HALO IS SLIPPING : These Angels With Dirty Faces and Weak Pitching Arms Aren’t Following the Plan

They have the cleanest ballpark in America. And the cleanest first baseman.

They have introduced an alcohol-free, expletive-free “Family Section” of seats behind the left-field fence, isolated far from the madding crowd, and entertain them with a combination of bland organ Muzak and cartoon sound effects.

They are owned by the Singing Cowboy, and the day-to-day baseball operation is overseen by a stiff-collared, tight-lipped general manager whose idea of a roaring good time is a happy meal at the golden arches.

These are the Angels. Orange County’s team. Conservative, and proud of it.

All of which makes the first quarter of their 1987 season an overwhelming contradiction in style. Right now, this take-no-chances, make-no-waves organization is 44 games into perhaps the greatest crapshoot in its history.

And right now, neither the dice nor the roster they’re playing with is loaded.

From the outset, the vision of General Manager Mike Port was a gamble: Strip the club of its big-name, big-salaried hitters, re-tool the lineup with young (i.e., cheap) talent, shove it out on the field and hope the pitching would be strong enough to carry it.

With pitching, Manager Gene Mauch insisted, anything could be accomplished. With pitching, Mauch could afford patience with the rookies and the near-rookies while the team won games by scores of 4-3 and 3-2. The West could be won again--at cut-rate prices.

This was back in late March, when the Angels thought they had too much pitching. Remember, this was a team that couldn’t decide what to do with Willie Fraser, the hardest thrower in the organization.

On opening day, the Angels had a deep and adept starting rotation, headed by Mike Witt and Kirk McCaskill and filled out by veterans John Candelaria and Don Sutton and a forkballer of promise named Urbano Lugo. With these arms, the Angels pulled the lever on the slot machine.

Forty-four games later, the team is 21-23, 5 1/2 games out of first place, coming off a 3-7 home stand and a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees.

How did they get to this sorry spot?

Pitching.

As the Angels open an eight-game trip today in Baltimore, Mauch’s starting five reads Witt, Sutton, Fraser, Mike Cook and Jack Lazorko. That’s two veterans, two rookies and one 31-year-old who has bounced through eight organizations in search of a big league job.

Lazorko could find one in Anaheim, which is presently serving as a sort of Ellis Island for longshot pitching prospects. This is where DeWayne Buice, a 29-year-old rookie with 10 minor league seasons and two broken arms to his credit, found a home. This is where Bryan Harvey, discovered on a softball field in North Carolina, hangs out. This is where Miguel Garcia, a baby-faced 20-year-old who made Wally Joyner look like a codger, got a chance.

The pitching staff has been turned into a swap meet with the disablement of two starting pitchers and the cancellation of Project Lugo.

McCaskill developed bone spurs in his elbow, requiring the same type of surgery undergone by Candelaria last year. McCaskill is expected to be lost at least until the All-Star game.

As for Candelaria, a different year has brought on a different set of problems. First, a numb right leg, caused by an irritated nerve in his lower calf. Then, lower back discomfort that required a cortisone injection. And finally, two arrests in four weeks for suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Those arrests prompted the Angels last week to place Candelaria on the 15-day disabled list for “personal reasons”--reportedly to give Candelaria the chance to seek professional therapy on an out-patient basis.

Lugo also fell, not because of health, but because of a 9.29 earned-run average. He struggled through a winless April, searching in vain for a breaking ball he could throw for strikes, but he wasn’t removed from the rotation until consecutive starts yielded 12-3 and 15-2 Angel defeats.

Lugo was supposed to have brought an end to the revolving door at the No. 5 starter position. Instead, he wound up as just another candidate who couldn’t take the fifth--joining last year’s gallery of Jim Slaton, Ron Romanick, Ray Chadwick and Vern Ruhle. Monday, Lugo was sent back to Edmonton.

The Angel bullpen has been hit hard, too--both by injuries and opposing hitters. With the exception of Buice, no member of the relief corps has been healthy and effective at the same time.

For the second straight year, Donnie Moore has fallen victim to shoulder and rib ailments. Angel fans, who haven’t easily forgiven Moore for the home run pitch he served Dave Henderson during last October’s playoffs, boo him with each appearance. After his last one, a losing effort against New York Sunday, Moore responded to the boos with an obscene gesture, saying he was “sick and tired” of the abuse.

Tuesday, the Angels left for Baltimore without Moore, who stayed behind to receive more treatment for his ribs. He remains the latest candidate for the disabled list.

With such attrition, the collapse of Angel pitching hasn’t been surprising.

But it has been ugly.

In 15 of the Angels’ 23 losses, the pitching staff has allowed seven runs or more. Since April 26, the Angels have allowed 10 or more runs in a game eight times. And in the last two weeks, the Angels have suffered losses by scores of 7-0, 15-2, 10-7, 12-0, 7-2 and 10-8.

“It’s no fun for position players to go through this once or twice a week,” Mauch said.

With this, the position players have no argument.

Said Doug DeCinces: “When you’re getting pounded, it’s not as easygoing there as in normal situations.”

Said Brian Downing: “If we don’t get pitching, we’re not going to win. We’re not the offensive machine we were for a couple years. We can score runs, but not like those teams.”

Those teams, circa 1979-82, featured sluggers such as Bobby Grich, Fred Lynn, Don Baylor and Reggie Jackson. This team features a lineup built around two rookies (Devon White and Mark McLemore), two second-year players (Joyner and Jack Howell) and two players who are basically defensive specialists (Dick Schofield and Gary Pettis).

This team was also supposed to run crazy on the basepaths, a notion that fell victim to an old but accurate baseball adage: You can’t steal first base. No Angel has more than 10 stolen bases, but that’s the direct result of Pettis’ .233 average and 48 strikeouts and Schofield’s .220 mark. McLemore, who leads the club with 10 steals, is batting .250.

That’s the same batting average for the team, which has been held to two or fewer runs eight times in the last 14 games.

Some May slumps:

--Schofield, 3 for 48 in one stretch.

--Pettis, 16 strikeouts in a span of 37 at-bats.

--Downing, 3 for 28.

--Howell, 2 for 25.

--Joyner, 6 for 35.

--DeCinces, 4 for 30.

--Bob Boone, 2 for 23.

So, in some ways, the Angels are fortunate to remain within 5 1/2 games of first place. Mauch, forever searching for the silver lining, points to the Angels’ record after 46 games last season: 22-24.

“We were still under .500 in June last year,” Mauch said. “And our pitching wasn’t that impressive at the start. Our ERA was around 5.00 until the middle of June. We had some 14-11 games then, too.”

Those Angels, who went on to win the AL West championship, also had injuries. But they didn’t lose two starting pitchers, a part-time catcher (Butch Wynegar) or a part-time right fielder (George Hendrick) for extended periods of time.

And, they didn’t have to chase the Kansas City Royals in the standings. This, Mauch concedes, does concern him.

“I don’t like it quite as well,” he said. “Last year, it was Texas in first, but they were winning games, 9-8. When we played them, I knew we weren’t gonna get scored on like that. If Texas gives us eight runs a game, we’re gonna get them.”

Pitching-rich Kansas City is a different story.

“With Kansas City, the scores are 3-2 and 4-3,” Mauch said. “We have never hammered on Kansas City pitching. That’s why I don’t want to get too far behind them. If you do, you have to beat them when you play them.”

Added Downing: “Kansas City is a considerably better club than it was last year. They made some pivotal moves during the off-season and they put five or six excellent starters on the field every day. They’re not going to tread water. They’re too good for that.”

The Angels are less than three weeks away from their first meeting with the Royals. Beginning June 12, the Angels will play Kansas City 7 times in 10 days.

Until then, the object is to stay within striking range. But with a patchwork pitching staff and a lineup lacking quick striking power, such an assignment is confronted with, well, long odds.

The crapshoot continues.