Angels Can’t Finish Closer Controversy

There is no closure to this Angel closer controversy and nerves are beginning to jangle. The aura of calm and reason that seems to always surround Marcel Lachemann is quickly evaporating.

Chuck Finley started Wednesday against Kansas City and pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings, Troy Percival finished up the eighth, but Lee Smith--who entered and left to boos--gave up the tying run in the ninth and, five innings later, the Angels lost, 3-1.

Now it is very early Thursday morning, the media is gathered in Lachemann’s office and the Angel manager is losing his characteristic cool.

“[Smith] is going to be picked on and I’m going to get crucified,” he said. “Jump on the wagon. Say what you want, I know you will. You want to bad-mouth me, fine. You want to come after me, come. I’m not afraid.”

No one is stepping forward to meet this unexpected challenge, but Lachemann is just getting started.

“It was a decision made a long time ago, one a lot of people don’t like, a lot of people who aren’t held accountable for the things they say or write. Well, I made a statement that I’m held accountable for.”

Lachemann is still clinging to the tenet that says “no player shall lose his job because of injury.” But while Smith was rehabbing the knee he injured when he stepped in a hole during an off-season hunting trip, Percival was becoming the most effective closer in the game, saving 11 games in 11 save situations.

“I don’t like the situation I’m in,” Smith said. “Lach thinks the team is better with me a part of it, but I don’t want to feel like I’m in the way and it bothers me to think he feels he has an obligation to me.”

So the Angels are left wondering how the combination of having both baseball’s all-time save leader and one of the best young arms in the game has become such a mess.

By Thursday, however, the other principals had finally realized what Percival figured out a week ago--talking about it isn’t going to help the situation. General Manager Bill Bavasi’s approach Thursday? Refuse to comment and hope it all goes away. Smith’s? Say, “I just want to play and that’s all I got to say,” and hope it all goes away. Lachemann’s? Promise nothing and hope it all goes away.

Asked who would pitch the ninth the next time the Angels have the lead, Lachemann said, “You’ll have have to wait and see who comes out. I make statements to you and then I get locked into them.”

There is no question who is the better pitcher at the moment. Smith wasn’t exactly pounded Wednesday night--he gave up one hit and gave up an unearned run on a sacrifice fly--but Percival has been nothing short of magnificent, retiring the last 21 batters he has faced.

“It’s tough not having Troy come out,” catcher Jorge Fabregas said. “You just can’t overlook the way he’s pitching. I see [opponents] bailing out, I hear their comments. They know he’s going to throw fastballs, but he just blows it by them.

“I know they would rather hit against Lee than Troy. Right now, when Troy comes out we know we have a very good chance. . . . Let’s just say if it was Vegas, you’d want to double down.”

The hoopla revolving around this closer debate may have confounded the Angel front office, but the players don’t seem to be disturbed or distracted.

“This doesn’t seem to be wearing on [Percival] at all,” said close friend and setup man Mike James. “I’ve heard stories about guys who ended up hating each other, but they kid around about it all the time. It’s no big grudge match. They’ve both shown a lot of class dealing with it.”

A trade could be in the works, but Smith is not that marketable at the moment, given his $1.7-million salary, his age (38) and his questionable health.

The solution seems so simple: Two pitchers paid handsomely to pitch; go to the bullpen, wait for a call, and then give it your all.

Where’s the controversy in that?