Players Say They Cost Rader His Job : Reaction: Because they didn’t play to their capabilities, Angels take the blame for manager being fired.

ANAHEIM —  Wally Joyner said three weeks ago it would be “a mistake” to fire Manager Doug Rader, and Dave Parker thought it would be “foolish.”

It happened Monday, and the Angels, largely vocal supporters of Rader, spoke once more in praise and defense of him before turning to what remains of their sharply disappointing season.

“You almost have to do it that way,” catcher Lance Parrish said Monday afternoon, shortly after Rader made a farewell visit to the clubhouse, and Buck Rodgers, the new manager, introduced himself. “You can’t really dwell on things, even though we all felt very close to Doug and enjoyed playing for him. He was hard-nosed when he had to be, and fun when he had to be. Now this is a different page. We have to go out and go about our business. We still have to play and be competitive.”

Joyner, whose .305 average leads the team, was one of Rader’s most outspoken defenders after the first reports that the Angels’ slide from first place to last place in the AL West had put Rader’s job in jeopardy.

By Monday, when the Angels announced that Rodgers would replace Rader, Joyner acknowledged that the biggest surprise was the timing, on the heels of three consecutive victories.

“I think as a group, everybody knew it was coming,” said Joyner, who was unhappy about the way the firing was handled--Rader continuing for most of a month without a vote of confidence from management. “I think it was unfair what Doug went through the last three weeks. I think it was unfair to everybody, especially to Doug, that it went that far.”

The players’ defense of Rader remained because they felt the team’s failings were their own, not his.

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t play like we’re capable of playing and that cost him his job,” said pitcher Mark Langston, who has had one of the better seasons on the team, with a 15-7 record.

Joyner made the same point.

“A manager doesn’t throw strikes, a manager doesn’t swing at pitches in the dirt,” he said. “It would be very surprising if you went around this clubhouse and found anybody unhappy with the job Doug Rader did or the preparation he gave us. He gave us every opportunity to be successful. That’s what a manager’s job is, in my opinion.”

One of the critical disappointments of the season has been the diminished production from Parrish and Dave Parker.

Parrish is hitting .220 with 15 homers and 41 runs batted in. Last year, he batted .268 with 24 homers and 70 RBIs. Parker, who hit .289 last season with 21 homers and 92 RBIs, is hitting .234 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs.

The Angels acquired Parker, 40, from the Milwaukee Brewers before the season for Dante Bichette in a trade Rader wholeheartedly endorsed. But Parker bristled at the suggestion that his struggles contributed to Rader’s fate.

Although Parker was batting only .222 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs at the All-Star break, his pace has improved in the second half of the season, while the team has tumbled.

“In the first half we were in first place,” Parker said. “It’s not for me to carry that burden.”

Parker said he regards Rader with “utmost respect,” and called him “a great man.”

But the team didn’t play close enough to its perceived potential to save his job.

“There’s a certain chemistry in a winning ballclub,” Parker said. “We didn’t jell together as a unit.”

Most of the Angels learned of the managerial change in a morning phone call from Dan O’Brien, senior vice president for baseball operations.

About three hours before Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, Rodgers introduced himself to the players in a meeting Parrish called “short and sweet.”

Rodgers, who has been fired twice, said Monday that he considered all managerial changes “bittersweet.”

“Buck brought it up,” Parrish said. “Guys get brought up and sent down, guys get hired and fired, guys get released. There’s still a job to do.”

Dave Winfield, a veteran of numerous managerial changes as a New York Yankee, said it was “hard to predict” how the team would respond. He said he “appreciated” playing for Rader, but that he respected management’s right to make changes.

“I think he’s all right,” Winfield said. “Doug’s OK. He’ll land on his feet.”

Two Angel players previously played under Rodgers. Langston was 12-9 with Montreal in 1989 after being traded from Seattle the season before he became a free agent and signed with the Angels. Max Venable, a reserve outfielder, played under Rodgers in 1984 with triple-A Indianapolis, and in 1985 with Montreal.

“He was a good man,” Langston said. “He let us play, kind of similar to the way Doug has.”

Then Langston smiled, thinking of Rodgers’ switch from the National League.

“As long as he lets me bat ninth, everything will be OK,” he said.

Rader as Manager

Year Team Record Pct. Place GB 1983 Texas 77-85 .475 3rd 22 1984 Texas 69-92 .429 7th 14 1/2 1985 Texas 9-23 .281 7th 10 1/2 1986 Chic. 1-1 .500 5th NA 1989 Angels 91-71 .562 3rd 8 1990 Angels 80-82 .494 4th 23 1991 Angels 61-63 .495 7th 11