Spring Training / Dodgers : Honeycutt Pleased With First Work in a Game

It started the morning after a game in Pittsburgh last July, when Rick Honeycutt tried to brush his teeth and couldn’t lift his left arm.

“That was the point when we made the decision an operation was necessary,” he said.

The operation, which involved shaving the tip of his clavicle to alleviate an arthritic condition in his shoulder, came the day after the season ended. Until then, Honeycutt continued to pitch--although he needed to rely on a needle to do so. Six times last season, Honeycutt’s left shoulder was injected with cortisone. A season that started with such promise--Honeycutt was 7-3 at the All-Star break--ended with a 10-9 record and just 7 innings pitched in September.

“Depending on a shot to pitch last year was tough,” he said.

“The shot would ease the pain for the period of time the cortisone would stay in the system, but as soon as it left, the problem was back where it was.

“As the season progressed, it became worse and worse. It was no fun to pitch a game.”

This spring, Honeycutt had another injection of cortisone to relieve the bursitis in his shoulder, a condition not directly related to last October’s surgery. He hopes the shot was his last.

Sunday, he pitched in a game for the first time this spring. It may only have been a “B” squad game against the Atlanta Braves, but it was a game nonetheless.

“Throwing on the side doesn’t matter,” he said. “You have to see what you have in a game-type situation. This may not have been a true test, but at least it was against people who make a living swinging a bat.”

Honeycutt went three innings Sunday and came away happy.

“I didn’t throw any four-seam burners,” he said with a smile, “but I threw a variety of pitches and there was no problem.

“I had a good sinker, some split fingers and some sliders for the first time today. I threw a few curves, too, and had pretty good location.

“I can tell already there is no problem. I threw too nice and easy to have a problem.”

Honeycutt believes he’ll be ready by the start of the season.

“I think the plan is for me to try and throw five innings in a ‘B’ game Thursday, then pitch in a regular game next Tuesday--I’ll be a regular guy again,” Honeycutt said. “I might pitch the last Angel game (in the Freeway series, two days before the regular season begins.) Then I’ll be right on schedule.”

Another Dodger pitcher, Bob Welch, was right on schedule, too, until he was hit in the outer palm of the right hand by Atlanta’s Pascual Perez in the midst of his third straight strong outing in the Dodgers’ 9-6 win over the Braves.

Welch was attempting to bunt in the second inning when Perez’s first pitch rode inside and struck him in the hand. Welch stayed in the game and worked five innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, but was in pain afterward. He was scheduled to be X-rayed today.

“I’ve been hit there before, by (Walt) Terrell (of the Mets),” Welch said. “That one seemed like it was a lot worse than this one.”

It bothered him Sunday, Welch said, “when I gripped the ball, especially when I gripped the curve ball. But it’s twice as sore now as when I got hit.”

Perez, you may recall, was involved in last season’s notorious beanball battle with the San Diego Padres. Welch, although visibly angry when he was hit, did not retaliate when Perez came to the plate, although it appeared Perez was expecting it. Since the Padre affair, Perez has been quoted as saying he’s afraid to bat.

“He was bailing out on that 2-and-0 pitch,” Dodger center-fielder Ken Landreaux said.

Asked if he said anything to Perez, Welch shook his head. “I don’t pay any attention to him,” he said.

Perez told Atlanta writers: “I don’t try to hit nobody.”

Dodger Notes

Relief pitcher Bobby Castillo had his first rough outing, giving up five runs--three earned--in two innings plus. Castillo was knocked out in the eighth, when the Braves scored five times to close a 9-1 deficit. Tom Niedenfuer came in with two runners on and got three infield outs, then worked a scoreless ninth. Niedenfuer, who said he never pitches well in the spring (“I never come out of here with an ERA under eight.”) said he threw three split-fingered fastballs, which he has been experimenting along with a change of pace. “Two were excellent ones and the other was a ball, so I can’t complain,” Niedenfuer said. “One, the guy lunged at and popped to short, another a guy swung and missed. So it’s coming along pretty well.” . . . Dave Anderson had three hits for the Dodgers, while Steve Sax, Mike Marshall and Mike Scioscia had two hits apiece. Sax also had three RBIs. . . . Al Oliver’s 11-game hitting streak ended, as he went 0 for 3. . . . Candy Maldonado, who made an outstanding catch in right field on Saturday, running up the embankment to flag down a drive, made another in center field on Sunday, taking away extra bases from Rick Cerone.