Man in Middle Stands Tall for the Angels

BOSTON —  Relief pitchers in Japan are deemed about as newsworthy as utility players in the United States, their lightly regarded roles virtually ignored by a Japanese press that is infatuated with starting pitchers.

So while Japanese reporters flocked to Dodger Stadium for Met right-hander Masato Yoshii’s start and to Yankee Stadium for Yankee right-hander Hideki Irabu’s start Sunday, not one Japanese reporter was in Fenway Park to monitor Angel reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

That’s too bad--they’re missing a great story.

Hasegawa, who has become as vital to the Angel bullpen as Darin Erstad is to the lineup, came through with what Manager Terry Collins called a “brilliant” performance Sunday, throwing 3 1/3 shutout innings to key the Angels’ 8-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 31,476.

The right-hander replaced starter Jeff Juden with two outs in the fifth after Juden was rocked by Mo Vaughn’s 442-foot, three-run homer, which trimmed the Angel lead to 7-6.

Hasegawa retired most-valuable-player candidate Nomar Garciaparra, who homered in the fourth, on a grounder to end the inning, then gave up only two hits over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to earn the victory, improving to 7-3 with a 2.85 earned-run average in 53 appearances.

Troy Percival pitched a scoreless ninth for his American League-leading 38th save, Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer in the second and an RBI groundout in the third, and Gregg Jefferies’ two-run double highlighted a four-run third for the Angels.

Combined with Texas’ loss to Chicago, the Angels moved three games ahead of the Rangers in the West and improved to 5-3 on this demanding, 10-game trip through New York, Boston and Cleveland, assuring that they’ll be in first place when they return to Anaheim after Wednesday night’s game against the Indians.

“We’re on a roll,” Angel designated hitter Tim Salmon said. “We’ve gotten some breaks, no question, and we’ve taken advantage of them. This is it, the road trip of the year, but we still have two more games in Cleveland. If we can win at least one there, it will make it a successful trip.”

Hasegawa has been a smashing success for the Angels in his second season, making up for the loss of injured setup man Mike James by filling a variety of bullpen roles, from middle relief to setup to closer. In his last six appearances, Hasegawa has given up no earned runs in 12 1/3 innings.

“It’s scary to think where we’d be without him,” Collins said. “Outside of Percival, he’s been the most valuable player of the bullpen.”

You’d never know that reading the Japanese newspapers and sports magazines. When it was apparent Hasegawa would not start this season, the Japanese press, which numbered 72 reporters and photographers for Hasegawa’s first spring training workout in 1997, began disappearing like Dodger tradition.

“I think someone should finally acknowledge that it’s not just Irabu and Yoshii from Japan,” Angel catcher Phil Nevin said. “If you ask me, this guy is the best of the Japanese pitchers and no one knows about him.”

Hasegawa doesn’t seem to care.

“I understand the Japanese media,” he said. “No one is here today because Irabu and Yoshii are pitching. That’s OK with me. Maybe now that will change.”

Hasegawa went 3-7 with a 3.93 ERA last season but has been more consistent in 1998, hitting the corners with his fastball and his vast array of breaking balls and off-speed pitches. He is not making the mistakes over the heart of the plate that he did in 1997, and he seems more confident.

“I know American hitters better,” Hasegawa said. “Some power hitters, their weak point is inside. Others, their weak point is outside, or the changeup. I didn’t know that last year.”

Hasegawa, who struck out John Valentin with a runner on third to end the seventh Sunday and got the dangerous Vaughn to ground out to start the eighth, has been a pleasure for Phil Nevin to catch.

“He’s been one of the most consistent pitchers on the staff, he has command of his pitches, and his ability to throw any pitch at any time is impressive,” Nevin said. “You can use the scouting report on every hitter because he sticks to it like a T. We wouldn’t be where we are right now without him, that’s for sure.”