BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Polonia Just Wanted to Steal Away

Luis Polonia, whose ill-advised attempt to steal third base in the first inning Sunday cost the Angels a run in an eventual 4-3 loss to Cleveland, said the play was “the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

Polonia was on second and Chad Curtis on first with a 3-and-0 count on Von Hayes when Polonia inexplicably took off for third. He was easily thrown out by catcher Junior Ortiz, a play Polonia said kept him from sleeping after the Angels lost.

“I should be fined $300,000 for that,” said Polonia, who didn’t speak with reporters Sunday. “I’m just pushing myself so hard because of the way we’ve been playing and because of my situation (a slump that dropped his batting average to .282 before Monday’s game). In this ballpark I’m not getting on base and not doing anything. I’m a player when we go on the road, but not when we play here.

“Things have to change for me. I’ve got to keep pushing myself, but not to the point where I put myself in the position I did (Sunday).”

Interim Manager John Wathan said he hasn’t fined players for missing signs or other mistakes “but it’s something we’re going to discuss and consider. I’ve done it in the past.”

Second baseman Bobby Rose, on the disabled list because of the sprained ankle he suffered in the May 21 bus accident, is eligible for activation Friday. He hit off a tee and against live pitching Monday for the first time since going on the DL and said his ankle didn’t bother him, although it remains swollen.

“I’m ready to play and I’m going to try my darndest to be ready,” he said. “I can’t stand this sitting on the DL. It’s brutal.”

Rose opened the season as the starting second baseman but lost the job to Rene Gonzales. Wathan said he plans to work Rose back into the lineup gradually, a pace that suits Rose.

“However they do it, if they do it at all, I’m going to be glad and I’m going to go at it with a different attitude,” he said. “I was playing scared before and that’s not the right way. . . . The bus accident really shook me up. You’ve got to take everything you’ve got and cherish it and work your hardest. That accident woke me up to reality.”

After hitting .264 in 21 games in April, the Angels hit only .240 in 27 games in May. They hit three fewer homers (21-18) and scored 25 fewer runs, 105-80. . . . Manager Buck Rodgers will be released from Centinela Hospital Medical Center Wednesday. . . . Mike Mussina (5-1) will start for the Orioles today.