LOCAL WATCH: HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF EX-WESTLAKE PITCHER WANTS EVEN MORE WINS.Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer Randy Wolf Randall Christopher Wolf (born August 22, 1976 in Canoga Park, California) is a left handed pitcher on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Amateur Career Wolf played PONY League Baseball at West Hills, CA. jokes about the attitude of Philadelphia Philiies fans, but he won't buy into it himself. His friends make sure of that. Although he plays in front of fans who have grown to expect losing, Wolf has a fierce desire for perfection each time he pitches, a desire fueled by good-natured teasing teasing the act of parading a male before a female to see if she displays estrus, and is therefore in a state where mating is likely to be fertile. from friends and family if he makes a mistake. ``I go into the games thinking, just don't make a fool of yourself,'' said Wolf, a product of El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
``I want to have a decent game, so I can have a good weekend and not get ragged on by my friends. They let me hear about it whenever I do anything wrong. ``I remember earlier this year, we were playing the Braves. I was trying to pick off a guy and I threw it way over the first baseman's head. They still get me for that.'' Wolf's buddies aren't teasing him too much, though, since the left- hander has been the most effective pitcher this year for a team more than 20 games out of first place. He is the only member of the Phillies staff with at least 10 wins this season and leads the team in innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is in the game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. and strikeouts. ``He's got 10 wins, but if we could have got him a few runs he could easily have 14 (or) 15,'' Philadelphia pitching coach Galen Cisco Galen Bernard Cisco (born March 7, 1936 in St. Marys, Ohio) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between 1961 and 1969. Listed at 6' 0", 200 lb., Cisco batted and threw right handed. said. Wolf (10-7) has received three or fewer runs in all but one of his losses and has no decisions in his last two starts. ``With any luck at all he could be sitting on a lot more wins,'' Cisco said. ``So he's certainly held his end of the bargain up very well.'' Wolf, 24, is in his first full major-league season. The Phillies planned to let him use last year to gain experience in the minors, but their pitching was so thin, they promoted him by June. He's been in the starting rotation ever since. ``He's done a tremendous job,'' Phillies manager Terry Francona For continued success, Wolf must gain enough confidence in his breaking pitches to throw them late in counts and add to his repertoire. He's spent the second half of the season working on being more aggressive. He's already seen what happens when he isn't. Wolf followed a 5-0 start last season by losing his next eight decisions. He endured a similar stretch this year after winning his first game. ``I think that was the most valuable experience I've had,'' he said, ``going through that tough time and basically learning how to get out of a hole. Sometimes when things are going that bad, you think there's no way you'll ever be good again. The fact that I was able to get out of it helped me out tons.'' Philadelphia's fans also aid his mental toughness. ``If you can play there, you can play anywhere,'' Wolf said. ``It's a tough city. What put the exclamation point exclamation point: see punctuation. exclamation point - exclamation mark on Philly is the other day, I flipped on a sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and station and the guy's ending statement was `Well, we're in Philly, we're used to losing.' That's the kind of attitude there. It's a tough thing.'' Appreciating the fact that he's living out a childhood dream - ``That part alone is just awesome'' - helps Wolf deal with the negative aspects better than most. ``He enjoys himself out there,'' Francona said. ``He's got a great attitude. It's hard not to like Randy. He's a competitor, you can tell he goes out there wanting to win more than anybody, but he's like a kid out there having fun. It helps keep him from getting too discouraged.'' WOLF FILE Name: Randy Wolf Team: Philadelphia Phillies “Phillies” redirects here. For other uses, see Phillies (disambiguation). The Philadelphia Phillies are a professional baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Position: Pitcher Age: 24 Local tie: El Camino Real High/Pepperdine Career highlights: Threw his first major-league complete game, a 4-2 win at Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , on May 28. . . . Made major-league debut June 11, 1999 and earned the win against Toronto. . . . Named West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1997, the year he was drafted in the second round by the Phillies. . . . Pitched for Team USA
Team USA (also known as Team NWA or Team TNA) is a wrestling faction brought together as part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's X-Cup Tournaments, which in 1995 and 1996. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf, formerly of Westlake High and Pepperdine College, would have more than his team-high 10 wins were it not for Philadelphia's low run support. Morry Gash/Associated Press Box: WOLF FILE (see text) |
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