BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : McCaskill Didn’t Like What He Saw

Not that right-hander Kirk McCaskill had a crystal ball and foresaw the Angels would struggle this season when he signed a three-year, $7-million contract with the White Sox, but . . .

“I’m glad I made the decision I did,” said McCaskill, who will face the Angels tonight. “Any time you get out there between the white lines you never know what’s going to happen, but I thought about what potentially could happen. They didn’t sign Wally (Joyner) and boy, you don’t realize what a really good hitter he is until you face him. They lose Wally and they don’t sign a few guys and there wasn’t much offense there last year.”

McCaskill, who is 3-5 with a 4.15 earned-run average, has already faced the Angels, having earned a victory April 9. But tonight will be a special occasion because he will be matched against Jim Abbott, in whose honor he chose uniform No. 25 with Chicago.

“It’ll be a thrill,” McCaskill said. “It’s going to be fun. . . . I want him to do well but lose and I know he thinks the same way.”

To Abbott, the thought of facing McCaskill is “weird.” He added, “Kirk helped me out a lot with my career as far as advice. If he took (25) because of me, I’m very flattered. He’s a good friend, but I hope we beat him.”

Carlton Fisk made his season debut for the White Sox and caught his 2,148th game. Fisk, who is pursuing Bob Boone’s record of 2,225 games caught, was on the disabled list until Sunday because of problems with his right foot. He threw out the first would-be base stealer Tuesday, getting Luis Sojo at second in the second inning, and he was removed from the lineup after the sixth inning.