Angels

GREG Bucceroni's letter regarding the "smoke and mirrors" and "vigilante" Guardian Angels is xenophobic pabulum. I lived in West Philadelphia in 1988 to 1991, and would have appreciated any crime-fighting help to assist police in that era of murder. In fact, my experience in West Philly helped shaped my interest in fighting crime, and I've been a Guardian Angel for 14 years now. We've been serving Reno for 12 years. Vigilantes? As a minority, I get the same stereotypes about my race as the Angels get about what they do. Has Greg ever met or walked along with the Angels to see what they do?

California manager Marcel Lachemann says his players are pressing, trying to do too much. But again, the Angels did too little. The Angels lost their eighth straight game, falling last night to host Texas, 8-3, and falling out of first place in the AL West. California fell one game behind Seattle, a 10-7 winner of ver Oakland. The Angels had either held first place or been tied for the lead for the last 79 days. The Angels' 26th loss in 34 games also dropped them into a tie with New York for the wild-card spot.

Wally World is returning to the Angels. Wally Joyner, who played his first six major league seasons in Anaheim before going to Kansas City, San Diego and Atlanta, signed a minor league contract with the Angels yesterday and will attend spring training as a non-roster invitee. Joyner, 38, is a potential replacement at first base for Mo Vaughn, who will be sidelined for at least six months after undergoing surgery Feb. 6 to repair a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm. In other news: CUBS: Matthews demoted Outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. was sent from the Chicago Cubs outright to Triple A Iowa.

The Anaheim Angels reacquired Tony Phillips from the Chicago White Sox in a trade yesterday. Phillips, who left the Angels as a free agent after the 1995 season, and catcher Chad Kreuter were acquired for lefthanded reliever Chuck McElroy and catcher Jorge Fabregas. Phillips likely will supplant Darin Erstad as leadoff hitter and Eddie Murray as the primary designated hitter. Murray, 41, is hitting .219, with two homers and 10 RBIs in 32 games. In 1995, Phillips scored 119 runs and hit 27 home runs as the Angels' leadoff hitter.

THE LOS ANGELES Angels traded power hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for lefthander Jason Vargas. The 29-year-old Morales became expendable after the Angels agreed to a deal last week with free-agent slugger Josh Hamilton. The Angels had been looking for a pitcher after losing Zack Greinke and Dan Haren to free agency and trading Ervin Santana. Morales hit .273 with 22 home runs and 73 RBI last season. Vargas led Seattle in wins last season, going 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA.   Noteworthy *  The New York Yankees and Ichiro Suzuki finalized a $13 million, 2-year contract that keeps the 10-time All-Star in the Bronx.

After conquering the Yankees on Sept. 6 in Yankee Stadium, Angels pitcher John Candelaria expressed his desire to play in New York rather than California. "I've always envisioned how nice it would be," he said at that time. "Just walking around New York the past two days, I imagined what it would be like to pitch here. I love it here. " The Angels yesterday made Candelaria a happy man by trading the southpaw to the Mets in exchange for two minor-league pitchers. Candelaria, 33, started 20 games for the Angels this season, throwing one shutout, compiling an earned-run average of 4.71 and posting an 8-6 record.

"Angels in America" is very '80s. It is huge, ostentatious, has a few bad haircuts and Ronald Reagan- worshiping characters. But it is also the most important play of this modern age, a tour-de-force of hilarity and pathos - worthy of all the hyperbolic adjectives drama critics have lavished upon it even before its 1993 Broadway debut. "Angels in America" is also very long. Not grueling, like "Schindler's List," but broad. It is divided into two parts - the first, "Millennium Approaches," is easier to digest; the second, "Perestroika," is far more challenging.

In biblical times, angels were fearsome creatures who descended on chariots of fire, slew the enemies of God with bolts of lightning and protected the innocent with shields of righteousness. But these are the '90s, and each generation must re-imagine angels in its own way, in its own image, to address its own problems. Thus, we have angels who look like Della Reese and help people retrieve missing pets. And angels like the title character in "Michael" - a chubby, middle-aged white guy who likes the Beatles.

The California Angels didn't want the Seattle Mariners to clinch a tie for the AL West at their expense. "We didn't want to give them a chance to celebrate in front of us," manager Marcel Lachemann said after visiting California kept the division race close with a 2-0 victory over Seattle last night. "The guys didn't want that to happen and they didn't let it happen. " Chuck Finley (14-12) was the Angels' hero, allowing only three hits in 6 1/ 3 innings before a screaming crowd of 50,212.

In Stores Tuesday Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa, Seesaw ; Audra McDonald, Go Back Home ; Clairy Browne & the Bangin' Rackettes, Baby Caught the Bus ; John Zorn and Pat Metheny, Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20

Before Wednesday night's home game against the Royals, the high-spending Angels were sporting the AL's worst record (15-24, second to the awful Astros). But that's not bothering owner Arte Moreno enough to want to dump manager Mike Scioscia. In an interview Wednesday with FoxSports.com, Moreno said his skipper was safe. "Mike has zero problems, OK?" he said. "This is his 14th year. . . . He's a good person in the community, a very good baseball guy. " The Angels' problems are about performance, Moreno said.

ABARREL of whisky would usually spell doom for the working-class blokes who always find their way into Ken Loach films. But it is redemption the director and his longtime creative collaborator, writer Paul Laverty, have in mind in the unexpectedly warm, hopeful and humorous brew of "The Angels' Share. " It is a mess of a life the filmmakers have given Robbie (excellent newcomer Paul Brannigan). He's a lad from Glasgow, Scotland well on his way to repeating the sins of his father.

"Several people have been killed on the lower Youghiogheny River," champion kayaker Eli Loiben told us. "But nobody's drowned on the middle Yough, where you want to paddle. " From a distance, the middle Youghiogheny looks innocent enough as it winds through wooded hills and deep valleys between the small towns of Confluence and Ohiopyle in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands, 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. At the Riversport School of Paddling in Confluence, where Eli works, several people assured us that the rapids are mostly Class I and II. "Even people new to paddling," they said, "have run its 11 miles with no trouble.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Several Australians have had chances to win the Masters over the years and fallen short, but Adam Scott thought of only one as he strode up and down the hills of Augusta National Golf Club in the rain and the gathering darkness Sunday. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was a "We-Owe-You-One" idea brought into play by the ghost of Bobby Jones. But Scott finally broke through and became the first Australian to win a green jacket thanks to the two biggest clutch putts of his career, the second of which bested Angel Cabrera in a playoff.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The subplots were popping up fast and furious Saturday in the third round of the Masters. The world watched to see how Tiger Woods handled his emotions on the course after receiving a 2-stroke penalty several hours before his tee time. A trio of Australian players jockeyed for position striving to become the first from that country to slip on a green jacket. Fred Couples, at 53, tried to ride the constant shouts of "Fred-die!" to the top of the leader board. Meanwhile, Brandt Snedeker, with a mane of blond hair squirting in all directions from under his visor, kept at it over the Augusta National Golf Club waiting for birdie chances and succeeded on three down the stretch to finish the day tied with Angel Cabrera for the 54-hole lead.

A question mark coming into the season for the Los Angeles Angels was pitching, but who could have imagined there'd be a problem with No. 1 starter Jered Weaver? The righthander was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a non-displaced fracture of his left synovial hinge (that's what fans without medical degrees call a broken elbow) and is expected to miss at least a month. He left Sunday's game against the Rangers after landing on his arm trying to dodge a line drive. Ex-Phillie Joe Blanton, acquired in the offseason, may have to put down the doughnuts and pick up a few more innings.

LOS ANGELES Angels righthander Jered Weaver will be out for at least a month after the ace broke a bone in his left elbow. The Angels put Weaver on the 15-day disabled list, and the durable 20-game winner's non-throwing arm was in a blue sling while his teammates took batting practice before their Angel Stadium opener against Oakland. "This is all new to me," Weaver said. "I've never broken anything before, and didn't really know how to take the news. It kind of was a shock at first, and now you've just got to play the waiting game, I guess.

CINCINNATI - Chris Iannetta hit a solo homer and a bases-loaded single in the 13th inning on Monday, powering the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the majors' first interleague season opener. Both teams emptied their benches and bullpens before Iannetta - who caught all 13 innings - finally provided the breakout hit. The Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the 13th off J.J. Hoover, who walked two and hit Hank Conger, the Angels' final position player.

La Salle's basketball team enjoyed quite a journey in the NCAA tournament, one that has guaranteed lifelong memories for the players, coaches, administrators, and fans. The 12-day road trip consisted of more than 5,100 air miles; four games; countless news conferences; and, most importantly, three wins before Thursday's season-ending, 72-58 loss to Wichita State in the West Regional Sweet 16 matchup at the Staples Center. La Salle initially had to win a first-round game over Boise State and then kept going with a wild weekend in Kansas City that consisted of two-point wins over Kansas State and Ole Miss.