ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607150141
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BASEBALL
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
Pretty soon, Phil Leftwich may have enough members of his household to field a baseball team.
Maybe he could pitch for it.
Leftwich, the former Radford University and Brookville High School star, spent a few days at his home in Phoenix this past week during the All-Star break, but he didn't get to relax much between helping his wife with the children and pondering where his professional baseball career is going.
Sharing a house with four youngsters - all under the age of 3 - can make traveling with a baseball club seem like a picnic.
``The last couple of years have been crazy,'' said Leftwich, who was taking three days off from the Vancouver Canadians, the California Angels' Class AAA affiliate.
A little less than two years after a son, Luke, was born to Leftwich and his wife, Ann, the couple hit into a triple play with the birth of triplets. The two girls - Brooke and Brenna - and a boy - Troy - were born Nov.16.
``We always planned to have a big family,'' Leftwich said. ``We weren't planning on doing it that fast.''
For the first few years of his career, Leftwich, 27, did everything fast. Threw fast. Moved up the Angels' ladder fast. These days, life has slowed for the right-hander from Lynchburg.
After the Angels selected him in the second round of the 1990 draft with their first pick, Leftwich made it to the majors in 21/2 years and made 12 starts as a rookie in 1993. He's made only 22 starts in the big leagues since then.
He missed nearly all of the 1995 season after having surgery to repair a torn labrum muscle in his pitching shoulder. He's throwing pain-free, but his fastball, which used to reach 90 mph on a regular basis, rarely rises above the mid-80s.
``My fastball hasn't come back like I thought it would,'' Leftwich said. ``I've been told it may take a year or two to fully recover [the velocity]. I think I've lost some arm speed. I'm not getting [the arm] through the zone like I had before.''
He's made two big-league starts this season and lost both, despite not pitching that badly. In his first start back in May against Oakland, he retired the first nine batters he faced before a series of infield hits preceded a Mark McGwire grand slam.
A week later, he was back in Vancouver. Angels manager Marcel Lachemann has publicly voiced his concerns about Leftwich's comeback.
``Obviously, I'm not a sure bet anymore,'' Leftwich said. Lachemann ``doesn't have a ton of confidence in me. It's been a down year, physically and mentally.''
Leftwich believes he still is in the Angels' plans. However, he might look at the possibility of playing in Japan next season if things don't work out. He could make about $500,000 pitching overseas, then come back to the United States as a free agent and start over.
Leftwich is 5-4 with a 4.73 earned run average and three complete games for Vancouver. Even without the old zip on his fastball, he leads the team with 81 strikeouts in 99 innings.
``I've got the whole second half of the season to turn it around,'' he said. ``I've just got to grin and bear it. Half the time I'm wishing I was in California, and half the time I wish I was here [in Phoenix] with my family.''
The family misses him just as much.
``The 2-year-old thinks dad works at the airport, because that's where we take him ... He thinks daddy plays baseball at the airport,'' said Ann Leftwich, who is a wife, mother, father and batting practice pitcher rolled into one. ``Luke is really into baseball. He's hitting baseballs without a tee because he says that's how the majors do it.''
KENDALL STARRY-EYED: Former Salem Buccaneers catcher Jason Kendall followed his father's spiked footprints to the major leagues. In turn, Fred Kendall followed his son to the All-Star Game.
Jason Kendall, a 22-year-old rookie with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was a member of the National League squad during Tuesday night's game in Philadelphia. His dad, the Detroit Tigers' bullpen coach and a former major-league catcher, attended the game at Veterans Stadium.
``I had chills - that was the highlight of these days,'' Jason Kendall said.
Kendall said he will remember his first All-Star Game chiefly because it was the last for St.Louis shortstop Ozzie Smith.
``The biggest chills I got,'' he said, ``were when they gave Ozzie the standing O.''
As a young player, Smith played for San Diego with Fred Kendall. In the NL clubhouse, his locker was next to Jason's.
SNOWBALLS: Salem Avalanche shortstop Kyle Houser saw his hitting streak stopped at seven games Thursday night. He raised his average 30 points - to Wright, Brent Crowther and Doug Million are on the fast track in the Colorado Rockies' system. The Rockies' team ERA of 5.82 through Thursday was the worst in the National League and second only to that of the lowly Detroit Tigers for the worst in all the majors. Already, the Rockies have used nine starting pitchers, including Wright, who was pitching in Salem last season. ...
Bill McGuire, the Avalanche's manager, said he was surprised when first baseman John Fantauzzi decided to retire. Fantauzzi told McGuire he wanted to retire Aug.2 so he could return to college, but Fantauzzi moved up the date when the Avalanche needed to make room for Mike Higgins' return from New Haven July 2. Fantauzzi has two semesters remaining to complete his bachelor's degree at Florida International University. ...
Million and Crowther ended their respective stays in Salem in similar fashion - with lousy starts. One day after giving up seven runs on nine hits in 22/3 innings against Lynchburg on May 21, Crowther was called up by New Haven. Million was called up a day after his worst start of the season, a 32/3-innings effort in which he gave up nine runs to the Durham Bulls on July 7.
AROUND THE HORN: Local fans with clear social calendars this afternoon are cordially invited to be guests of the Lynchburg Hillcats at the wedding of former outfielder Adrian Brown, who will wed Lynette Lewis at home plate of venerable City Stadium at 5 p.m. Brown was promoted to the Class AA Carolina Mudcats on June 3, but did not change his original wedding plans. It will be the third wedding held at the 56-year-old ballpark. Lynchburg Cardinals first baseman Rocky Nelson (who played with St. Louis) was married there in 1947 and former Lynchburg Red Sox outfielder Chris Whitehead wed Stephanie Kay Wilson there in 1990. ... Prince William catcher Nilson Robledo went 5-for-5, homered twice, scored five runs and drove in seven in a 14-6 victory over Lynchburg on July 6. ... Former William Byrd and Virginia Tech player Josh Herman has latched on with the Ohio Valley Redcoats of the independent Frontier League.
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