Angels : First Day on His New Job a Scary One for Ray

PHOENIX —  Out in left field, against all his fondest hopes and wishes, Angel Johnny Ray was spending his first day on the new job Monday. In only one inning, he learned everything he never wanted to know about the position.

The first ball hit Ray’s way, by the Oakland Athletics’ Terry Steinbach with one out in the bottom of the first, was a blast to the bottom of the left-field fence. Ray had no chance. Still, although he initially turned the wrong way on the ball, Ray recovered quickly enough to retrieve the rebound and hold Steinbach to a double.

One out later, Carney Lansford drilled another of Joe Johnson’s pitches to left, bouncing it in front of Ray for a single. With a play at the plate, Ray charged the ball and threw home, but his relay was short and a bit off line. Steinbach scored.

That brought Mark McGwire to the plate. And as he has been known to do, McGwire crushed one--right at Ray.

In almost an act of self-preservation, Ray flipped his glove in front of his face, opened it and disarmed the line drive, clutching the third out of one hellacious inning.

“I would’ve rather seen him have some softer chances out there on his first day,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “I don’t want our pitchers throwing rockets, just to give Johnny Ray some work in left field.

“But I thought he handled it well. The only thing we’re trying to do is get him as comfortable as he can. He looks like he’s got no problem out there.”

Ray survived the first inning, and even went on to make a nice little field-and-relay play on a seventh-inning double by Luis Polonia--almost throwing Polonia out at second base.

But playing left field is not a hot topic with Ray these days and before reporters could even ask the first postgame question, Ray brushed by them, saying, “I have no comment.”

He relented a few minutes later, though, and answered a few quick questions.

How did he feel about his first day as a left fielder?

“It’s an experience. Put it that way.”

Did he feel comfortable in left field?

“No.”

Any reason in particular?

“I feel awkward out there right now.”

What about McGwire’s ball?

“I don’t think anybody likes to start out with a line drive hit right at your head at about 900 miles an hour. You kind of lose your confidence right away.”

And the throw home in the first inning?

“I wasn’t pleased with it. It was all right.”

Someone complimented Ray on the way he had charged Lansford’s ball before the throw home--it was an aggressive play on Ray’s part--and wanted know to if his experience at second base had helped him in that instance.

“No, you just got to do what you got to do,” Ray replied. “If you have to charge the ball, go at it hard so you don’t get any bad hops. . . . Infield or outfield, you just got to be alert. It doesn’t matter where you play.”

With that, Ray was out the door and headed for the team bus. Day 1 in his career as a left fielder was over. There will be no more life-threatening line drives or bothersome are-you-happy questions or yearning for the good old days at second base.

At least until Day 2.

Good news, bad news: At different stages in their respective comebacks, pitcher Dan Petry and catcher Butch Wynegar are both ahead of schedule. But only in sore-backed Petry’s case can that be construed as a positive development for the Angels.

Petry pitched off the mound for 10 minutes Monday, marking the third straight day he has performed some sort of throwing. Afterward, Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann proclaimed Petry to be working at “about 75%” effectiveness, and Petry was talking about pitching in a real game within a week.

“Maybe by the weekend,” Petry predicted. “That was my own feeling after today. I didn’t expect to throw as well as I did. During the middle of it, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Hey, I’m feeling pretty good.’ ”

Wynegar, however, could not say the same after aggravating the chronic injury to his right big toe while batting in the sixth inning Monday. Wynegar knew this day was going to come some time--”It could happen any day,” he has said--but the catcher was hoping for later rather than sooner.

“That was the kind of feeling I wanted to stay away from,” Wynegar said. “This is too early for that. I don’t want to re-aggravate the toe and have to keep playing on it like that all year.”

Angel Notes

The Oakland Athletics defeated the Angels, 3-2, on a seventh-inning, two-run home run by Mark McGwire, negating an earlier two-run homer by Wally Joyner. “One of our big guys hit one and one of their big guys hit one,” said Angel Manager Gene Mauch in summarizing the game. McGwire really hit his, clearing a 15-foot sign in left-center field, a shot of at least 420 feet. McGwire connected off Angel reliever Stewart Cliburn, who also yielded doubles to Luis Polonia and Felix Jose in his two innings of work. Fifth-starter contenders Joe Johnson and Chuck Finley pitched the first six innings, three apiece. Johnson allowed five hits and one run while striking out three and walking one. Finley worked the next three innings, allowing three hits and three walks but no runs.