Slaton Would Like to Kick This Bucket : After Release by Angels, Starting Pitcher Is Relegated to Mop-Up Role With Tigers

Jim Slaton can almost hear the public address announcer as he prepares to enter his next game for the Detroit Tigers.

Now pitching for the Tigers, No. 20, Jim “The Janitor” Slaton.

That was a little joke Slaton shared with his teammates in the Detroit bullpen last week, but it had nothing to do with his ability to strike out cleanup hitters.

It had a lot to do with his role as mop-up man for the Tigers.

When Slaton was signed by Detroit on July 14, after being released by the Angels, he appeared as a reliever in nine games during a two-week span (July 21-Aug. 5). Detroit won five of those games, and three of the four losses were by one run.

But in his last six appearances since Aug. 7, the right-hander has pitched in a 15-1 Detroit victory and five Tiger losses--three of them routs. He pitched the last 1 innings of Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Angels in Anaheim Stadium.

Slaton isn’t proud of his role or his new nickname. But, what the heck? It beats being a bartender.

That’s what Slaton would probably be doing if he wasn’t pitching for the Tigers. He recently opened a restaurant in his hometown of Lancaster called Clubhouse 41 (Slaton’s uniform number with the Brewers and Angels) and has decided that, upon his retirement, he’ll spend a few nights mixing drinks in his lounge.

But Slaton wasn’t quite ready to retire when he received a call from Angel General Manager Mike Port on June 30. Slaton, who has a 151-158 career record in 16 years, was relaxing on his 36-foot cabin cruiser in the Long Beach Harbor when he learned the Angels had given him his unconditional release.

“I was hurt,” Slaton said before Thursday’s game. “It (being released) happens to everyone sooner or later, but even when you have a feeling it’s gonna happen, it’s still a shock when it does.”

Before Slaton had much time to contemplate retirement, the Tigers contacted his agent, Ed Kleven, to say they were interested in the 36-year-old pitcher as a long and middle reliever. Slaton has appeared in 14 games for Detroit, recording one save and a 3.41 earned-run average.

Slaton, who joined the Angels in a December, 1983, trade with the Brewers for outfielder Bobby Clark, was hoping to finish his career in Anaheim, where he could be close to his home, two children--Jennifer and Jonathan--and restaurant. Who would have thought back in May that he wouldn’t even finish the 1986 season with the Angels?

Recovering from a rotator cuff injury in 1980, Slaton was the Angels’ most successful starting pitcher with a 4-1 record and 3.50 ERA in mid-May. He went on to lose his next six decisions and, at the time of his release, was 4-6 with a 5.65 ERA.

Included in the slump was the June 8 game against Cleveland, in which he lasted one-third of an inning, yielding three hits and five runs. In his last loss, he was bombed by Kansas City for eight runs in 3 innings.

Slaton still isn’t sure what happened.

“The same thing happened the year before--I started fast and then went into a tailspin,” Slaton said. “I don’t know what the problem was, but it might have had something to do with the 1980 injury. Maybe my arm wasn’t strong enough to bounce back into a starting role for an entire season.”

Slaton had been a power pitcher for most of his 12-year career with the Brewers, relying on a 90-m.p.h. fastball that helped him become Milwaukee’s all-time pitching leader in games, innings pitched, starts, victories, strikeouts and shutouts.

But since the injury, Slaton has become more of a control pitcher, working both sides of the plate with a variety of pitches.

In the process, he also became more of a relief pitcher--and lately, a relief pitcher with a questionable future.

He’s not sure if he’ll be back in the Tiger bullpen or any bullpen next year, but he’s not going to worry until the season ends. Now, he’s just glad to be part of a team contending for the division title.

“I think it would be great if we ended up playing the Angels in the playoffs,” Slaton said.

Not that he harbors any ill feelings toward his former employer. He felt he was treated well in Anaheim and that Port was just doing his job. Slaton would just like to do his job against some old friends in the playoffs.

“I have a lot of friends on the club and I miss playing there,” Slaton said. “I always check the scoreboard to see how they’re doing. It’s strange. When we’re not playing them, I’m pulling for them. I hope they do well--except against us.”