BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Jackson’s Latest Pales to Greatest

Bo Jackson’s soaring fly ball, which caromed off the auxiliary light standard on the Metrodome ceiling Wednesday night, pales in comparison to his greatest feat in the Minneapolis building.

The incident occurred about seven years ago, Jackson recalled, in front of a sparse crowd that arrived early for batting practice. He had only one swing left when he decided to fool around, jumping to the other side of the plate for a left-handed swing.

He looked at the pitch, swung and watched the ball soar . . . over the right-field fence . . . over the football press box . . . off the Hardware Hank sign on the facade of the second deck in right-center field.

Estimated distance: 450 feet.

“That’s still one of the darndest things I’ve ever seen,” Twin right fielder Kirby Puckett said. “I’ve never hit a ball that far to that part of the dome in my life, and this guy does it left-handed.”

Said Jackson, laughing at the memory: “He started calling me his idol after that. But I’ll tell you what, if I had gotten ahold of that one (Wednesday) night like I did over the weekend in Dodger Stadium, that one would have gone in the upper deck.”

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Mark Leiter, who buried his 9-month-old son Wednesday, telephoned Angel Manager Buck Rodgers to say he’s ready to pitch Saturday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Leiter worked out with scout Darrell Miller in Anaheim, and was scheduled to rejoin the team Thursday night in Milwaukee. He will be accompanied by his wife, Allison, and their 3-year-old son, Mark Jr.

“The sooner he gets back in the saddle the better,” Rodgers said. “To get right back in life, the best way is get right back up there.”

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Spike Owen has played nearly 11 years in the big leagues during a career that has extended from Seattle to Boston to Montreal to New York to California, spanning 1,380 games.

Yet, he had a new experience Thursday, playing a position other than shortstop. He started at third base.

“It was a weird feeling,” said Owen, who was almost run over in the fifth inning when he forget to step out of the way of Dave Winfield. “I’m still trying to get comfortable over there. Obviously, it’s a reaction position.”

It won’t be a debut that Owen will want to savor for his memoirs. He committed one throwing error that led to a run, failed to cleanly field another ball and dived too late to stop another.”

“I’ll do the best I can,” Owen said, “but in time, I think I can be good over there.”