BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Slaying of Polidor Stuns Team

News of the death of former Angel infielder Gus Polidor, who was gunned down Friday in an attempted car-jacking in Caracas, Venezuela, stunned many in the Angel clubhouse.

“That’s sick man, wow,” pitcher Chuck Finley said. “I guess you can throw out that theory of Latin players being god-like in their countries. Crime is obviously not very picky.”

Polidor, an Angel utility infielder from 1985-88, had just returned to his native Venezuela after being released by the Florida Marlins. He reportedly offered to give up his car but resisted when the attackers insisted on taking his 1-year-old son, who was unharmed in the incident.

Polidor was remembered by Manager Marcel Lachemann and Finley as a mild-mannered, easygoing player who smiled a lot and never complained about his limited role.

“He was one of those guys who was always laughing,” Finley said. “He was a nice guy, very unselfish, and he knew his job. Damn, that is really sad.”

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The moment is immortalized on the side of a five-story building just outside the Toronto SkyDome, a Godzilla-sized picture of the Blue Jays’ Joe Carter completing a swing next to a simple caption: “Oct. 23, 1993; 11:39 p.m.”

That was the precise minute Carter hit his three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Blue Jays an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the deciding Game 6 of the 1993 World Series.

Friday afternoon, the man who delivered that gopher ball, reliever Mitch Williams, returned to the scene of what many Phillie fans considered a crime.

Did Williams, now an Angel, wince as he got to the visiting dugout? Did his stomach do flips as he peered out at the SkyDome mound for the first time since that fateful night?

“Nah,” Williams said. “I’ve walked into a lot of stadiums I’ve given up home runs in.”

Williams handled his return to Toronto with his typically stoic sense of humor. Asked what kind of reception he thought he’d get, he said: “It should be a standing ovation, I’d imagine.”

He was almost right. Williams received a partial standing ovation when he entered with runners on first and second in the bottom of the eighth. But an even bigger roar awaited during as he walked back to the dugout after giving up Lance Parrish’s game-tying, RBI single.

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Kansas City and Minnesota have expressed an interest in Angel pitcher Joe Magrane, who was designated for assignment Monday. The Angels have until next Thursday to either trade Magrane, release him or ask him to accept a minor league assignment.