It’s Payback Time as the Angels Get Even With Their Prankster

TEMPE, Ariz. —  Pitcher Chuck Finley is usually one of the ringleaders when it comes to Angel veterans hazing the rookies.

He fondly remembers the time he dipped pitcher Brian Anderson’s uniform in water, hung it in a freezer overnight and then propped it up in the Angel clubhouse, and the day he jacked up reliever Mark Holzemer’s car, removed all four tires and stuffed them in Holzemer’s locker.

But Finley was on the receiving end of a prank that gave his teammates a good laugh Monday. The first week of camp, Finley complained to traveling secretary Tom Taylor about an expense check, saying, “Where am I going to cash this? You’d better bring it to me in ones next time.”

So Taylor did Monday, giving Finley a plastic baggie filled with an eight-inch-thick wad of $1 bills, 850 in all, for spring training meal money.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with this,” Finley said. “I could put it in a money clip, but I’d need the jaws of life. Maybe I’ll put it in the freezer. I don’t want to carry it in my car--I might get pulled over by the cops. I can just hear them. ‘What are you doing with a bag of money?’ ”

Angel pitchers have begun taking batting practice, and you can bet they’re steering clear of reliever Mike James. A bat slipped out of James’ hands last spring and hit Finley in the face, breaking the bone below his eye and sidelining the Angel ace for a month.

Sure enough, James lost his grip on another swing Sunday, and the bat flew out of his hands. This time, though, no one was hurt.

“I was in Yuma [Ariz.] and everyone else was in Chandler when he got in the cage,” Finley said. “We’re well aware of his reputation. We call him the Flying Batsman.”

Closer Troy Percival wasn’t so lucky in the batting cages--a ball coming out of a pitching machine drilled him in the ribs Sunday. Percival was OK, but a sore throat kept him out of Monday’s practice.

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Former Milwaukee pitcher Steve Sparks, who sat out the 1997 season after undergoing elbow reconstruction surgery, signed a minor league contract with the Angels. The right-hander will report to minor league camp in mid-March and remain in Mesa, Ariz., for extended spring training in April. . . . Second baseman Randy Velarde, also trying a comeback after reconstructive elbow surgery, was told not to throw Monday but participated in other drills. “He’s just tired,” Manager Terry Collins said. . . . Pitcher Jarrod Washburn agreed to terms on a 1998 contract. . . . After Wednesday night’s exhibition game against Arizona State, the Angels will have an intrasquad game Thursday before beginning Cactus League play Friday against Oakland in Tempe.