THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240636
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
The cameras would pan the New York Mets' dugout and there they'd be. Jason Jacome next to Bret Saberhagen, goatees covering their chins, eyes set on that game's pitcher, talking baseball. Or just talking.
Besides the money, fame, travel and success he had in his six weeks in the big leagues, the best thing about it all for Jacome was becoming friends with Saberhagen.
It got so the other guys started calling them Father and Son. Saberhagen, 30, the righthander in the midst of one of his finest seasons, and Jacome, the 23-year-old rookie lefthander learning on the job.
``He's a good friend,'' said Jacome, scheduled to pitch Thursday in the second game of a three-game series against Ottawa that begins tonight. ``I think maybe I impressed him a little bit, the way I pitched. I think he kind of felt comfortable with me.
``I don't think it seemed like I was a fill-in there. I was more a part of the team. I pitched well, so it made everybody think I was part of the team instead of just filling in.''
How well he pitched, and with such apparent ease, surprised practically everybody, including Jacome himself. He made eight starts, completed one, a shutout, and went 4-3 with a 2.67 earned-run average.
He lost his debut but then won four in a row. In 54 innings, Jacome gave up 54 hits, walked 17 and struck out 30. He's been hit harder in Triple-A, where he's allowed 123 hits in 109 2/3 innings, but compiled a 2.46 ERA and 7-5 record.
Jacome, sent back to the Tides the day before the major league strike to play out the season, ran into his share of jams with the Mets, especially in his first few starts. But working with his usual cool, narrow-eyed intensity, cap pulled down low, Jacome showed the same talent for making excellent pitches at critical times and escaping as he has in Triple-A.
``I had no idea it would come as easy as it seemed,'' Jacome said. ``I mean, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't like I was going out there and they were killing me. I don't know what the reason for that was.
``I think I was maybe more into it there - not more into it, but I didn't want to get in trouble there. Here, I know if I got in trouble, it wasn't a big deal, I knew I could get out of it. Once you're there and you get in trouble, it's like you're in trouble and you stay in trouble. It's hard to get out of it.''
It took Jacome just over three seasons to get out of the minors. A 12th-round draft pick in June 1991, Jacome, who lives in Tucson, Ariz., was a first-team junior college All-American at Arizona's Pima County College.
He coasted through his first two seasons in Class-A but started 1993 at the same level in St. Lucie, Fla. After 14 starts, he went to Double-A Binghamton, N.Y., for 14 more starts and compiled his highest ERA as a pro, 3.21, which most pitchers would take any day.
Jacome isn't just any pitcher, though, and he didn't want the Mets to forget it. Bearing down was essential.
``I thought if I wasn't into it, I wouldn't be there very long,'' he said. ``They could bring somebody else there to pitch instead of me. I mean, I wanted to stay there, do all I could to stay there, and have a chance of going there next year again.''
Not just to learn beside Saberhagen, though a ``family'' reunion would probably be half the fun.
TRAINER OF YEAR: Tides trainer Fred Hina has been named the International League Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. Hina, in his second year with the Tides, was chosen to be the trainer for the National League team in last month's Triple-A All-Star Game. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
Jason Jacome
by CNB