Autry Could Cure Ills at Trading Post

Gene Autry had a touch of the flu Monday . . . and a bad case of the Angels.

The flu, you can treat. Autry’s Angels, on the other hand, appear incurable.

“I think it is slipping away earlier than I would like,” Autry said. “If you look at it. . . . we could have a hot streak here and be right in the thick of it. I don’t think it’s time to push the panic button--yet.”

Not yet, but soon. Many more losses and Autry won’t have any choice but to limber up a finger or two.

Who knows how any of this happened. One day, all is well. Birds chirp. Gene Mauch manages. Optimism abounds.

Then this:

Mauch quits. Center fielder Devon White injures his knee and is lost to the Angels for at least six to eight weeks. Baby-faced Wally Joyner has more whiskers than RBIs after 136 at bats. Mike Witt is stuck on one win. Outfielders Johnny Ray and Chili Davis collect more errors than home runs. Second baseman Mark McLemore, the late, great leadoff man, sinks quickly to seventh in the batting order. Relievers Greg Minton and Donnie Moore become members of the disabled list tag team. Willie Fraser is sent to the bullpen to aid and assist. George Hendrick earns $600,000 guaranteed and still nobody knows why.

Thirty-seven games later, the Angels find themselves stuck uncomfortably and somewhat surprisingly in the AL West cellar. Not much of a view, either, what with the first-place Oakland Athletics so high above.

This isn’t where Autry expected the Angels to reside. He said he figured his team to occupy a loftier position, maybe something in the third- or second-place variety. But last? The Cowboy would rather have saddle sores.

“I guess that I’m like a lot of other people, like the people in the front office, I’m disappointed, naturally,” Autry said. “On paper, we’ve got a pretty good ballclub. We’ve got Joyner, (Jack) Howell at third base, (Dick) Schofield at shortstop, (Mark) McLemore at second. On paper, that should be the best infield in baseball, one of the best young teams. Our outfield, well, we were hurt with White. But we thought we would have a better club and be in a better position in the standings than we are.

“I realize that we have so many young players that have come up,” he said. “Most of them have done as well as you could expect. Losing White has hurt us more than anything else.”

With the early season success of the trade-happy Dodgers still fresh in his mind, Autry has given General Manger Mike Port virtual carte blanche to make a deal, any deal, that will possibly reverse Angel misfortunes. A starting pitcher and a power-hitting outfielder top the shopping list, Autry said.

Which can only mean two things:

1) The Angels have no one of immediate help in their celebrated farm system.

2) Starting pitchers and power-hitting outfielders are high-priced items, worth, say, a Schofield or a Brian Harvey or Ray Krawczyk and we would hope, a Hendrick.

Autry and Port don’t have much choice. The Angels are 3-7 in their last 10 games and sinking fast. They’ve won only 6 of 17 games at home, which doesn’t do a whole lot for attendance. And only the Baltimore Orioles, the hapless ones to the East, have a worse record in the American League.

No Angel is considered untouchable, Autry said. Not Joyner. Not Witt. Not White. “If it would be the right deal and it would help my ballclub, I would consider it,” he said.

Which isn’t to say Autry is looking to unload any of the above merchandise, especially Joyner, who remains the cornerstone of this team. It’s just that when your best hitter is batting .257 and has two home runs and your team is diving belly first toward obscurity, the unthinkable becomes possible.

“We’re not giving up on Wally Joyner,” Autry said. “He’s a lot better player than he has shown so far. Wally Joyner is not on the trading blocks at all. He’s young and he’ll snap out of it.”

He better start snapping soon. Witt, who has pitched better than his 1-4 record indicates, might want to win another game. Ray and Davis might want to have their gloves checked for gaping holes. White and Moore might want to get well soon. And McLemore might want to learn the art of patience.

One person who can rest easy--for now--is Manager Cookie Rojas. Autry can find no fault, even though some of Rojas’ moves go against conventional baseball wisdom and sometimes, common sense.

“I think Cookie has done as well as we could expect,” Autry said. “He came in there a couple of days before the season opened and he really didn’t have a chance to put in a full spring training. I think he’s done very well. On the other hand, you can’t expect Cookie to hit for them, pitch for them.

“I can’t blame Cookie.”

So what do you do? Weather the storm, take on water and losses as the Athletics sail merrily away? Not with this bunch, you don’t.

It’s time for Autry to make some changes. Stir up things. Say what any self-respecting cowboy would say in this situation. Something like: “Git along you little doggies.”