THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608211204
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ZEBULON, N.C. LENGTH: 104 lines
A minor league baseball player could do worse than getting assigned here, where fans are friendly, the stadium is fairly new, and folks tap their feet to the theme from ``The Andy Griffith Show'' before games.
``It's like the state fair,'' one fan said.
Not a bad place to play, especially if you're just passing through.
And rarely is it as obvious that a member of the Double-A Carolina Mudcats is ``just passing through'' as it is with Jimmy Anderson.
When Anderson, a lefthanded pitcher, was drafted out of Western Branch High by the Pittsburgh Pirates, he responded with characteristic confidence. It wasn't his lucky day. It wasn't his family's lucky day. No, Anderson made it clear that it was the Pirates who had hit the jackpot by taking him in the ninth round.
Two short years later, it's hard to argue with him. The 20-year-old Anderson is on a fast track to the big leagues. He's had three promotions in two years, and has been masterful at each level.
Anderson's latest promotion came June 8, when he was called up to the Mudcats from Class-A Lynchburg. Since then he's gone 7-1, cementing his spot as the top pitching prospect in the Pirate organization.
``If he improves as much next year as he did this year, he'll have a chance to pitch in the big leagues next year,'' said Tom Dettore, pitching coordinator for the Pirates minor league system. ``He'll be the one that dictates when he's ready.''
Next year? How about next month, when big league clubs expand their rosters with September call-ups?
It's a possibility, but probably a remote one. Dettore said he'd like to see Anderson go up, and get a taste of the big leagues. The experience would give Anderson a leg up heading into spring training next year.
But it's not Dettore's call to make. It's Pirate management's. And two factors are working against a September call-up this year:
Anderson is not on the 40-man roster. If they called him up, the Pirates would have to add him, and drop someone else. The Pirates can retain the rights to Anderson without adding him to the 40-man roster, because he doesn't have three full years of service.
Anderson has already pitched more than 150 innings this season, and the team does not want to risk wearing him out.
Anderson said the thought of a call-up has been in the back of his mind.
``It may happen, it may not,'' he said. ``I can't worry about it.''
Spoken like a true professional. A mature professional. And Anderson's newfound maturity has been as important to his success this year as his 90-mph fastball and cutting slider.
``He's really grown up a lot,'' said Mudcats pitching coach Bruce Tanner, who was with Anderson in Class-A Augusta last year. ``Last year, he let the umpires affect him too much. He'd let a couple of bad plays behind him, by his own fielders, affect him.
``His mound presence, at times, was very poor. He was confident and cocky and all that stuff, but you never felt it was really there. When he'd get into jams later in games, you could see a cave-in type of thing.''
But not too often. Anderson left Augusta with a 4-2 record and 1.53 earned-run average. He moved on to the Pirates' advanced Class-A club, at Lynchburg, and for the first time in his life, struggled.
``It was good for me,'' he said. ``It let me know that I can't get by on what I was doing. I've got to improve. Learn how to pitch.''
Anderson went 1-5 in Lynchburg with a 4.53 ERA. He returned to Lynchburg at the start of this season, and was 5-3 with a 1.93 ERA before being called up to Carolina.
``With each team, he's made adjustments,'' said Carolina manager Marc Hill, who managed in Lynchburg last season. ``He listens, and keeps the good stuff, and throws out the rest.''
Anderson's fastball is consistently clocked in the 88-91 mile-per-hour range, and it has excellent movement. He's also got a curve, the slider, and is developing a change-up.
``He's actually got a pretty good change-up,'' Tanner said. ``It's a matter of learning when to throw it. He's 20 years old, and when he gets in a jam, with his change-up being his third pitch, he doesn't want to throw it.
``Sometimes young pitchers have a hard time learning that if you experiment, and try different pitches, in the long run that's better for you.''
Anderson's trying to take it all in, and fight off the fatigue brought on by a long season. In his latest start, on Saturday night, he was behind the hitters most of the evening and gave up eight hits - including two home runs - and four earned runs in six innings. Still, he struck out seven, walked just three, and was credited with the victory.
Afterward, Anderson sat in Hill's office for 20 minutes, talking to Tanner and Dettore about what went wrong.
``He listens, he asks questions, he learns,'' Dettore said. ``He's had some setbacks and he's going to have a few more. Let's see how he deals with them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color KAREN TAM photos\ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jimmy Anderson is 7-1 for the Double-A Carolina Mudcats since being
promoted from Single-A Lynchburg.
Jimmy Anderson Sr. motions to his son to use his head during a
recent Carolina Mudcats' game.
Jimmy Anderson could be pitching, and signing autographs, for the
Pittsburgh Pirates next season says.
B\W photo
Jimmy Anderson's newfound maturity has been as important to his
success as his 90-mph fastball and cutting slider. by CNB