THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609290185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: 79 lines
Jason Isringhausen stood at his locker, his right arm in a sling, and asked the next man over, fellow Mets pitcher Paul Wilson, the results of the MRI test on Wilson's aching right shoulder.
Beside Wilson was the locker once occupied by lefthander Bill Pulsipher, who is mending in Florida after his season-ending elbow surgery in April.
So much for the Mets' run at respectability, or better.
By now, the plan is familiar in its birth and death: Pulsipher, 22, Wilson, 23, and Isringhausen, 24, all of whom set the International League on its ear for the Tides in 1995, were to pitch the Mets into playoff contention in their first full major league seasons.
The failure was so magnificent you have to wonder what everybody was thinking.
Pulsipher went down in spring training, suffered a rehabilitation setback in August and faces an uncertain future. Isringhausen was a shadow of the pitcher who went 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA for the Mets last season. He was 6-14 with a 4.77 ERA, nearly led the National League in wild pitches with 14 and had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow and shoulder Friday.
Meanwhile, Wilson's rookie of the year campaign never got off the ground. He won five, lost 12 and had a 5.38 ERA, which would have been much worse had he not enjoyed a solid final few weeks.
``We all had different things we went through,'' Isringhausen said. ``That's what was weird about this year.''
Aside from Pulsipher's severe injury, the real shock was Isringhausen's collapse. The kid who made pitching appear easy when he went 20-4 with a 2.32 ERA in Double-A, Triple-A and the majors last year pitched like the 44th-round draft choice he was instead of the sensation he'd become.
Isringhausen and Mets pitching coach Bob Apodaca agree on what happened; the league caught on to Isringhausen's stuff and forced him to become a smarter pitcher. When Isringhausen couldn't make that adjustment because he didn't know how, disappointment snowballed.
``I was pretty bad on myself,'' said Isringhausen, who said he narrowly avoided a demotion to Norfolk in mid-July. ``It was killing me. I think Paul and I went through the same thing, just worrying too much. I think we both were starting to doubt ourselves.''
Finally, Isringhausen had to admit a glaring weakness.
``I have to learn about baseball,'' he said. ``I have to learn how to pitch. I just always reared back and threw and everything fell into place.''
About two weeks ago a tear in his shoulder finally became too painful, adding to the discomfort of bone chips in his elbow. Both situations were rectified Friday morning.
Mets doctors expressed confidence that Isringhausen would be throwing within eight weeks and be working in Florida with Apodaca by January.
``It wasn't as bad as they had expected. They thought there'd be more damage, especially in the shoulder,'' Isringhausen said. ``They were pretty happy about that, and so am I.''
Friday afternoon, Isringhausen was back in the clubhouse discussing his future.
``I've got a lot of work to do,'' he said. ``I have to become a student of the game.''
Meanwhile, Wilson, the top pick in the 1994 draft, has come a long way from Aug. 26, when Apodaca arrived from Norfolk with manager Bobby Valentine.
``He was blindfolded and wandering around, looking for answers,'' Apodaca said.
Apodaca tinkered with Wilson's mechanics and mound strategy and Wilson responded with a 2.02 ERA over his last 37 2/3 innings.
``It was really easy to see the confidence Dac still had in me,'' said Wilson, whose shoulder tendinitis and slight labrum tear won't require surgery. ``I finished on a very good note. Now it's time for me to rest and reflect back on the ups and downs, and how I can avoid something like this happening in the future.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
MIKE HEFFNER/Virginian Pilot file
Jason Isringhausen's gloomy look at Harbor Park in May foretold his
lost season in New York.
Elbow surgery ended Bill Pulsipher's, left, season in April. Paul
Wilson, right, started the year as a Rookie of the Year hopeful. He
finished a disappointing 5-12. by CNB