Langston Makes the Mind Race

A million for your thoughts?

When it comes to Mark Langston and the Angels, we have 16 more . . .

1. Seattle and Montreal combined, Langston was 16-14 for 1989. Ten years earlier, Nolan Ryan had the same record for the Angels--and all that got him was a new uniform and Buzzie Bavasi’s immortal epithet: “We can replace him with a couple of 8-7 pitchers.”

2. Mike Witt was also a 16-14 free agent in 1987 before the Angels decided to keep their Witt about them for two more years. Total price tag: $2.8 million--or about what Langston will have cleared by next Sept. 1.

3. The inflation, of course, is insane, but would any of this have been necessary if Bavasi had deemed Ryan worth keeping in 1979? As they used to say in the commercial, you can pay me now . . . or you can pay me later.

4. In 1990, Langston will bid to become the first Angel pitcher to lead the league in strikeouts since you-know-who in 1979. Langston’s main challenger? You know who.

5. The Angels have just about cornered the American League market on left-handed starting pitchers. In Langston and Chuck Finley, they have the two best. And in a few years, Jim Abbott could make it a top-three sweep.

6. Then again, we know about the Angels’ luck with free-agent pitchers. Bruce Kison, the first attempt at replacing Ryan, was 3-6 in 1980. John D’Acquisto was 0-0 with a 10.71 ERA in 1981. Bill Travers was 0-3 with a 5.91 ERA in 1983. Frank LaCorte was 1-2 with a 7.06 ERA in 1984.

Five years later, the Angels finally worked up enough courage to try it again. And, they needed every minute.

7. Did somebody mention rotator cuff ? Not funny, not funny at all.

8. That’s the number of games the Angels finished behind Oakland last season. In 1989, Langston won seven more games than the man he might replace in the Angel rotation, Mike Witt. Still not enough.

9. But the gap could continue to narrow this week in Nashville, this year’s site for baseball’s winter swap meet. Does the name Joe Carter ring a bell? If the Angels are unable to pull a new-age Robin Hood on Robin Yount--take from the rich and give to the rich--look for the Angels to zero in on the Cleveland hammer, the Jose Canseco of Lake Erie. Minus the hotline.

With Langston in tow, the Angels finally have some cards to play. But with Boston reportedly offering Mike Greenwell, straight-up, for Carter, the Indians aren’t likely to settle for any discards. A starting pitcher--say, Witt or Kirk McCaskill--and a regular player--maybe even Devon White--may have to go.

Heavy-duty stuff, yes. But with Langston, the Angels are allowed the luxury of thinking big for the first time in a long time.

10. First Bert Blyleven and now Langston. If the Angels can’t beat ‘em, the plan is to take ‘em out of circulation.

Before his mid-summer trade from Seattle to Montreal, Langston was 2-0 against the Angels last season--including a 7-0 shutout in Abbott’s big league debut. That duplicated Langston’s record against California in 1988.

But now, the only time Angel hitters will have to face Langston is during batting practice at spring training. For the next five years that much is guaranteed. Somewhere, Jack Howell is sleeping easier.

11. OK, let’s stack them up. The Athletics’ top five starters vs. the Angels’ top five.

Dave Stewart vs. Langston? Push. Mike Moore vs. Finley? Slight edge to A’s. Bob Welch vs. Blyleven? Slight edge to Angels. Storm Davis vs. McCaskill? Solid edge to Angels. Todd Burns vs. Abbott? Edge to Angels again.

This being a happy time for the Angels, we’ll save the outfield and infield matchups for later.

12. Langston’s number with the Mariners and the Expos. With the Angels, Doug Rader wears it. Wonder who’s going to have to give it up?

13. Lance Parrish’s number. Don’t forget him, Mike Port. Langston’s a nice new toy, but in this case, a battery is not necessarily included.

14. Finally, the Angels got an arm up on the Dodgers. In the only Freeway Series that matters, the Angels swept aside their inferiority complex to the north and won the Langston sweepstakes in a walk. Port 1, Fred Claire 0.

15. Wonder what Wally Joyner thinks about those 16 million dollars. Two more years and Wally gets to go for the free-agent gold. And he’s in the lineup every day.

16. Will the last pitcher out of Montreal please take the flag? First Pascual Perez, then Bryn Smith and now Langston--all in one week. Is there anyone left in the Montreal rotation? John Candelaria? Kevin Gross? Steve Rogers?

Now we know why they’re called the Ex-pos.