championship] team who were mad at each other, but they played hard when they were on the field.”

That’s all Collins will ask of the Angels. They don’t have to like him. They don’t have to like each other. They just have to play hard, in every inning of every game, and everything else should fall into place.

“I’m not asking these guys to be as intense as me,” Collins said. “I just want them to take the game seriously and get themselves ready.”

To that end, Collins likes what he has seen--or, rather, heard--so far. Angel pitchers and catchers don’t begin spring training workouts until Sunday, but Collins spent time this winter canvassing players and says he has a good read on them.

“I’ve talked to them all on the phone,” Collins said. “They think they’re better than they played last year, and they’re eager to show it. It’s nice knowing the team is hungry.”

The Angel front office did its best to inject a little attitude in the off-season, signing gritty third baseman Dave Hollins, clutch-hitting catcher Jim Leyritz and veteran designated hitter Eddie Murray.

“We’re going to be more blue collar,” closer Troy Percival said. “We need guys who are going to get after it.”

But character alone will not vault the Angels into contention in the AL West. Seattle and Texas are the class of the division, and if the Angels are to contend, they’ll need to put together a season such as 1995, when most position players had career years and the pitching held up just long enough for the Angels to overcome their late-season collapse and force a one-game playoff with the Mariners for the West title.

Angel starting pitching, which might have qualified for national disaster relief funds in 1996, is, of course, the key.

Durable left-hander Chuck Finley, 34, returns to anchor the rotation, but left-hander Mark Langston, 35, is trying to rebound from an injury-plagued season in which he was on the disabled list three times.

Right-hander Mark Gubicza, 34, acquired from Kansas City for designated hitter Chili Davis, sat out the second half of last season because of a broken leg, and left-hander Allen Watson, 26, acquired from San Francisco for first baseman J.T. Snow, is still looking to fulfill the potential that persuaded St. Louis to draft him in the first round in 1991.

Jim Abbott, trying to salvage his career after a 2-18 debacle last season, rookie Jason Dickson and Japanese import Shigetoshi Hasegawa will compete for the No. 5 spot, but the two who don’t make the rotation probably will bolster the team’s long- and middle-relief corps, another sore spot in ’96.

“Making sure the pitching staff stays healthy is my No. 1 concern,” Collins said. “We cannot possibly think we can run a lot of pitchers through the club and expect to win. It’s asking an awful lot of a kid to come up from double A and beat Seattle.”

Providing some comfort is a bullpen that should be one of the league’s best. Percival, the flame-throwing closer, had 36 saves in 1996, setup man Mike James had a 2.67 earned-run average, and left-handers Chuck McElroy and Mike Holtz were steady.

The outfield of Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson returns intact but with much to prove.

Salmon had good numbers in 1996--.286, 30 homers, 98 runs batted in--but hit only .257 with runners in scoring position. Edmonds sat out almost 50 games because of injuries and knocked in only 66 runs, and Anderson’s production--12 homers, 72 RBIs--slipped considerably from his torrid rookie pace in ’95.

The infield of Leyritz, Hollins, shortstop Gary DiSarcina, second baseman Randy Velarde and first baseman Darin Erstad should be more productive offensively.

But Hollins has an erratic arm, Leyritz is no Johnny Bench behind the plate, and Erstad, a converted outfielder, has played only three triple-A games at first and is replacing a two-time Gold Glove winner, so the Angels may slip a notch defensively.

Erstad, the No. 1 pick of the 1995 draft, should give the Angels something they sorely lacked in ‘96, a true leadoff batter, and Collins hopes to nullify a lack of team speed with aggressive baserunning.

“That will be emphasized a lot, and I don’t mean the stolen base,” Collins said. “We’ll work on turns, going from first to third on base hits. . . . We may get some people thrown out in spring training, but we’re not going to be a station-to-station team.”

Nor will the Angels be a passive team, on the field or in the clubhouse. Not as long as Collins is around.

“Confidence is a big thing, getting the players back to where they know they can win,” Collins said. “And they can win. They showed that in 1995.”

* AL PREVIEW: Ross Newhan analyzes the American League picture heading into spring training. C10