BLACK'S INFLUENCE ON STAFF APPARENT ANGELS PITCHERS TAKING CHARGE.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There is no No. 1 starter here. Even the general manager admits that. There is no tradition of pitching excellence. Forty-one years with no World Series appearance and just one Cy Young Award winner confirm that.

What the Angels do have now are five solid starting pitchers, each with different needs befitting his age, ability level and pedigree.

They also have the pitching coach who appears well-suited to deal with them all.

The Angels continue their longest-of-the-season, 14-game road trip at St. Louis tonight just one game out of first place, and much of it has to do with the performance of their pitching staff. After a dreadful April, the Angels are now fourth in the American League with a 4.00 ERA, and their starters have pitched into at least the seventh inning in 43 of their past 64 games.

The Angels had a 5.00 team ERA two years ago and a 4.20 mark last year, and some of this year's improvement is attributed to the offseason acquisitions of Kevin Appier (from Antelope Valley High) and Aaron Sele.

But players and management point to pitching coach Bud Black as a big reason for the staff's development.

Black joined the Angels before the 2000 season, but it wasn't until before this season that he had a defined group of five with whom to work. And an eclectic group it is.

Veterans Sele, 31, and Appier, 34, have seen and heard just about everything. Left-handers Jarrod Washburn (27) and Scott Schoeneweis (28) are emerging talents trying to make the final, maddening steps toward becoming solid major-league starters.

And then there's Ramon Ortiz, once thought to be a 26-year-old with huge potential. Now, after an offseason age revelation, he's a 29-year-old with ample talent but a penchant for giving up home run balls.

But the Angels have got it done so far this season and it has as much to do with Black's emotional button-pushing as it does his work with arm angles and release points.

``That's the beauty of it; Buddy has a feel for people,'' manager Mike Scioscia said.

The rotation alone spans the emotional and physical spectra. Schoeneweis, quietly intense, often needs some tinkering with his mechanics. Washburn is more polished but needs help in his approach to hitters. Sele and Appier are the most experienced but must adjust to the mounting mileage on their arms.

Ortiz has the best stuff of anyone but battles his focus and emotions.

Somehow, Black must juggle their psyches, let alone their mechanics.

``He has a way to adapt in terms of how to approach guys given their makeup, whether they're intense or easygoing,'' Schoeneweis said. ``He's an amoeba that way. He just relates well.''

Black prepared for this sort of thing even as a player. A left-handed starter who pitched 15 seasons, seven with Kansas City, he took an interest in mentoring starters Bret Saberhagen and Mark Gubicza when they arrived in Kansas City as highly touted prospects in their early 20s.

After Black retired in 1995, he took a front-office job with the Indians, then spent a season as their Triple-A pitching coach. When Scioscia called just days after accepting the Angels' managerial job, Black had a chance to put his people skills to use.

``That's instinctual,'' Black said. ``That just goes from player to player, just having that feel of when to do what. These guys have pretty much heard all kinds of motivational talks, the kick in the pants, the pat on the back.

``Each coach or teacher is different in how they try to bring the most out of players. And it's all feel. I can't tell you when to do either.''

General manager Bill Stoneman admits the Angels staff presents some different challenges, because ``we really don't have anybody we say is our No. 1 guy,'' he said. Black can relate.

He posted a 121-116 career record and pitched in the shadow of Saberhagen on the Royals' 1985 World Series-championship team. Though he pitched 12 career shutouts, he wasn't exactly the sort to get by on stuff alone.

``He was not an overpowering pitcher, so he really knows pitching as opposed to throwing,'' Stoneman said. ``He can really isolate on elements a guy needs.''

Although Stoneman prefers to consider all five of his pitchers No. 1 starters, the reality is there are constantly shifting dynamics within the staff. This season, the youngsters were expected to grow up.

``I told Ortiz, Schoeneweis and Washburn in spring training, you're not the young, developing pitchers anymore,'' Black said. ``The big learning curve is over. You're always learning; Appier and Sele are still learning. The learning never stops. But the expectation level rises.''

Results have been mixed but mostly positive. All five starters reached five victories before June 15, the first time the Angels accomplished that feat since 1983. They are also the only team to use just five starting pitchers this season.

With the starting quintet either under club control or signed through at least 2004, the Angels can enjoy something they don't usually have with their rotation - continuity. As for Black, he says he's ``happy where he is in the game right now,'' but wouldn't rule out possibly managing or joining a front office.

Scioscia says Black ``would be a great manager.'' Washburn predicts Black would chafe at the red tape and additional organizational duties of the manager's office. Either way, Black figures to stay close to the dugout.

``You look at him as a go-between,'' Schoeneweis said. ``He's not a player, but he really relates to his players well. He's not that far out of the game. He's the kind of teammate where everybody liked him and he's the same as a coach.

``He's a guy you want to stay in touch with for several years.''

ANGELS vs. ST. LOUIS

Time: 5:10 p.m., Busch Stadium.

TV/Radio: Ch. 9; 570-AM, 1090-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: RH Kevin Appier (5-5, 3.87 ERA) will start for the Angels against St. Louis' RH Darryl Kile (4-4, 3.97). Appier has lost his past four starts. The Angels get their first look at center fielder Jim Edmonds since he was traded to the Cardinals for second baseman Adam Kennedy and pitcher Kent Bottenfield during spring training of 2000.

- Joe Haakenson

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Angels pitching coach Bud Black, left, shaking hands with reliever Donne Wall, has been a key factor in the staff's development this season.

Paul Battaglia/Associated Press

Box:

ANGELS vs. vs. ST. LOUIS (see text)