SIDE ARM A Fictional Player Story

[vrobx1]

1986 WORLD SERIES
Game 1: Kansas City 3 Los Angeles 2 11 innings
Game 2: Los Angeles 11 Kansas City 0
Game 3: Los Angeles 2 Kansas City 0
Game 4: Kansas City 5 Los Angeles 3 10 innings
Game 5: Los Angeles 2 Kansas City 0
Game 6: Los Angeles 9 Kansas City 1
Los Angeles wins the World Series 4 Games to 2.

[mongster_03]

If not, I hate the Dodgers.

[vrobx1]

Oh, how I hate the Dodgers.

I didn't see the last inning. I turned it off in the eighth with the score 8-0.

We watched more NFL than anything at our house. Dad had to see his Cowboys play.

The NFL had adopted instant replay to try to correct bad calls. I hope that never comes to baseball. Part of the fun to pitching is figuring out the umpire's strike zone and trying to push the edges as far as I can and still get Blue to call a strike.

I got to see Beth play quite a bit of college volleyball. Her team made the NCAA Tournament before losing in the first round to UT Arlington.

The Beaumont Golden Gators ceased to exist. They were sold and relocated to Wichita, Kansas and were renamed the Pilots.

They did, however, remain in the Texas League.

Leonard Johnson Ford from "Edner, Texas" (people hated him calling Edna "Edner") practically gave me a car (used but I didn't mind) and I posed for an ad in the local paper.

I also did an interview with the paper, the Jackson County Herald and Mom pinned the entire thing on her wall.

Beth and I dated seriously when we had time between her classes and volleyball. She was even more of an exercise addict than before and started thinking about becoming a video workout girl like Denise Austin or something.

She certainly got my heart racing into the fat burning zone!

And I threw the baseball.

And threw it some more.

Every day of the offseason, I got in some practice.

[vrobx1]

Dad turned off the tv.

There was a long silence in the house. Nobody really knew what to say.

It was December 21, 1986 and something had happened that had never happened in my lifetime.

The Dallas Cowboys had lost to the Chicago Bears 24-10 to finish the season 7-9.

To finish with a losing record.

The Cowboys don't have a losing record! That just doesn't happen.

I remembered my senior year when they missed the playoffs and everyone was in shock.

But this.

This was unfathomable.

This did not happen.

And worse.

The people on tv were saying the game had passed Tom Landry by.

Are you kidding me?

You might as well go into a Baptist Church and insult Jesus Christ. That's the equivalent of insulting Tom Landry in Texas!

It was not a good holiday season for favorite teams. Texas A&M got blown out in the Cotton Bowl by Ohio State. The Aggie quarterback threw more touchdowns to the Buckeyes than he did his own team.

The New York Giants won their first Super Bowl. Beating the Denver Broncos. This after John Elway led The Drive to beat Cleveland in the AFC Championship Game.

"The AFC don't play defense. That's why they don't win the Super Bowl." More wisdom from my father.

And I turned 20 years old.

I took Beth out to dinner that night and then went home, took a warm shower, got ready for bed.

While brushng my teeth, I saw in the medicine cabinet a jar of Vaseline.

Well, it was the middle of January. It wouldn't hurt to throw the ball at home with the stuff.

Just to see.

So, I kept pitching, kept working on my grip, getting used to the Vaseline.

Then....

"Mister James? David Laken, General Manager of the San Diego Padres and I would like to invite you to join the Padres in Spring Training."

No freakin' way....

[mongster_03]

Whoooo!

[vrobx1]

It felt like I was in another body watching myself through my own eyes.

I was throwing batting practice to Tony Gwynn.

I was posing for Topps. By the way, their gum is still nasty.

Coach Broadway was there. Coach Les too.

Kids were asking for my autograph, even though most had no idea who I was.

Other teams did, though. I could feel their eyes on me every day. The whispers, the pointing, the binoculars, the notes taken.

Dave Dravecky was assigned to be my mentor of sorts during spring training. How to talk to the media. How to warmup. How to pull on my socks. Everything down to the smallest detail.

He seemed a bit.....eccentric. Okay, he was kind of a strange one.

Then there was Benito Santiago. The guy was even more popular than Tony Gwynn.

And then there was the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

I hate the Dodgers....

[mongster_03]

I, too, hate the Dodgers.

[msupoke]

Are you from Edna?

[vrobx1]

Originally Posted by msupoke

Are you from Edna?

Jackson County

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk

[vrobx1]

The Dodgers were up 6-3 as I headed to the mound to start the fifth inning. No, I hadn't started the game. They had me in the bullpen for Spring Training.

Terry Kennedy was down behind the plate and he called for a fastball. It was a bit inside on Sid Bream but Blue called strike one.

Kennedy called for fastball after fastball after fastball. They got a two out double but then I jammed the next hitter on a slider for a groundout to retire the side.

The next inning was mostly fastballs again and I gave up a walk but that was all.

That would be all. In the bottom of the sixth. Chris Speier was called on to pinch hit for me and I was done for the day.

The rest of the game was really bad as we lost 15-3.

At least scores don't matter in Spring Training.

[msupoke]

Originally Posted by vrobx1

Jackson County

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk

I pass through there three times every season with my basketball team to face the Victoria schools and Calhoun. I hate that drive.

[vrobx1]

"James! Come here! Take off your cap!"

I had pitched the ninth inning of a 10-6 win over St Louis. After walking the leadoff man, I got the next to ground into a double play and then another grounder to end it.

In three Spring Training innings, I was yet to give up a hit.

But it didn't sound like Bill Jackson was about to sing my praises.

Bill was the 51 year old pitching coach of the San Diego Padres. And, as I was about to find out, not a fan of the Vaseline.

He took my cap and dug his fingers around the brim.

"Dammit! I knew it!" he bellowed. And then through gritted teeth, "Coach Les."

I looked down at my feet and nodded sheepishly.

"Goranson!"

An equipment manager came sprinting towards the field where we were warming up.

"Goranson, take this cap and throw it in the garbage. And bring James a new cap."

Then, with a glare that would have frozen Medusa in fear, he turned on me.

"I better never ever catch you with that ---- in your cap again! Do you understand? That's a bunch of garbage! Tricks and nonsense are for losers! You just throw the fastball and you won't need that crap. I knew the first time you pitched when I saw that fastball going all over the place. You might as well have held up a sign. Look at me! I'm a (wow, he was creative with his vulgar name calling) who dips my fingers in Vaseline! Pathetic, James! Now, go get every last residue of that stuff off your fingers and then go run the bases about fifty times!"

[mongster_03]

Well, someone is losing his job.

[Archelirion]

Yeah James, sort it out. Glad there's folks like Bill Jackson about to slap these impressionable youngsters into shape.

[vrobx1]

"Kennedy probably said something."

Benito Santiago handed me a baseball and then headed behind the plate as I worked on my fastball some more.

The Padres had some serious drama at their catcher position. Benito was the starting catcher but it was obvious that he and manager Dick Williams were not going to co-exist. Having seen a bad relationship between a manager and a catcher in Miami, I could spot it a mile away.

Terry Kennedy was the 30 year old veteran seeing his spot going to the younger guy. And he had no problems voicing his displeasure about anything to anyone.

Then there was Tony Barron.

Tony was 20 years old and the first round pick of the Padres in the latest draft. Tony was a natural born leader and was already getting the respect of the players for that kind of personality and Dick Williams was very transparent in the fact that he favored Barron.

Especially over Benito.

This had the potential to be a real powder keg.

We were playing the Astros and I came in to pitch the seventh inning. We were down 6-4.

And Benito put down the one finger. Over. And over. And over.

Fastball.

Fastball.

Fastball.

Out of seventeen pitches, twelve were fastballs.

And the Astros went down in order.

Maybe I'll get out of Coach Jackson's doghouse.

That was my only inning of the game.

Santiago tied the game with a two run single in the bottom of the seventh.

But the Astros got a run in the eighth and beat us 7-6.

I wished I was getting to pitch more innings but, in reality, I was just a "camp body" to fill a roster spot.

But I was getting the experience and getting to show my stuff a little bit.

And not just to the Padres either.

[vrobx1]

"Oh, no, they have no plans to keep me in San Diego when the season starts.....Probably to Wichita.....I know, Beth, I wish they were still in Beaumont too....It's still the Texas League.....We'll make plenty of trips to San Antonio.....Oh, I know, baby, I can't believe my birth city is the home of the Dodgers .....I hate the Dodgers....Glad to hear.....Of course you might make the Dean's List....Glad you are taking Algebra and not me. I never was good at foreign languages....."

I was probably running up quite the phone bill talking to Beth long distance. I needed to hear her voice, though.

Coach Jackson was not letting up on me at all. "Throw that ball harder, James! Your fastball is crap! A snail could outrun your fastball! I don't even know why you have a right arm, James! They should chop it off and give it to some one-armed kid who wants to throw a fastball!"

As much as Coach Jackson tormented me, I still found the month of March to be flying by. I was wearing the jersey of a Major League Baseball team. Signing autographs. Posing for pictures. Giving interviews.

It's really not hard to play the press when giving an interview. You can say what you know the team wants you to say. The players giving the so-called wrong answers to questions are doing so on purpose. These players know that controversy creates notoriety and that opens up other doors for them to make money.

At this point in time, I was perfectly happy to sing the praises of the team, especially the coaches, and in particular Coach Jackson.

Who told me to quit sucking up and throw the ball harder.

I wasn't getting the in-game action I would have liked but I was getting plenty of time to throw the ball in the bullpen under Coach Jackson's watchful eye.

"James, go in there and throw hard!"

They were sending me in the seventh inning. We were up 5-3. On the Dodgers.

And the first pitch Santiago called for was a changeup.

Thanks, Benny.

I got the three-up three-down and headed to the bench. There was a good amount of fastballs but Santiago made me use my whole arsenal, including the slider and curve.

I didn't get to say much to him about it as he hit third in the eighth.

I got a perfect eighth as well.

In the top of the ninth, Paul Noce hit a two run homer to extend our lead to 7-3.

And it also guaranteed my spot in the order would come up before the ninth was over.

I have not had an at bat in two years as a professional.

So, I either would not pitch the ninth.

Or I would have to bat.

"Murray! You're batting for James."

Whew. I really didn't want to have to bat.

Tim Belcher pitched the ninth as we beat the Dodgers 8-3.

I don't care that it was Spring Training. Anytime I can contribute to beating the Dodgers is a good day!

"Nice swing, Paul," I told Noce in the clubhouse after the game.

"Nice pitching, James," he said as we shook hands.

"James!"

Oh boy. Here's Coach Jackson.

"What was with the offspeed crap, James?"

"Uh, well, I threw what my catcher called for. And, it worked."

Coach Jackson grunted and nodded. "They did say that about you. It's good you listen to your catcher. I'll be sure to have a talk with them about you throwing all that damn offspeed crap!"

You just can't please some people.

[vrobx1]

It was something that you just don't expect to happen.

A player getting ejected for arguing balls and strikes in Spring Training.

But Terry Kennedy did just that. And then he bumped the ump as well.

Whoo, boy, that's going to go over real well.

We were up on the Phillies 7-0 when I entered in the fifth inning. Kennedy's ejection put Pete Stanicek behind the plate. Pete was a good soldier, calling for fastball after fastball after fastball.

And then, with the last batter fouling off the fastballs, we went to the curveball and struck him out.

Another three up three down.

"James, you're up."

What?

Batting leadoff in the sixth inning, the pitcher Robert James.

Oh hell....

I think I closed my eyes as an inside cutter got a generous call for strike one.

I connected, foul, on a low outside fastball for strike two.

High outside fastball.

Ball one.

"Good eye, James, good eye!"

Whatever! Someone get me out of here!

Low fastball was too far outside.

Ball two.

Oh you have got to be kidding me.

Cutter.

Inside.

On the edge of the plate.

Strike three!

Oh, hallelujah, that's over with.

And, that also meant I was pitching again in the sixth.

The leadoff hitter worked a full count walk. A couple of my fastballs missed really badly. The pitcher got a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. We came back with the heat to the next guy, going up 0-2 before really missing with a slider. Up 1-2, I came with a fastball outside low and he swung amd missed for the K.

Runner on second and two away and a high inside 2-2 fastball was grounded to second to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, I walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches. But followed up with a five pitch strikeout. Mixing in sliders and fastballs and finishing it off with a curve. The next batter flew out on the first pitch. The next man took six pitches to strike out. Five of them were fastballs.

Leadoff walk and he didn't even get to second.

"James, you're batting."

What? Again? Why?

"Runners are at the corners. Lay down a sacrifice bunt."

And so I did. And moved the runner to second. Alas, Stanicek was on third and did not go home. He probably wouldn't have made it.

Well, that wasn't that painful, I decided as I headed back to the dugout.

And it turned out to be just what the team wanted to see as Tyler Van Burkleo followed up with a two run single.

And out to the mound I went again!

Wow, four innings. The most work in one game I had gotten in Spring Training.

We mixed in a couple of fastballs with a pair of sliders and a curve to strike out the first batter. The next hitter rolled a 1-0 changeup to third for the second out. Then their pitcher was up and grounded to first to end another inning.

And they sent me out in the ninth as well. I was getting more action this game than I had the entire Spring Training.

A five pitch strikeout to 39 year old Darrell Evans. Von Hayes rolled a 1-2 single into left. The first hit I had allowed in the game. The next hitter swung at a low 3-1 fastball and flew out to left. I then got ahead 1-2 on Don Baylor and we tried to get clever and the curveball came in and hit him right on the hand. Crap! Should have just gone with the fastball. Up next, the 36 year old veteran Ken Griffey. A five pitch walk.

Bases loaded and two out.

Sure, we were ahead 11-0 but I didn't want to blow this shutout. Even if it was just Spring Training.

Benito Santiago was now behind the plate and he called for a pair of changeups and just like that we were up 0-2 on Juan Samuel. But Samuel fought back and hit an RBI single. Tim Wallach was next and sent a 1-1 fastball for a ride but it ended up as a long flyout to centerfield to end the game.

11-1 us!

It really would have been nice to get the shutout. Still, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K.

Not a bad game at all, even if I do say so myself.

A game that had the press covering Spring Training talking about the next day.

I got grand kudos from teammates left and right.

"James!"

And here comes Coach Jackson.

"Now, you're ready, James. Now you are ready to learn the most important thing there is to know about baseball. Meet me in the bullpen tomorrow. And bring that intelligence I have heard so much about. You are going to learn the most important thing there is to know about baseball!"

[vrobx1]

After a five inning outing, I wasn't going to be dressing for a couple of days so that my arm could rest.

But, Coach Jackson wanted to have this talk with me so I headed out to the bullpen and had a seat.

It was just the two of us. Coach Jackson had a seat beside me and then asked me a strange question.

"James, have you ever heard of Bucky Dent?"

"Yes, sir."

"Who is Bucky Dent?"

"He's the guy that hit the home run for the Yankees that beat the Red Sox."

Coach Jackson grinned. "Right."

I didn't say anything.

"You don't get it yet, do you James."

"I.....don't guess I do."

"Do you know how many home runs Bucky Dent hit that year?"

"No sir."

"Five, James. Bucky Dent hit five home runs in 1978. So, tell me, how does a guy who hit five home runs become a legend?"

"Because of the one that beat the Red Sox."

"I think you are catching on, James. You see, James, baseball isn't about your ERA or your walk to strikeout ratio. It's about moments. If you pitch a complete game shutout in Game 7, no one will remember that you had an ERA over 4.50 during the season. If you strike out their cleanup hitter with runners on the corners and two outs in the ninth inning of a deciding game while nursing a one run lead, no one will care about what you walk to strikeout ratio was."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a jar of Vaseline.

"Remember this too, James. You can pitch twenty years completely clean. If you get caught just once with this stuff, everyone will think you were cheating the whole twenty years."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, go ice that arm."

I headed towards the clubhouse.

"James!"

"Yes sir?"

"You pitched damn good yesterday kid."

[vrobx1]

I pitched 1.1 innings in a 4-2 loss to the Mets. I allowed a hit and a walk and struck out one.

In a 6-2 win over the Cubs, I got in two innings of work, allowing a hit and striking out one.

Then, Manager Dick Williams and Bill Jackson called me into the office.

"James, tomorrow is the last Spring Training game of 1987," Dick Williams said. "You have really shown your stuff this spring. We want to see you one last time. Tomorrow, against the Expos, you're starting."

Oh my God.....

The Expos were going to have their top guys playing. It wasn't going to be minor leaguers up there. Dale Murphy. Andre Dawson. Pete Incaviglia. Gary Carter.

I was going to be tested no doubt about it.

"Just throw your pitches, James," Benito Santiago told me as we headed to the field in the bottom of the first. "Don't worry about who the batters are."

I was nervous. And it showed as I fell behind the first batter 3-0. But I got back in it as he was taking all the way on the next pitch. I then got the 3-1 fastball over the outside corner and he grounded it to second for the first out.

Andres Galarraga fouled off five pitches before grounding to third with a full count.

Dale Murphy grounded to short.

One inning down.

Three more to go.

The second inning did not start so well. I fell behind Incaviglia 2-0. Came back to even the count 2-2. Then I let a fastball go high and over the middle and paid for it.

As Incaviglia trotted around the bases, Santiago came out to the mound. "You have to forget about that one, James, and just keep pitching."

Okay, we're facing the big boys now. Have to show them what I got.

Gary Carter would get a single in the inning but the home run was the only damage. I even struck out Doug DeCinces.

"Okay, James," Dick Williams said as we came to the dugout. "You left one up high in the strike zone. Don't think about that pitch. Just trust Bennie and throw your pitches."

In the top of the third, Chris Speier hit a one out triple.

While I was in the on deck circle.

Oh boy....

I swung at the first pitch and grounded to second. But, Chris wasn't going.

Nothing gained.

Too bad there wasn't a faster guy who was willing to go for home on the play.

Willie McGee then struck out and we were still behind 1-0.

In the bottom of the third, Galarrage hit an RBI double to make the score 2-0. However, I ended the inning with a three pitch strikeout of Incaviglia.

Take that, you sunava....

Tony Grynn put us on the board in the fourth with an RBI triple. Johm Kruk tied the game with a single that scored Gwynn.

In the bottom of the fourth, I struck out DeCinces for the second time in the game.

In the fifth, Luis Aguayo pinch hit for me and my day was done with the score tied at 2.

I was fine with how the game went. Against some of the toughest major league hitters, I hadn't been destroyed. Two runs on five hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in four innings of work.

Things didn't go so well for the bullpen as the Expos would go on to win 5-3.

Then it was time to break up the Spring Training and send us all back to the minors.

"James!"

Coach Jackson....

"We need to talk to you James."

I nodded and followed Coach Jackson into Dick Williams office once again.

Padres General Manager David Laken was there as well.

"Mister James," Laken began.

I never get used to men over 40 calling me Mister James.

"Mister James, Coach Jackson has taken a special interest in you."

I looked over at Coach Jackson.

He smiled at me.

It was the first time Coach Jackson had smiled at me the entire time I was in Spring Training.

"Bill wants to keep working with you," Laken continued. "But you're not ready for the Padres rotation."

I nodded. I was not going to argue.

"We're going to keep you with the parent club for now and put you in the bullpen."

Bullpen. Parent club.

Wait....

WHAT!?!

"You'll be in middle relief and sometimes long relief."

Wait....

WHAT!?!

"Coach Jackson says you have the aptitude to learn and grow from the bullpen while facing Major League hitters."

But....

Wichita Pilots....

Triple A....

"We begin the season in San Francisco in three days."

"I'm on the 40 man roster?"

"That's right, James. Welcome to the San Diego Padres."

[rpriske]

Congrats!