The Spirit Moves Him

ANAHEIM — Jack Howell’s fighting spirit has prepared him to produce again.

Wednesday against Milwaukee, he started by lining a double to right-center field to break a 3-3 tie in the Angels’ 8-6 victory. It was his first hit off a left-hander this season.

Howell then got his 36-year-old body going. He took third on a passed ball and scored on a shallow fly by Eddie Murray, with a belly-flop slide to beat the throw by Matt Mieske, who leads major league outfielders in assists.

Such is Howell’s play, when he gets the chance, honed by 3 1/2 seasons in Japan after six disappointing years in Anaheim.

“There’s that gabatte the Japanese players always talk about,” Howell said. “It’s a fighting spirit. It helped me. I learned it’s not my job to manage. It’s not my job to be the veteran guy who tries to say what’s right or wrong. My job is to give that fighting spirit when called upon.”

Philosophy 101 with a dash of Zen? For Howell, it’s merely baseball.

In his second go-round, Howell has earned a spot with the Angels. It’s a bit role, certainly downsized from a decade ago, when he was the third baseman of the future on the Angels’ infield of the future with other home-grown prospects Wally Joyner, Mark McLemore and Dick Schofield. Joyner is playing in San Diego. McLemore in Texas. Schofield is retired. But Howell’s time with the Angels finally seems to have come.

“He is just doing an unbelievable job for us,” outfielder Tim Salmon said. “He’s had some especially big hits lately.”

In Cleveland on July 29, Howell hit two home runs in a 7-2 victory. A day earlier, he singled home a run a 2-0 victory over the Indians. He also had two home runs in a game against Boston on July 27.

It’s a type of production a manager dreams about from a reserve player. Howell, though, tries not to get too excited about it.

“Look at my average this season,” Howell said. “I was hitting .360, then .250, then .300, then .249, then .290. I have to go up and be aggressive in my situation. I can’t let a pitcher get me 0-2. That means there are times I’m going to be on a one-for-11 streak and there are times I’m going four for six. It’s a gamble, like pulling slots.”

Howell seems to be ahead at the moment.

He is hitting .297 with eight home runs and 20 runs batted in. He is also the team’s top pinch hitter, as he was a year ago when he led the American League and set a team record with four pinch-hit home runs.

He also gives Manager Terry Collins versatility and security on a team beset by injuries. Most of all, in a clubhouse that has intensity (Gary DiSarcina), severe intensity (Dave Hollins) and over-the-top intensity (Tony Phillips), Howell provides a little serenity. He is low maintenance.

“Obviously he has been a very solid extra player for us,” Collins said. “He can play third base or first base, even the outfield if I asked. He’ll do anything I ask. He accepts his role.

“He is doing one of the hardest things in this game to do, pinch-hit and start once a week or so. It takes a very strong character because you have to be able to accept that you might have a bad day, because it is so difficult.”

Howell’s inability to hit left-handed pitching hurt him the first time with the Angels. As his batting average and run production decreased, so did his playing time. He spiraled so far that, when he asked to be traded in 1991 and was sent to the San Diego Padres, the Angels got outfielder Shawn Abner in return.

A year later, Howell was in Japan with the Yakult Swallows, where he became more focused.

In his first season, Howell was the Central League’s most valuable player after leading the league in hitting (.331) and home runs (38). He hit 100 home runs in 3 1/2 seasons in Japan.

“I learned to hit offspeed pitches,” Howell said. “I was a dead-red hitter when I went to Japan, no matter how many guys tried to change me. The only straight balls I saw in Japan were up in my face or way inside. Once I learned that the fastball was a show-me pitch, then I started looking for the forkballs and sinkers.”

Howell also became a favorite. The team and fans overwhelmed him with small gifts--flowers, stuffed animals--for his home runs, sometimes before he even touched home plate.

The gifts and limelight were nice, but Howell brought back something with a little more substance.

“I never really have been a big ego guy, but I learned in Japan that this is a team game,” Howell said. “You learn to get along with everybody and that they are always right. Your job is to give 100%.

“It takes more than nine guys to win a championship. It takes more than 25. Look at the Yankees last season. I bet the number of guys who contributed something was around 40.”

Howell was a non-roster player last season, having to win a job with the team. He did, but still didn’t know how to be a part-time player.

“The main thing was the physical part,” Howell said. “I was used to coming to the game and not even looking at the lineup card. I couldn’t figure out how to enter a game after not playing for seven days and pace myself.

“I was running out grounders, like my old style, trying to beat them out. If I hit a ground ball, I’m probably not going to beat it out. I had to learn to take it easy and not go wacko. I could never make that adjustment, so I started beating myself up, either in batting practice or coming out early.

“Yeah, I would like to be playing everyday, but that’s not my role.”