RUNNING OUT OF TEAMS, TIME.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI First he lost control of his screwball screw·ball n. 1. Baseball A pitched ball that curves in the direction opposite to that of a normal curve ball. 2. Slang An eccentric, impulsively whimsical, or irrational person. adj. . Now Fernando Valenzuela The command of his trademark pitch vanished over time. The command of his career slipped off his fingers suddenly, on a breezy Friday the 13th Friday the 13th regarded as unlucky day. [Western Folklore: Misc.] See : Luck, Bad in Anaheim, barely half an hour before Valenzuela was to start for the San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. Padres against the Angels. That's when Padres manager Bruce Bochy
The St. Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards" or "the Redbirds") are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. in a six-player deal. ``I said, `What?!' '' Valenzuela said. ``He said, `Yeah, you got traded.' '' Minutes later, Valenzuela stood in the clubhouse trainer's room, wearing an orange T-shirt, white compression shorts Compression shorts are an undergarment usually worn by athletes. They are form-fitting and when worn cover the athlete's waist to mid or lower thigh. These garments are often made from a spandex-type material, similar to cycling shorts. , shower sandals and a blank expression A blank expression is a facial expression characterized by the neutral position of facial features and implies a lack of strong emotion. It may be caused by a lack of emotion, boredom, slight confusion (such as when someone refers to something which the listener does not of shock. A Padres PR man said the pitcher was too stunned to be interviewed just yet. It has been nearly two decades since Valenzuela's only other trade. That one - actually a contract sale - sent him from Puebla to Yukatan of the Mexican League The Mexican League may refer to one of two major baseball leagues in Mexico. The Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (English: Mexican League) is a summer AAA-level baseball minor league. . Later in 1979 Yukatan sold him to the Dodgers and the rest is Fernandomania. This is the other end of that career. The surest sign that Valenzuela, 37, is running out of time is that he is running out of teams to play for and running out of leagues to play in. St. Louis is his sixth major-league team and his 16th professional club, including the minors and Mexican League. He has toiled in eight leagues overall - in chronological order, the Mexican, California, Texas, National, American, Pacific Coast, International and Eastern. And, if he starts as scheduled Tuesday for the Cardinals in Milwaukee, he will experience a new league: Inter-. ``The last few outings weren't good for me,'' Valenzuela said when he emerged from the clubhouse, fully dressed in traveling clothes, shortly before game time Friday. ``Sometimes when you change teams it helps.'' After winning 19 of 27 decisions in a stretch from late '95 through '96, Valenzuela is 1-8 in '97, the worst record on the NL West's last-place team, and has an ERA of nearly 6.00 in his past 10 starts. Had he pitched Friday he would have been fighting to stay in the Padres rotation. ``If I knew (what's wrong), I would have changed a long time ago,'' he said. Or maybe he knows but can't fix it. The most telling assessment of Valenzuela's struggles came from Padres assistant general manager Dave Stewart Dave Stewart is the name of several famous people:
``He's had difficulty with his command of the outside part of the plate,'' Stewart said in Anaheim. ``He's always had command of his screwball. This year he's not having that same success. ``That arm has a lot of pitches in it. From experience, I can say that as you age, things don't always work as well as they did.'' Stewart added: ``I don't think he's pitching (to save) his career. He's had his career. If he's going to do anything better than what he's done already, I'd like to know what it is.'' If that sounded less like a compliment than a eulogy, be assured Valenzuela still has avowed a·vow tr.v. a·vowed, a·vow·ing, a·vows 1. To acknowledge openly, boldly, and unashamedly; confess: avow guilt. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. To state positively. believers. One is Tony LaRussa, his new manager, who said a spot in the Cardinals rotation is waiting. ``I'm happy because he believes in me,'' Valenzuela said after getting off the phone. Another is Bochy, his old manager. ``It seems like every start he made (this year), if it wasn't a good one, people wanted to write him off,'' Bochy said. ``He shouldn't be written off. He's got some baseball left.'' Twice recently, Valenzuela faced ``last-chance'' games. On May 23, he came through with 5-2/3 shutout innings in a 6-2 Padres victory over Florida. On June 3, he struck out eight in six innings in a 5-2 Padres win at Atlanta. Always a master of escape, he fights the bonds of time. This week, it was reported that Valenzuela had told friends he would rather retire than face the embarrassment of being waived into retirement. Friday, heA said he hasn't thought about how he'd like his career to end. ``It's not ended yet,'' he said, ``(so) don't talk about that.'' Surely, he expected it to end in San Diego, his home for 2-1/2 years. Now, not only does he not know when it will end, he doesn't know where either. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color) Fernando Valenzuela, traded from San Diego to St. Louis, says his career isn't over. Daily News File Photo |
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