Knee Puts Langston Out for the Season

Joe Maddon’s first pregame meeting with reporters as interim to the interim manager Thursday was interrupted by Angel media relations official Larry Babcock, who had--what else?--more bad news.

Babcock informed Maddon that Mark Langston, on the disabled list because of a right knee injury for the third time in 1996, will not pitch again this season. Maddon could only shake his head.

“It has been,” he said, “an incredible year.”

The Angels have already used a major league-record 27 pitchers this season, and they’ve used the disabled list a team-record 21 times. Their rotation now includes two pitchers who began the season at double-A Midland (Jason Dickson and Pep Harris) and one who started at triple-A Vancouver (Dennis Springer).

Langston, who turned 36 Tuesday, will dedicate the next five weeks to strengthening the muscles around his right knee joint. He will be reevaluated again in late September to determine whether he’ll need surgery.

Ned Bergert, Angel trainer, said the injury “is not career- threatening at this time.” Could Langston have made a comeback if the Angels were in a pennant race?

“I could have tried some other things, but there’s also a potential for damage down the road,” Langston said. “There’s no reason to chance it now.”

Langston (6-5) had been on the disabled list only twice in 12 previous big league seasons, but he was sidelined because of knee surgery to remove a partial cartilage tear in his right knee in early May and went out again in mid-July because of a strained right calf and nerve irritation in his right leg.

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The results of Jim Abbott’s second minor league start Thursday were much like his first: mixed. Abbott gave up only two hits and struck out five in seven innings, but he walked five and gave up a home run. He was charged with four runs, three earned, in Vancouver’s 5-0 loss to Tucson. . . . Interim Manager John McNamara, in a New York hospital because of a blood clot in his right calf, said Thursday that the swelling in his leg has gone down and he “felt better.” McNamara will remain in the hospital until early next week. . . . Reliever Mike James, out the last three days because of a stiff neck, will not be available until today or Saturday. . . . How did Dickson celebrate his first major league victory, Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the Yankees? “I had dinner with my agent, went back to the hotel and was in bed by 10 p.m.,” he said. “I was exhausted.” . . . Only Eddie Murray (11) and Mickey Mantle (10) have homered from both sides of the plate in the same game more than Chili Davis, who did it for the ninth time Wednesday.