ANGELS : Schofield Seeks Start to Equal His ’90 Finish

One day’s batting practice wasn’t enough to judge whether shortstop Dick Schofield can duplicate the offensive success he achieved late last summer. But his presence at Gene Autry Park on Saturday, three days before the Angels’ infielders and outfielders are required to report, was evidence of his desire to ensure he’s thoroughly prepared for the season.

“Normally, a lot of my leg problems have occurred in spring training the past few years and have stayed with me,” said Schofield, who pulled a hamstring last March 27 and didn’t play a regular-season game until June 6. “I never reported early before, and I figured I’d give myself a couple of extra days to get the usual aches and pains out of the way.”

Schofield intended to arrive Friday but was delayed by the death of his paternal grandfather. In Mesa, Schofield was in the batting cage at 9 a.m. Saturday for extra swings before the regular workouts.

He rebounded from a .176 start to hit .316 (55 for 174) from July 31 until the end of the season, and he can see himself picking up where he left off.

“Once you talk yourself into knowing you can do it, it’s easier,” said Schofield, who finished with a .255 batting average and raised his career average to .233. “Physically, it just takes time in spring training for everything to come together. You come out and guys are throwing 80, 85 m.p.h. and it looks like 100.

“I knew at the time I came to the Angels that I could play, but when I got to the big league level, I couldn’t hit. When you’re not successful, there’s a little doubt in your mind.”

He has no doubt that he profited from last season. “It was fun in the second half, even if the first half was frustrating,” he said. “When you don’t win, it’s frustrating. But when you do something good, you can feel good about yourself.”

Matt Keough can’t decide what he likes best about spring training with the Angels: the painful stretching, the tedious running or the boring silence.

After spending four years in Japan, where the fans’ chants during spring training broke his concentration and playing conditions nearly broke his health, the mundane moments of spring are sweet to Keough.

“For me, this is enjoyable. It’s like being a rookie again,” said the 35-year-old right-hander, who signed a minor league contract last week. “In Japan, they believe in a more grueling spring training, and they think nothing of working out with snow on the ground.

“They have a whole different philosophy. They’d rather practice than play. If you give a good effort in practice, the coaches look at it positively and you’ll be thought of well, even if in the game you don’t give a good performance. There were a lot of adjustments to make.”

Keough accepted a lucrative contract with the Hanshin Tigers in 1987. After hurting his knee on a sand infield and being rushed back into the lineup, he began to yearn for home. His former Hanshin teammate, Cecil Fielder, who hit 51 home runs for Detroit in his major league return, persuaded him to create an opportunity if he couldn’t find one; he found one in a chance encounter with Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann at the winter meetings in Chicago last December.

“I just asked him if I could throw. I wasn’t looking for a tryout,” Keough said. “If things work out, it would be a high school dream come true.”

Angel Notes

First baseman Greg Walker, signed to a triple-A contract, has earned raves in batting practice. “It’s early, but I’d rather be swinging good this time of year than bad,” said Walker, who missed part of the 1988 season after suffering brain seizures because of a viral infection and, more recently, had shoulder and elbow injuries.

Wally Joyner is moving quickly and confidently in drills, showing no signs of the fractured right kneecap that ended his season in mid-July. . . . Saturday was just another day of spring training to everyone but Jimmie Reese, who survived a mild heart attack and two surgical procedures last year. Reese, 86, remains active, disobeying his doctor’s warnings and staying on the field past noon to hit fungoes, and his mind is sharp. However, he long ago stopped counting how many training camps he has attended. “I started in 1924,” he said, “so it’s a lot. I never get tired of it.”