Spring Training / Dodgers : Howe: 36 Pitches, 4 Runs, 3 Hits, 2 Walks

Anybody else, and it would have been a disaster.

Two-thirds of an inning, four runs, three hits, two walks, and a blown lead.

For Steve Howe, however, it was a start, the first time in 17 months he had appeared in a game wearing a Dodger uniform.

“I’ve never had a good spring, anyway,” he said. “But if I’m out there opening day, then I’m the comeback player of the year, just for being there.”

Howe’s appearance in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers may have brought back the question of whether the Dodgers are kidding themselves about believing that Howe will be ready for the start of the season.

But, if nothing else, the Dodgers appreciated the sight, which may be why owner Peter O’Malley, sitting just a few rows behind the Dodger bench, applauded as Howe took the mound, and resumed applauding when Howe came off.

“It was great to see him back,” said pitching coach Ron Perranoski. “Great just to see him walk across the field. The biggest thing is if he comes out of this healthy.”

Howe threw 36 pitches Monday, none at full speed. His first pitch was a fastball that missed outside. His third, a hanging breaking ball, was looped into center field for a single by Detroit’s Johnny Grubb.

The next batter, Darrell Evans, also singled, and Chet Lemon followed with a 400-foot drive to dead center for a double and two runs batted in. Two walks, a messed-up bunt and a sacrifice fly later, the Tigers had two more runs, and Perranoski came out to relieve his left-handed reliever.

Howe returned to the bench, took a few puffs on a cigarette, then headed to the clubhouse to ice a very tired left arm.

“I thought he looked awfully good,” said Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed surgery on Howe’s left elbow Jan. 9 and had correctly predicted that Howe would pitch in a game by April 1.

“But I’m not a baseball man, so that’s a non-baseball opinion,” Jobe said.

“We asked him not to throw as hard as he could and he didn’t. Everything went according to plan.”

The plan, obviously, fell far short of Howe’s fondest wishes. Getting hammered wasn’t part of the program, even if it was just an exhibition.

“I hate it, period. I’m a competitor,” he said.

“But was it positive? I didn’t have to pick my elbow up at home plate, so it was positive.”

There were times after the surgery when he wondered if he’d even get this far.

“Naturally, when they took the cast off, I said, ‘Damn, what did they do to my arm? I was looking at this twig, and the first thing that went through my mind was, ‘I have to throw 90-plus miles an hour with this?’ ”

Howe didn’t even attempt throwing that hard Monday. Dodger scout Ralph Avila clocked him at a high of 88 m.p.h. on the radar gun, and said he was consistently at 85 or 86.

“If it had been up to me, I would have been foggin’ it every pitch,” Howe said. “But I was just trying to get it up there.

“I felt all right, just tired. It was hot. I haven’t been able to turn it loose. The last 10, 15 or 20% is going to be tough, it’s going to take a while.”

Howe said he threw only two or three sliders --”the only thing they didn’t hit.” It was obvious he was out of sync while throwing his off-speed curveball.

“His mechanics were all messed up,” Perranoski said. “You could see he was reluctant on the curveball a little bit.”

Catcher Steve Yeager observed Howe’s reluctance first-hand.

“In the back of his head, I’m sure he’s a little afraid to let it go,” Yeager said.

“He was a little nervous, but it’s been a long time since he’s been out there. In all, I think he did a good job.”

Yeager went out to the mound several times to talk to Howe. “He kept asking me if I was tired,” Howe said. “I told him, ‘Damn right I’m tired.’ ”

At one point, Howe gestured for Yeager to come to the mound. “I told him, ‘Don’t be afraid to call a few inside, Boomer, maybe we can jam somebody,’ ” Howe said.

Tiger catcher Marty Castillo, who drove in a run with a sacrifice fly off Howe, said the pitcher “looked like he was a little nervous, maybe apprehensive.

“He’s had a rough go of it, you know. . . . He’s got a lot of things on his mind, and not just his arm--all the things he went through. I’m sure he’d like to forget about it, but he can’t.

“You hate to see something like that happen. You just pray for him and hope he can come back.”

Castillo, who faced Howe in spring training two years ago, said it “looks like he’s lost his confidence.

“Steve (Yeager) called a pitchout and he threw a slider in the dirt,” Castillo said. “So you know he’s not really locked into what he’s doing.”

Asked if he thought the Dodgers might be rushing Howe, Castillo said: “It’s up to Steve. Nobody knows but Steve himself.”

Tiger first baseman Darrell Evans was with San Francisco in ’83 when Frank Robinson, then the Giants’ manager, made a gesture at Howe that was widely believed to be an imitation of someone sniffing cocaine, although Robinson denied it.

“Nobody liked that,” Evans said. “Nobody on our team liked that. To me, it was uncalled for.”

Evans doesn’t believe Howe will encounter similar treatment from the opposition this season. “Maybe there’ll be an isolated time, but I don’t think it’ll happen more than once or twice,” Evans said.

“He’s been through so much--even though we’re not on the same team, it’s a camaraderie thing. Everybody knows how tough it is, everybody is supportive of that.

“But that’s just the way America is. We root for somebody who can come back from adversity.”

Dodger Notes The Dodgers have set their pitching rotation for the first week of the season. For the fourth time in his career and third season in a row, Fernando Valenzuela will pitch the opener, next Tuesday night in Houston. Jerry Reuss and Orel Hershiser will start the two other games in Houston, with Bob Welch scheduled to pitch the home opener April 12 against the San Francisco Giants. Rick Honeycutt is scheduled to pitch April 13. The first two games in Houston will be televised in Los Angeles by KTTV (Channel 11), beginning at 5:35 each night. The Astros have not announced their starters, but they’re leaning toward Nolan Ryan and Joe Niekro in the first two games. . . . Honeycutt went 3 innings in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over Houston in a B-squad game. He allowed one hit and two unearned runs, striking out four and walking four. Terry Whitfield hit a home run to break a 2-2 tie and Jack Fimple doubled in the final run. . . . Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda’s idea of an April Fool’s joke was to tell Al Oliver he had been traded. The giggling of Pedro Guerrero, listening in the next room, gave the gag away, although Oliver said he wasn’t buying it, anyway. “He (Lasorda) was so deadpan and serious,” Oliver said. “He’s in the right spot in Hollywood.”