Baseball: Can Pasadena get even Stephen?

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When it comes to hard luck losers, Pasadena‘s Joe Stephen could be the poster child. The kid is pitching his heart out this season and what’s he got to show for it? Four losses.

Friday’s game is a prime example of his freakish misfortune. Stephen threw a four-hitter and struck out 13, including eight of the last nine batters he faced. The problem was, counterpart Ben Levitt also pitched a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts in Burbank‘s 2-0 Pacific League victory.

‘Joe could easily be 4-0 right now instead of 0-4,’ Pasadena’s first-year Coach Mike Parisi said of his ace right-hander. ‘We’ve made a ton of errors behind him, but he’s got a strong arm. You watch.... His record is gonna turn out better than even.’

Stephen has 31 strikeouts, a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.50 earned-run average. So why is he still searching for his first win? Lousy defense and lack of run support are two reasons. The Bulldogs have committed 18 errors in back of their ace and have managed to score only one run in three of his four starts.

Pasadena won only seven games last year but has already won four this spring. If anyone can turn the Bulldogs’ fortunes around it figures to be Parisi, who coached Arcadia to four consecutive Pacific League crowns from 2000-03.

-- Steve Galluzzo

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