Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993 TAG: 9307180036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Would a guy scheduled for execution have his heart go pitty-pat more briskly if the rope broke?
Here was Christiansen's situation coming out of Cameron University, an NCAA Division II school in Oklahoma, in the summer of 1991:
Undrafted, the left-handed pitcher was down to his third and last tryout camp.
"I was tired of the runaround," he said.
The scouts were tired of seeing him, too, but they never had a chance to tell him that. They did break the news to a couple of players from Creighton who had joined Christiansen for the trip to the camp in Lincoln, Neb. The scouts told the players they'd already seen them at another tryout camp and didn't need to see them again.
They would have told Christiansen the same thing, except they couldn't find him. He was running poles in the outfield to warm up.
Then he threw a few for the scouts.
"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" the scout wanted to know.
"Yes, sir," Christiansen said.
"That's all right. Stick around. We want to see some more."
So Christiansen showed them some stuff. Good stuff.
"Best I threw," he said.
An offer was made by the scout, a representative of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Christiansen signed on the spot.
With the stroke of a pen, Christiansen signed on to the semi-anonymous vocation of setup man. The job description goes something like this:
Must be willing to enter the game in a dangerous situation, probably with a slim lead to guard or a tie game to maintain. Hold onto that lead like a man who doesn't know how to swim clutches a life jacket on a stormy sea. Don't complain when, after this stressful labor is done, the manager brings in his big shot to close the game. He gets the save. The setup guy gets a handshake, a bar of soap and a clean towel.
Christiansen has accepted this duty in the proper spirit.
"I like it," he said. "I consider it an honor that the manager has the confidence in me to bring me in there to hold on to the lead."
Nor does he harbor any apparent jealousy toward Bucs closer Jeff McCurry, the guy who gets most of the glory and leads the Carolina League in saves.
"Jeff worked for that job," Christiansen said. "He deserves it."
Both have been selected to the Carolina League All-Star Game at Ernie Shore Field in Winston-Salem.
At 6 feet 5 and 230 pounds, Christiansen casts a long shadow coming off the mound, but he shrugs off any notion that he's a hard-throwing left-handed intimidator.
"It's just an illusion because I throw left-handed," he said. "But I do throw harder than I did in college. In college, I probably maxed out on the fastball at about 82 miles per hour. I was a finesse pitcher in college."
Beg your pardon?
"That's right. I threw a whole lot softer," he said.
Regular professional baseball training plus plenty of live action has made a lot of difference. Christiansen, who had worked 48 innings, has a 3.51 earned run average and 51 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .211 against him. He also has four saves.
"They have to give McCurry a rest sometime, and, when they do, I'm ready to go in in a save situation," Christiansen said. "That gives me an opportunity to be in the limelight. It's a rush for me being in that situation, just as it would be for a guy who pitched a complete game."
\ WE PROMISE NOT TO STEP IN THE FLOWER BEDS: After Salem's Mike Brown hammered a ball out of Municipal Field, over Colorado Street and over the roof of a house on the opposite side of the street this week, Bucs general manager Sam Lazzaro entertained thoughts of measuring from the wall to the spot where the ball landed to determine the total length of the shot.
Do you think the people who own the house will mind, he was asked?
"I don't think they'll mind," he said. "We've bought enough windows and doors for that house that we practically own it."
by CNB