Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993 TAG: 9305010098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BALTIMORE, MD. LENGTH: Medium
But they never had to interrupt his postgame repast.
"Got a minute?" Valenzuela was asked by a recent visitor to the Camden Yards clubhouse of the Baltimore Orioles, his new employer.
"Got a minute?" he asked in return, from beneath arched brow, as though that question was only slightly less outrageous than, say, "May I have a bite of that chicken leg?"
The visitor was thrown into disarray.
"Would you answer some questions, please?"
Valenzuela, who certainly could not have missed the poised notebook and pen or the prominently displayed press credential, shrugged and looked away.
"Oh, you want me to answer some questions," he said. "I answer questions. I don't got a minute, but I answer some questions."
Something was eating him, like he was eating that coleslaw. Makes you wonder.
Here's a fellow most thought was washed up, finished, baseball-park buzzard bait. Yet he puts on a spectacular spring-training charge as a non-roster invitee, makes the team as its fifth starting pitcher and is signed the day before the season begins to a $250,000 contract that includes incentives for performance and awards that could make him almost $1 million this year.
Maybe he could see hard times ahead. As it happened, he was shelled for seven runs in 3 innings in his first start and then dispatched for more work at AA Bowie and AAA Rochester. He spent 12 days in the minor leagues. In his last start at AAA, he gave up four runs in 3 innings at Richmond.
Valenzuela was recalled Monday to pitch at Chicago.
Maybe the chicken was underdone or the coleslaw overdressed that day before he was sent down. No problem, Valenzuela's good cheer returned when the subject returned to baseball.
After not pitching in the big leagues for almost two years, perhaps Valenzuela was the only person who believed he would make it back. He didn't allow himself to think otherwise. There was no bailout plan.
"I've heard that question before," he said. "I don't like to make those kinds of plans. That's not my job. I'm here to make the team. If I don't, I'll make a decision on what's next when the time comes."
After 15 straight innings of scoreless work in spring training, no such distasteful decision was needed. Even though he got pasted by the Toronto Blue Jays in his last spring outing, he already had made the team.
If Baltimore manager Johnny Oates thought Valenzuela was a long shot, he wasn't letting on.
"I'm not a betting man," he said. "I didn't know how good he could throw before spring training. Our scouts said that he was throwing well. He came in to win a spot, and he did it."
Valenzuela figures to get 25 to 30 starts this season. The first didn't go well this week when he was shelled for six earned runs, five hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings in an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. To boot, he also hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and made a throwing error.
It was his first big-league start since June 12, 1991, when he was with the California Angels. Less than a month later, the Angels let him go. Before that, he had been released by the Los Angeles Dodgers after 10 years.
Last year, he was in the Mexican leagues. Despite not being totally rusty, Valenzuela seemed surprised by the kind of spring he had this year, even under his proverbial back-to-the-wall circumstances.
"It was hard this spring, but that's not the same as having pressure on you," he said. "I try not to do too much or put too much pressure on myself.
"But for my whole career, I've never done too good in spring training. Why? That's a good question."
Certainly, a sound left arm was crucial to his ascent.
"My arm has felt fine," he said. "I haven't had a problem with my arm since 1988. I've slowed down some since then, but there's been no problem."
Valenzuela does have a problem with anybody who broaches the subject of his age. Recent reports have him at 32, but earlier in his career, there were rumors that he could be much older than what had been listed.
"What difference does it make what my age is?" he said. "Let's talk about baseball."
Nor does he have much interest in discussing any personal matters beyond the ball park. Valenzuela was asked whether he would be happy in Baltimore, if he intended to look into the possibility of living there during the off-season.
"What are you, a taxman?" he said, standing up to terminate the conversation.
"Talk to me," he said walking away, "when you have something to talk to me about."
by CNB