THE BULLPEN : Dodgers Will Be Counting on Guys Named Buff and Bunsy to Take the Mound and Hold the Line Against Cardinals

“The Dodger bullpen stinks!” someone said, and then someone named Pete Rose said: “You can’t have the best starters and the best bullpen. Wouldn’t be fair. If you’re gonna compare the two, of course the bullpen looks bad.”

The Dodger starting pitchers are famous. They have eloquent, memorable names like Fernando and Orel. And the bullpen? It depends on guys nicknamed Buff and Bunsy.

Buff ‘n Bunsy?

Buff, alias Tom Niedenfuer, really is the important one, the reliever who will be handed the baseball during the eighth and ninth innings of this upcoming playoff with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Niedenfuer keeps a water buffalo hat (much like Fred Flintstone’s) stowed above his locker and is not shy about wearing it. His cap size is large, a 7 1/2, and this explains his nickname. Back in his college days at Washington State, his coach, Bobo Braden, was working with pitchers on bunt defense, and “I made some stupid play,” Niedenfuer said. Braden reacted and said: “You big ‘ol Buffalo head.”

Says Niedenfuer today: “It stuck. But, of course, it was shortened to ‘Buff.’ ”

Niedenfuer’s bullpen partner, Bunsy, will play an important role, too, mainly as the reliever to pitch the sixth or seventh innings, setting up Buff. Kenny Howell is nicknamed Bunsy because, if he’s knocked on his back by a ground ball, he has a built-in pillow to protect him. Like Niedenfuer, Howell likes his nickname. Orel Hershiser called him Fat Albert the other day, and Howell said he much preferred Bunsy.

How Buff and Bunsy do in the playoffs could essentially be the payoff. Assuming that Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser or one of the other Dodger starters eventually run into trouble, it’ll be up to Niedenfuer and Howell. Niedenfuer has been here before, having pitched in the postseason play of 1981 and 1983. In ‘81, he was just 21 years old, and Manager Tom Lasorda brought him in to pitch in a playoff against the Houston Astros with the bases loaded and one out.

“I remember going out there and trying to spit,” Niedenfuer said. “And nothing came out.”

Fortunately, he got outs. Anyway, he had his best season in ‘83, becoming the first pitcher since 1972 to allow less than seven base runners per nine innings. Right-handers and left-handers had a combined batting average of about .170 against him.

Although it’s not certain, his spree of ’83 might have caused his horror of ’84. Perhaps overworked, Niedenfuer had little left. First, there was a shoulder problem, and then he had a kidney stone attack while the team was in Cincinnati on June 19. He had experienced pain in his side the night before and figured he’d taken too much batting practice that day. The next day, the 19th, he was in the hotel lobby, felt the pain, became dizzy and fainted.

Later, Niedenfuer had elbow problems. And, when Howell had a magnificent winter ball season this year in the Dominican Republic (a record 16 saves), and when Steve Howe appeared ready to go a full season, who needed Buff?

Much, much worse, his relationship with Al Campanis, Dodger vice president in charge of player personnel, was shaky since Campanis had hinted that Niedenfuer’s ’84 elbow injury might not have been serious enough to keep him out as long as it did.

“I was surprised, and a little hurt,” Niedenfuer said. “And then all those trade rumors.”

In early 85, it was Niedenfuer to Boston or to the Cardinals or back home to Seattle. His mom called him one day and said: “I hear you’re coming home.”

Still, he said: “I never lost confidence. I knew I was healthy.”

As a kid, Niedenfuer was roly-poly and had a temper. Once in a high school night game, he’d thrown a no-hitter, but 10 minutes afterward, the opposing coach influenced the official scorer into changing a couple of errors to hits. Niedenfuer held his anger as long as he could, but eventually took a bag full of 50 baseballs and hurled them into a street.

Once, according to Niedenfuer, he tore up Terry Forster’s director’s chair after a loss. Forster said: “Why mine?” Niedenfuer said: “I don’t have my own director’s chair.”

The Dodgers drafted Niedenfuer in the 36th round out of high school, but he didn’t sign, opting for Washington State University. There, his roommate was Doug Sisk, now a Mets’ reliever, but neither were drafted after their junior year.

After his junior year, Niedenfuer played in an Alaskan league, and a manager named Jim Frye (not to be confused with the Cub manager) switched him to relief, since he only had two reliable pitches. Eventually, the Dodgers signed him, and pitching coach Ron Perranoski sort of adopted him, keeping him around a lot longer than some others thought he should have.

In a organizational meeting one day, Manager Tom Lasorda reportedly said: “We might cut the team down now if Perranoski will get a divorce from this Niedenfuer kid.”

Probably the greatest thing Perranoski did for Niedenfuer was tell him to throw with the same motion as Goose Gossage. The similarities now are staggering. And if Niedenfuer, who has 19 saves this year, is like Goose in the playoffs . . .

Howell, everyone says, must settle down, must stop acting like a kid. He’s only 24, which might explain part of his problems. Back on July 27, he was handling the stopper’s role fine, his ERA down at 2.79. But since then, his ERA has risen an entire point, and his control has worsened. A year ago, called up from Triple-A, he walked just one man over his first 25.2 innings of work. Now, he has 35 walks in 86 innings this season, but has really struggled since mid-August.

Howell’s mind is bugging him.

“You see your team battling to stay in first place, and you’re in a slump, and you want to get guys out, but you know you’re in a slump,” he said. “So you’re afraid to let the team down. Well, not really afraid. I mean, I’m ready to battle, but no one wants to be a goat.

“It’s just that I need to go out and throw a shutout inning. Then, I’ll feel I’ve got it all back. It’s all mental. It’s so mental. After one good inning, I might be throwing like I was before, but my attitude will be different.”

It should all come down to these two relievers, because as Niedenfuer says: “Our starters don’t get pulled in the fifth. It just doesn’t happen.”

So, if Fernando or Orel don’t go the distance, it’s Howell in the sixth and seventh.

And Niedenfuer in the eighth and ninth.

Uh, make that Buff ‘n Bunsy.