RMJ 37 March 23

SUNDAY, MARCH 23 ● Vero Beach, vs Dodgers

Today the team went to Vero Beach at 8:30, and I stayed back with Vern to watch Chris Holt and Donne Wall throw.

Donne wasn’t impressive; he almost never looks good throwing on the side. Holt looked good. The Perfessor and I left for Vero about 9:15. On the way, we debated the upcoming decisions regarding the pitching staff.

The dilemma is whether to go on past records, or on what we are seeing down here. It is complicated by contractual considerations.

José Lima and Russ Springer are out of options. If we want to send them to New Orleans, they will have to clear waivers. Chances are, another team will claim them.

We drafted Ramón Garcia from the Brewers this winter. If we don’t keep him all year, we must offer him back to Milwaukee, and they will probably take him. The transaction will cost us $25,000.

Looking at their records, there is only one good argument to keep them: Their competitors in camp haven’t accomplished much more, and they haven’t thrown much better.

Except for Holt, there is no young pitcher in camp with a good pedigree. The problem is that all three of these guys throw righthanded. Because Wagner is a closer, it would be nice to have another lefty. But the other lefties have their own imperfections.

Tom Martin probably has the best stuff, but he has only had half of a good year at the AA level.

Mike Magnante has been up-and-down with Kansas City for three years; he has been unable to stick. His big pitch is the screwball, which makes him better against righthanded hitters.

As a rookie last year, Al Morman got lefthanders out pretty well, but got hammered by righthanders.

Martin and Magnante have pitched well this spring; Morman has not. Lima, Garcia, and Springer have all pitched well, but we can see the evidence of past failures in their work. We would like to think that they have turned the corner, and they are heading down the road to career recovery. But even in their success, we see hints of fallibility.

           

All of this uncertainty comes into clear contrast in Vero Beach, where the Dodgers send a parade of 95 MPH arms to the mound against us.

First, it is Chan Ho Park. Then Darren Hall. Then Antonio Osuna. Then Scott Radinsky. Finally, Darren Dreifort. We didn’t even see their best reliever, Todd Worrell. Nor did we see their best starters.

It must be nice to have such easy decisions when it comes to pitching. And with the Dodgers, it has almost always been thus. The Braves have had a slight edge on the Bums these last few years, but over the long haul, no team has pitched like the Dodgers.

When I was pitching, I hated Dodger Stadium. Fact is, I never won a game there after 1966, when I beat Sandy Koufax 3-0. Oh, I pitched a lot of good games: 2-1, 3-2, 2-0 losses and the like, at the hands of Don Sutton, Claude Osteen, Don Drysdale, Bill Singer, Tommy John, Andy Messersmith, and all the rest. I bet my ERA there is pretty good. But that’s small consolation for one road win in 13 years. I did beat them a few times at the Dome, but even then, it wasn’t easy.

The Cubs and the Giants were easy to beat, by contrast. I gave up plenty of runs, but still won.

 

Today was a typical loss to the Dodgers. Only one run on seven hits going into the ninth inning. Down 4-1. But this was a little different in that the team didn’t seem resigned to a losing fate. Instead, they erupted against Dreifort for four hits and a walk.

With two outs, Derek Bell hit a screamer toward the right-centerfield gap with two men on base. Unfortunately, it was too low. Second-baseman Juan Castro leapt into the air and stabbed it. We lost 4-3.

Driving home, I felt pretty good, but I’m still confused about the pitching. Springer and Magnante came through again. These decisions are going to come down to guesswork, as usual. There are no 95 MPH arms demanding attention; instead, we will have to look into our clouded crystal balls and attempt a reading.

This is where you set yourself up for a fall. A few of these guys may go on to achieve a degree of success. Most will fail.

But which ones? Which ones?