Angels hit four homers in 13-1 victory over Yankees

Angels 13, Yankees 1

AT THE PLATE: Erick Aybar, who tweaked his stance last Monday so he is more upright in the box, had four hits and four runs. With 11 hits in 17 at-bats in four games, he has raised his average from .175 to .275. Howie Kendrick, who had three hits and scored three runs, is hitting .425 (17 for 40) in his last nine games. Since the start of 2006, Kendrick's .357 mark (74 for 207) against the Yankees is the best among players with at least 200 at-bats against them. Hank Conger had two run-scoring doubles and an RBI single.

ON THE MOUND: Yankee Stadium was closed Thursday, and Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson wanted to throw on the off-day, so he played catch with bullpen coach Steve Soliz under some oak trees near the softball diamonds in Central Park. "No one even noticed me," Wilson said. Friday night was another walk in the park for Wilson, who gave up one run and four hits in six innings, striking out five and walking three, to improve to 4-0 with a 1.93 earned-run average against the Yankees since joining the Angels in 2012.

IN THE FIELD: With a 12-1 lead, left fielder J.B. Shuck made a spectacular diving catch of Ichiro Suzuki's flare toward the line in the eighth. Albert Pujols made a diving stop of Brian McCann's one-hop smash behind the first-base bag and, from a sitting position, tossed to Wilson covering the bag in the sixth.

EXTRA BASES: Yankees right-hander Hiroki Kuroda entered Friday with a 3-2 record and 2.16 ERA in six career starts against the Angels, but he was rocked for eight runs — six earned — and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings, the first time in 184 career starts he has given up as many as eight runs.

PAIN, PAIN, GO AWAY: Saturday starter Hector Santiago said the ache in the middle of his back that affected him in his first two starts was not an issue in his last two games. "I was having trouble pushing off my back leg, and my mechanics were faulty and inconsistent," he said. "But I got some chiropractic treatment, and it's fine now. The last two starts have been pretty good."

UP NEXT: Some 200-250 friends and family members from Santiago's hometown of Newark, N.J., have purchased tickets and chartered buses to watch the Angels left-hander (0-3, 3.68 ERA) oppose New York Yankees left-hander Vidal Nuno (0-0, 6.75 ERA) at Yankee Stadium on Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT. On the air: TV: Channel 11. Radio: 830.

— Mike DiGiovanna

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45-unit complex to double number of Vernon's voters

By a Times staff writer

April 26, 2014

The industrial city of Vernon in southeast Los Angeles County has long been known for its small number of residents and voters — just 42 turned out for a municipal election last year, for example.

So on Friday, when city leaders and state and national elected officials announced the groundbreaking of a new apartment complex in the city, it was hailed as a good governance reform that will bring more voters to the city.

The 45-unit Vernon Village Park is hailed as an environmentally conscious, energy-efficient facility that, as city officials put it, "will make the concept of a live/work community a reality in Vernon."

Vernon Village Park is expected to more than double the number of voters in the city when it is completed in 2015, and officials said it would be affordable for low- to moderate-income families.

The facility will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units with balconies and patios, a play area for children and an edible garden.

Vernon was the focus of scrutiny after a series of scandals at City Hall. The city came under criticism from state legislators who argued that its government was controlled by a small group of individuals rather than a legitimate voting population. Legislators attempted to disincorporate the city in 2011, but that effort failed.

Vernon officials agreed to a series of reforms, including building more housing to add to the voter rolls.

metro@latimes.com

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Rabbit dishes are regaining popularity

Rabbits "are helping win the war," proclaimed a Los Angeles Times article from 1943. Touted as a patriotic food during World War II, rabbits were raised by thousands of Americans in their backyards. Along with victory gardens, rabbits helped put food on the table when much of the nation's supply was shipped to soldiers overseas and ration stamps provided less at home. But even though rabbit consumption spiked during the war, it all but disappeared afterward.

Think rabbit today and your thoughts probably veer to cartoon characters, cereal mascots, Easter and adorable pets. Perhaps the only "bunny" you've ever eaten was of the milk chocolate breed. For years, it seems the only place you could find "the real deal" was occasionally on the menu at French or Italian restaurants.

But rabbit appears to be going through a renaissance of sorts.

"I think it's gaining in popularity," says Mark Pasternak, co-owner, along with wife Myriam, of Devil's Gulch Ranch in Marin County. Their farm supplies rabbit to a number of butcher shops and restaurants in and around Northern California, including the French Laundry and Chez Panisse.

And in an era when game meats and nose-to-tail eating are redefining fine dining as food sport, rabbit is both familiar and exotic enough to appeal.

"It almost has a prohibitiony quality to it, like it was something your grandfather ate. It's a great 'old-fashioned' meat," says chef Ken Addington, who, with restaurant partner Jud Mongell, owns LA Chapter in downtown's Ace Hotel as well as Five Leaves and Nights and Weekends in Brooklyn, N.Y. "We've always had rabbit on the menus in Brooklyn. It's a fun, versatile meat."

And though Mongell was hesitant to feature rabbit at first, he's come around to the idea. "In these times when we're trying to be so conscious of what, and how, we're consuming, it's something to consider."

At a time when buzzwords like "organic," "local" and "sustainable" are driving the market, rabbit is ripe for resurgence. According to Slow Food USA, rabbit can produce 6 pounds of meat using the same amount of food and water it takes for a cow to produce only 1 pound. Not to mention the health benefits. Rabbit is a lean meat that is higher in protein but lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than many other meats, including chicken, beef and pork.

But how does it taste?

Domestic rabbit's all-white meat is fine-grained and has a mild flavor compared with other game meats.

"Rabbit is one of my favorite subjects because it is so versatile, like veal or chicken," says chef Evan Funke of Bucato. A favorite dish of his for those new to rabbit is rag¿¿. "Anytime I get the opportunity to introduce people to rabbit, [I do]. Rag¿¿ is easy."

Addington likes to pair bright flavorings, such as citrus, with rabbit; he currently has a lemon grass rabbit rag¿¿ on the menu at LA Chapter.

Though rabbit is mostly available through butcher shops such as Belcampo Meat Co. and Puritan Poultry and online, it is turning up more frequently in upscale markets, including select Gelson's markets. It is usually sold whole, though you can have your butcher break the animal down into parts. (But if you've ever wanted to learn how to break down any four-legged animal, rabbit is a great place to start because it's so small. Do be careful with the bones, however; rabbit bones are even more delicate than those of a chicken.)

And despite its reputation as an inexpensive option during frugal times, store-bought rabbit is not cheap; prices in Los Angeles range from about $10 to $13 a pound for a 2- to 3-pound rabbit.

noelle.carter@latimes.com

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Search for S. Korean official's secret funds leads to O.C.

The South Korean public got a first glimpse of former President Chun Doo-hwan's ill-gotten gains in 1996 — 25 apple boxes neatly packed with crisp bills.

The bills, the equivalent of several million dollars, were only a fraction of the more than $200 million Chun was ultimately found to have amassed in bribes extracted from corporations like Samsung, Hyundai and LG during his eight years as president.

When Chun was convicted on mutiny, treason and bribery charges, the South Korean courts also ordered him to pay $229 million in criminal restitution — a bulk of which Chun has long maintained he can't afford, saying that he had less than $300 to his name.

On Thursday, the nearly two-decade hunt for Chun's secret funds — a closely watched accounting for a figure who remains one of the most reviled in South Korea — found its way to Southern California. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they had located $721,951.45 — a portion of the value of a white clapboard home in Newport Beach that was owned until recently by Chun's son and daughter-in-law.

The U.S. government filed a forfeiture action in Los Angeles on Thursday, moving to seize the proceeds from the home's sale in February.

The story of how the fruits of corruption half a world away wound up in coastal Orange County is a painstakingly orchestrated, convoluted path that prosecutors here will have to retrace to claim the money.

Now 83, Chun came to power in a 1979 military coup after the assassination of a long-ruling strongman, and amid his ascension to power, he ordered troops to open fire at masses of students and citizens protesting in the city of Gwangju, causing hundreds of deaths. He declared martial law, ordered the Constitution rewritten and held a presidential election as the sole candidate. He eventually stepped down in the face of widespread protests.

Chun was initially given the death penalty after his 1996 conviction, but that was later reduced to life in prison and — ultimately — he was freed after his punishment was commuted. Even so, the restitution order remained in effect, according to the forfeiture complaint filed in Los Angeles. After paying a fraction of the amount, Chun has refused to pay more, saying that his assets totaled $290.

Chun's denial has launched an international hunt for his secret funds, suspected of having been laundered through a wide network of shell corporations and nominee accounts. The effort to track down the money was increased last year because the statute of limitations was due to expire. Prosecutors in South Korea have already seized real estate, artwork, stocks and jewelry that they determined were derived from corruption proceeds.

As of August 2013, Chun still owned $167 million, according to the complaint.

According to U.S. prosecutors, the funds that ended up in Newport Beach were initially handed over from Chun to his father-in-law, Gen. Lee Kyu-dong. Chun admitted to South Korean prosecutors that he gave Lee the money in 1996 because he "feared that there may be a misunderstanding and that the money may be seized later, if [he] had a lot of money while [he] was being investigated," according to the complaint.

The money was transferred in the form of housing bonds from Lee to Chun's second son, J.Y. Chun, who allegedly spread the money into dozens of accounts in other people's names.

After initially denying that the money came from his father, the son eventually admitted to South Korean prosecutors: "I always thought of the [funds] unconditionally as my father's money. It is true that I did as such. I am very sorry about that now," according to the forfeiture complaint.

A business partner and friend, Ryu Chang-hee, told South Korean prosecutors in 2013 that the younger Chun asked him to buy real estate in the name of Ryu's father to "dodge suspicion" because he didn't have the income to justify such a purchase, according to the complaint.

Over the years, J.Y. Chun has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the U.S. financial system, prosecutors alleged in court papers. In 2003, he and his wife purchased a home outside Atlanta with suspected corruption proceeds. In 2005, they sold that home and purchased the Newport Beach property for $2.24 million, with a nearly $1-million down payment.

Neither J.Y. Chun nor his wife had an income that could prove the money for the home was legitimate, prosecutors alleged. The younger Chun reported annual income of $20,000 to $50,000

His wife, former starlet Park Sang Ah, is also suspected of having lied on the mortgage application for the home — she allegedly told immigration authorities that she hadn't worked since 2003, yet claimed on the application that she was president of a company and made nearly $500,000 a year.

Representatives for the Chuns could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

victoria.kim@latimes.com

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Michael Phelps returns to competitive swimming with second-place finish

MESA, Ariz. — A buzz ran through the crowd, an accumulation of murmurs and applause that drifted across the pool to where Michael Phelps stood. It was just loud enough to make the swimmer grin as he stepped onto the block.

"You heard people starting to get excited," he said.

The 1,200 spectators at poolside weren't alone — an entire sport watched intently as the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history began his comeback from retirement this week.

With an unprecedented 22 medals from three Games, Phelps is the Michael Jordan of swimming. His hefty endorsement earnings give him the clout of a pre-scandal Tiger Woods.

Some wonder why he would risk that legacy by returning after nearly two years away. Others want to know if he plans to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The 28-year-old Phelps refused to dwell on such questions at the Arena Grand Prix meet, not even after a promising second-place finish to rival Ryan Lochte in the 100-meter butterfly on Thursday night. He preferred to talk about having fun.

"I felt like a summer league swimmer," he said of his first day back. "I literally was just so excited to get in and to race."

It seems like a lifetime ago that the Baltimore native began his Olympic odyssey at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. That teenage debut set the stage for a historic career.

He had six gold medals and two bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.

Not only did Phelps win eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he also set four individual world records. Four years later, in London, he walked away with four more golds and two silvers.

He also — supposedly — walked away from racing, insisting there was nothing left to accomplish and he was "ready to be done."

His departure hurt a sport that had benefited from his crossover appeal, which attracted growth in participation and sponsorship dollars.

"I can't overemphasis how critical he was been to swimming," said Rowdy Gaines, the former Olympic medalist and current analyst for NBC Sports. "He has been the most critical component."

Phelps spent the past year and a half doing what young, wealthy, former athletes are supposed to do.

"I traveled, I played golf, I gained 30 pounds," he said. "I had a lot of fun."

But something was missing, something that Subway commercials and a stint on Hank Haney's golf show could not satisfy. Maybe it was the thrill of competition. Or the training routine that had brought order to his life for so many years.

Phelps joked that he needed to tame his expanding waistline. But that was a small part of the equation.

"I missed being in the water," he said.

Last fall, he resumed training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and re-entered the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's testing program, beginning the waiting period required to compete.

At a news conference in Mesa this week, Coach Bob Bowman told reporters his star pupil was "so out of shape" at the start.

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Two students, driver critically hurt in Anaheim Hills school bus crash

A school bus with 11 students aboard ran off the road and slammed into a tree Thursday afternoon in Anaheim Hills, leaving the driver and two students critically injured.

The yellow school bus from El Rancho Charter School in the Orange Unified School District appeared to swerve and pick up speed before coming to a stop amid trees on a grassy hill along East Nohl Ranch Road by the Anaheim Hills Golf Course, according to witnesses. Officials said the bus had left an after-school function.

The witnesses recalled a chaotic scene as dust filled the twisted bus and students screamed for help, even as they scrambled for safety through an emergency exit at the rear of the vehicle.

"They were crying, saying, 'I'm hurt! Help me!' " said Claudia Matten, who was among several Good Samaritans who helped the middle school students leave the bus.

A total of six people were taken to hospitals, including the two critically injured students and the driver. The two students' injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, the California Highway Patrol said. Three other students with minor injuries also were taken to hospitals, officials said.

The six remaining students were released at the scene to family or friends. "They might have had scratches or bruises," CHP spokesman Officer Florentino Olivera said.

The driver was conscious when firefighters pulled him from the front of the bus. His name has not been released.

Olivera said the CHP was launching an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. He said preliminary evidence indicated that the driver may not have hit the brakes before plowing into the tree.

"I don't see any skid marks. It looks like he went straight into the tree," Olivera said.

As it moved along East Nohl Ranch Road, the bus suddenly picked up speed, according to student Solymar Colling, 14, who was sitting in the third row.

"It started going up fast, we went up and then it hit the tree," Solymar said. "People were screaming."

She said she flew into the seat across from her as the bus hit the tree. "I started looking for my phone," she recalled, "so I could call 911 and say we need to get off the bus."

Tyler Fabozzi, 17, a senior at Canyon High School, said he was driving next to the bus when it swerved into his lane and suddenly swerved back.

Tyler continued to drive alongside the bus when it suddenly drove up the grassy hill and knocked down the tree. He parked his truck and ran up the hill to help the students. He found the fuel door near the emergency hatch and turned off the gas line, he said.

Solymar said she and the other students were inside the bus for a minute or two before they started to make their way to the back where someone had opened the emergency exit.

Ellen Johnson, transportation supervisor for Orange Unified, said the bus was equipped with seat belts and that students "are directed by the bus driver to put them on."

Olivera said the CHP conducted a safety inspection of the bus in October and that it "passed with flying colors."

adolfo.flores@latimes.com

Times staff writers Paloma Esquivel and Robert J. Lopez contributed to this report.

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There's a reason for lack of fanfare about Albert Pujols' 500th home run

The number that matters most is not 500.

The number that matters most is 0.

That is the number of major league players that have hit more home runs this season than Albert Pujols.

He got a mighty sweet serenade in the visiting clubhouse in Washington on Tuesday night after he hit his 500th home run. But the Angels are not paying him a quarter-billion dollars for reminders of how great he was when he played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

If that really is the classic Pujols back at-bat, that would be a big swing toward an October different from the last two, when he and the Angels stayed home and the Pujols-less Cardinals advanced deep into the playoffs.

In the days before Pujols became the 26th man to hit 500 major league home runs, and the first to hit that milestone in five years, there was no national buzz, no sense of anticipation. There was a ton of excitement around Nationals Park when the Angels arrived Monday, but that was all about Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

The obvious reason is that a glow no longer surrounds 500, that the standard has been tainted by too many players getting there, and by too many of those players being tainted.

Babe Ruth hit the 500 mark in 1929. Eddie Murray did it in 1996. In between, 13 players did it — Hall of Fame members all, Ruth and Murray and all the rest.

In 11 years, nine guys got there — Mark McGwire in 1999, Barry Bonds in 2001, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro in 2003, Ken Griffey Jr. in 2004, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas and Jim Thome in 2007, Manny Ramirez in 2008, and Gary Sheffield in 2009.

The home run itself was devalued by the steroid era. Too much of a good thing. No longer does 500 guarantee admission into Cooperstown. Adam Dunn could get to 500 next year, but does anyone consider him Hall of Fame material?

And, of those nine guys to hit 500 from 1999 to 2009, only Griffey, Thomas and Thome have not been linked to the use of performance-enhancing substances.

"I think those folks might have diminished the accomplishment," Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said, "because of all the suspicions, shadows and doubts."

Scully said he still considers 500 home runs "a major accomplishment" and said he was delighted for Pujols. Scully remembered watching Willie Mays hit his 500th or 600th home run and said the fanfare was limited to Mays coming out of the dugout and tipping his cap.

That was in the pre-ESPN era. In this era, where nothing is too small to be a big deal, the relative silence surrounding Pujols' feat might have less to do with the steroids other players have done and more to do with what Pujols has not done.

When he signed with the Angels, remember, he was the greatest hitter of his generation. He was ALBERT PUJOLS.

In more than two years in Anaheim, he never has been the best player on his team. In his first month with the Angels, the best player on the team was Mark Trumbo. Since then, the best player has been Mike Trout. That is, MIKE TROUT.

It was astounding, really. Pujols went from icon in St. Louis to invisible in Anaheim. He didn't make the All-Star game. His team didn't make the playoffs.

In his first month with the Angels, in 2012, he did not hit a home run. He still finished with 30, despite a knee injury that required postseason surgery.

In 2013, he was finished in July, done in by a painful foot tissue that bothered him until it ruptured. The injury might have explained that year, but his on-base and slugging percentages had declined for four consecutive years.

Now he leads the American League in slugging percentage. The last time he hit eight home runs in April, in 2009, he finished with 47 home runs, tops in the National League. The time before that, in 2006, he finished with 49, his career high.

Dodgers batting coach Mark McGwire, who coached Pujols in St. Louis, said this is not just a hot month. With his lower body healthy, McGwire said Pujols can drive good pitches and can stop swinging at bad pitches in an effort to force results.

"He had a flat tire," McGwire said. "His tires are filled back up, at full pressure."

Pujols started the season at 492. He told reporters in Washington he was not surprised to get to 500 with a week left in April.

"No, because I've had great Aprils before," he said. "I'm healthy and I'm feeling good at the plate right now. I mean, I don't need to tell you guys. You guys can see it.

"When you have your leg on it, now you can rely on the power you have and it wasn't there the last couple years. You can look for your own eyes."

The Angels do not expect to see vintage Pujols through 2021, when his contract expires at 41. But a few summers of retro Pujols would be nice, an October or two much nicer.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

Twitter: @BillShaikin

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report from Washington.

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Kings are in must-win situation heading into Game 4

The Kings are the only team in the Western Conference to be mired in a 3-0 playoff hole, which is why there was more talk Wednesday about 2010 than their 2012 Stanley Cup championship resume.

There is something special about rallying from an 3-0 series deficit, so extraordinary that it has happened only three times in NHL history. Current Kings Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are members of that select club, having accomplished the feat when they were with the Philadelphia Flyers, who pulled off the trick against the Boston Bruins in 2010.

"We have to be desperate," Carter said. "We're down, 3-0. There's no time to sit back and wait for things to happen. You have to out there and make them happen. If we don't, it's going to be a long summer. We need everybody on the same page tomorrow night."

That would be Thursday at Staples Center for Game 4. If the Kings extend the series, Game 5 is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at San Jose. The Sharks were almost businesslike in their approach after their Game 3 victory behind Patrick Marleau's overtime goal. In other words, they weren't getting overly giddy about it, high drama and all.

"We got back to the type of series that we thought we would have coming in," Sharks Coach Todd McLellan said. "In fact, there was still more scoring than we thought. We didn't think there would be seven goals scored, but it will be that type of game. We will have to play a better game tomorrow than we did yesterday."

The Kings were dramatically better in Game 3, though the bar wasn't set overly high after their woes and shortcomings in the first two games in San Jose. Marian Gaborik materialized in spectacular fashion — his unassisted goal was dazzling in the second period — and the Kings continued to chip away at San Jose goalie Antti Niemi.

"I think it was the first time that we got to him," Gaborik said. "The first couple of games, we scored goals, but they were ugly goals, which we need. But it was the first time we really got to him in terms of having quality scoring chances and being on him. We just have to have that more and try to find the net."

Kings Coach Darryl Sutter is often calmest in the face of severe adversity. Well, at least more expansive. Of course, he wasn't about to divulge any message he was sending to his players or specifics about the various hidden bumps and bruises. The next coach to do that during the playoffs will be the first.

Rest assured, the damage is not on par with the injuries the Kings were dealing with in the Chicago playoff series last season.

"No, no, no. I don't really want to compare that," Sutter said. "Pain is part of it. There's a difference between injured and hurt. Obviously, you're talking about Drew [Doughty]. Drew's a tough guy. He's a tough guy. He's going to go out and play. That's the way it works."

Doughty played on a bad ankle in the playoffs last year against the Sharks and the Blackhawks. His ice time in Game 3 was 28-plus minutes despite missing a few shifts in the first period for an unspecified issue after it appeared he was in discomfort.

He said Tuesday morning that he wasn't happy playing only 23 minutes in Game 2 and went on to record two assists in Game 3. Sutter liked that attitude and talked about the combination of Doughty's innate hockey sense and competitiveness.

"He's got to do for us what [Marc-Edouard] Vlasic does for them [the Sharks]," Sutter said of Doughty's defense partner at the Olympics for Team Canada.

"That's kind of how you match it up. He wants to play and that's a good thing. I like them guys who try to stay out there and are not trying to get off because of who's on the ice. He's a guy who wants to go back out and not come off the ice. That's a good trait to have.

"That's what those guys who win championships, or are big parts of a team's success, that's why they are like that. We can all sit there and watch and say, 'Oh, he can really skate or he can really shoot or whatever.' But there's something else special about top players. That's why they're all top players because there's something else there."

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa

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Jered Weaver has solid outing in 5-4 loss to Nationals

AT THE PLATE: The Angels scored twice in the sixth to take a 2-1 lead when Mike Trout walked, Albert Pujols hit a run-scoring double and Erick Aybar hit a run-scoring single. David Freese ended an 0-for-14 skid when he doubled to left-center and later scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Trout had a run-scoring single in the ninth. Pujols, who also singled in the first, struck out with the bases loaded to end the ninth. Aybar was seven for 12 in the series to raise his average from .175 to .240.

ON THE MOUND: Jered Weaver, pitching on a windy, chilly, 54-degree evening, held the Nationals to one run and seven hits in six innings, striking out two and walking one before being pulled for a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Michael Kohn, who has emerged as the No. 3 man in the bullpen, threw a scoreless seventh. Joe Smith worked around a Pujols error to throw a scoreless eighth before closer Ernesto Frieri lost the game in the ninth.

ON SECOND THOUGHT: Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper raised eyebrows with a highly questionable bunt attempt on a 2-and-2 pitch with none out and a runner on first in the sixth. Harper popped out to the catcher. In the eighth, Harper, who was pulled from Saturday's game against St. Louis for not hustling to first on a grounder, jogged out of the box on a grounder to first. When Pujols bobbled the ball, Harper broke into a sprint and reached on an error.

IN THE FIELD: Trout made a spectacular play in the first, racing in from center field and making a diving catch of Harper's flare with two on to end the inning.

EXTRA BASES: The "transfer rule" reared its ugly head again in the ninth when Raul Ibanez hit a line drive that Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche appeared to catch above his head. But as LaRoche brought his glove down toward his waist and looked to throw to second for a double play, the ball squirted out, and Ibanez was ruled safe.

UP NEXT: The Angels, who are 3-3 on the trip, are off Thursday. Left-hander C.J. Wilson (2-2, 4.21 ERA) will oppose New York right-hander Hiroki Kuroda (2-1, 4.07 ERA) at Yankee Stadium on Friday at 4 p.m. PDT. Wilson has given up two earned runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts against the Yankees. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 830.

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Ferry disaster fills South Korea with shame

ANSAN, South Korea — For South Korea, a country that pulled itself out of abject poverty to become the world's 15th-largest economy, the most stinging accusation about last week's ferry sinking is that it looks like a Third-World disaster.

While the captain escaped and the crew dithered and bickered with emergency officials, hundreds of passengers, most of them high school students, obediently remained in their cabins as the ferry rolled and slipped beneath the surface of the cold, gray sea.

Mistake piled atop mistake turned a near-shore mishap into the nation's worst maritime disaster in decades. The calamity has shamed many South Koreans and left them with serious doubt about their political leaders at a moment when they were preparing for a high-profile visit from President Obama, who is slated to arrive Thursday night.

"We are supposed to be a prosperous middle power, but the fundamentals are still weak," said Choi Kang, vice president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. "There was no control tower, nobody in charge."

The botched rescue also has cast a harsh light on a Confucian culture in which young people are taught to respect the older generation.

"I feel embarrassed as a Korean. We failed our children," said Kim Seun-tae, a 50-year-old minister whose son attends Danwon High School, which had 350 students and faculty members among the 476 people aboard the ship. Kim's son was not on the ferry.

The minister said he was struck by video from survivors' cellphones that showed the mostly 16- and 17-year-old students sitting dutifully in their seats.

"They were good, well-behaved kids. They followed instructions," Kim said. "Everybody is in a state of shock and depression. We can't look each other in the eye or speak."

Some events initially planned for the presidential visit have been toned down to avoid any appearance of festivities at a time when divers will probably still be plucking bodies from the sunken vessel, according to people involved in the planning. More than 160 passengers remained missing as of Tuesday, with 139 confirmed dead.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who made the protection of youths one of the themes of her administration, lashed out Monday at the crew members who abandoned the ship, saying the "behavior of the captain and some crew members is beyond understanding and no better than homicide."

But Park faces accusations that her newly restructured Ministry of Security and Public Administration failed at its first disaster response.

"They were civil servants with no experience or expertise. When it came to a time of crisis, people were paralyzed," said Jeong Chan-gwon of the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Crisis Management Analysis.

"When she called the captain a 'murderer,' it showed clearly how much political pressure she is under," said Scott Snyder, a Korea specialist with the Council on Foreign Relations, who was visiting Seoul last week.

A panicked and inexperienced crew failed to call the coast guard, instead notifying the vessel traffic service at their destination on Jeju Island, about 50 miles away.

It took 53 minutes for the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to mobilize. Meanwhile, the 69-year-old captain had already left the ship. Most of the crew members survived, while more than two-thirds of the passengers appear to have been lost.

Even before the official call for distress, students used their cellphones to call their parents and the South Korean emergency number.

"Help us. The boat is sinking," one boy reportedly told emergency dispatchers, according to a report Wednesday on Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting.

"The kids had never been on a ferry like that before. They didn't know what to do. They could have been saved," said Kim Seong-kyu, 19, a school student who was among the mourners leaving white chrysanthemums and handwritten messages at a makeshift shrine outside the school.

Among those being mourned was one of the surviving teachers from the doomed expedition who hanged himself from a tree last week in Jindo, the port city where families are staying.

Seven crew members have been arrested, including the captain, a semi-retired and part-time pilot who had been called at the last minute to command the 6,825-ton ship. He was in his cabin when the boat ran into trouble, with a 25-year-old third mate at the helm. Investigators believe that a sharp right turn by the novice might have caused the ferry's cargo to shift, putting it in an irreversible list.

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