Phillips Flap Stirs Emotions

Tony Phillips was still a member of the Chicago White Sox earlier this season when during batting practice at Yankee Stadium he spotted a friend.

After a short visit, Phillips began to walk toward the outfield when he was asked: “You staying out of trouble?”

“You know that’s hard for me,” Phillips said.

Following his trade, Phillips became Anaheim’s problem and last week he was caught in a legal whirlwind when the Walt Disney Co.-owned Angels suspended him indefinitely with pay after he refused to go on the disabled list and enter an inpatient program following his arrest on charges of cocaine possession.

The 38-year-old Phillips was reinstated after an arbitrator sided with the players’ union and baseball ownership, who insisted Phillips had been denied due process.

An ashamed Phillips rejoined the Angels for Thursday night’s series finale with the New York Yankees and apologized.

“I’ve caused great embarrassment … and hurt to my teammates, the Anaheim Angels, and most importantly my two daughters and my wife,” he said. “I intend to do whatever it takes for this situation to not occur again.”

That’s what the Angels tried to do by suspending Phillips. And while many criticized the club for its actions, some applauded the Angels for their decisiveness.

Anaheim general manager Bill Bavasi didn’t hide his disappointment at having Phillips forced back on him and questioned the signal baseball was sending by giving Phillips another chance.

“You’re all going to have to decide what kind of message it sends to kids,” he said. “I have two kids, 8 and 10, and my wife and I try not to let anybody besides ourselves give our kids our messages.”

Hundley’s habits

Todd Hundley was answering questions about his lifestyle choices while periodically stopping to spit tobacco juice into a paper cup.

The Mets All-Star catcher was forced to discuss some of his vices this week after New York manager Bobby Valentine said Hundley, who has been battling a hitting slump and off-field personal problems, might be struggling in part because of a lack of sleep.

Hundley was amused by Valentine’s concern and bewildered by its timing, coming while the Mets were fading in the N.L. wild-card picture.

“I don’t understand where this comes from, especially this time of year,” said Hundley, who denied Valentine’s assertion that the two had discussed the matter earlier this year. “We don’t need any dissension, we don’t need anybody’s mind on anything other than baseball.”

But that’s exactly what happened to Hundley, who spent more than a half-hour defending his decision to smoke, dip and drink.

Hundley said any tiredness he may have was associated with the daily grind of being a major league catcher and that he doesn’t have any problem sleeping.

“This is a lifestyle we live,” Hundley said. “It is the lifestyle I have broken a few records with. It is the lifestyle I’m going to stay with. I’m going to have a couple of beers after a game. That’s all there is to it.”

As for his manager’s decision to discuss a player’s personal affairs in public, Hundley said: “You know him well enough to know he has some off-the-wall things that have nothing to do with this Earth.”

A day after the sleeping issue became a back-page story in the New York tabloids, Hundley turned down an offer from a mattress company to do a commercial.

Whoa, doctor

The sight of Wade Boggs pitching against the Anaheim Angels was one of those amusing and rare baseball moments that will be long remembered.

Unfortunately, New York bench coach Don Zimmer wasn’t there to see it. Zimmer got light-headed from a bad reaction to his medication for gout and left Anaheim Stadium before Tuesday’s game and was admitted to a hospital.

“I imagine when Don was at the hospital and looked up and saw Wade Boggs pitching he must have thought he was hallucinating,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Howe’s injuries disclosed

Former major league pitcher Steve Howe suffered two collapsed lungs and a ruptured trachea in a Montana motorcycle crash, said the man who took him to the hospital.

“He was having a lot of trouble breathing and couldn’t talk,” said Dick Stotts, a former detective with the Kalispell Police Department.

Howe, who lives in Whitefish, was on his way to Stotts’ house on Tuesday to talk about playing golf when the accident happened.

A statement released by the family said Howe hit gravel on the pavement near a construction zone and lost control of the bike, sliding into a wire fence.

Howe was able to get back on his bike and ride the half-mile to Stotts’ house.

Stotts said he heard Howe pull into his driveway and found him “covered with dirt and oil.”

Howe underwent surgery shortly after arriving at the hospital. He was in critical condition for two days and remained hospitalized in stable condition Saturday.

Authorities did not learn about the crash until Friday, a violation of the law that states all accidents involving injuries be reported to law enforcement.

Stotts said he believed he had reported the accident when he took Howe to the hospital and said he was hurt in a motorcycle crash.

Howe didn’t report it because he was unable to speak and still couldn’t talk by Friday, Stotts said.