AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : DeGrasse Is All Business in Legion Play

From the world of American Legion baseball comes a beanball news flash: Tim DeGrasse, the best pitcher in District 20 this season, throws for the head--when he’s at work, that is.

DeGrasse does his on-the-job headhunting with co-workers at the car-rental agency his father owns in North Hollywood.

“We play this game in here,” DeGrasse said. “We have this little, uh . . . you know those foam beer holders that keep the beer cold--well, we throw it at each other and try to hit each other in the face.”

Does this help DeGrasse’s pitching?

“It doesn’t really,” DeGrasse said. “It would hurt my arm if anything ‘cause I throw it really hard at him. And if my arm is not warmed up, it’s all tight when I throw it at him.”

DeGrasse’s arm is sufficiently warmed up when he takes the mound for Legion games these days. And it needs to be if he is to continue the form that has made him the winningest pitcher in District 20. He also leads in complete games with six.

“I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch,” DeGrasse said, “because I know what can happen: I can get injured or I can just not produce.”

With two weeks of regular-season Legion baseball left, DeGrasse’s production has been nearly as good as it can be, with a 6-0 record and a 1.31 earned-run average in six games, all starts. And his control has been exemplary: 11 walks in 49 innings and 43 strikeouts.

The heady accomplishments have not gone unnoticed: DeGrasse will be the East squad’s starting pitcher in the District 20 all-star game Sunday at Cal State Northridge. Ray Washington, the East team’s coach, gave the nod to DeGrasse over four other pitchers.

“I haven’t seen him yet but I’ve heard good things about him,” Washington said.

DeGrasse appreciated the decision.

“It feels good to know that people that I don’t know have that much confidence in me.”

Not bad for a guy who played varsity baseball in high school for only half of his junior season and all of his senior season at Notre Dame.

“I’ve only been pitching for so long, so I figure the edge I have against the other people is that I just try harder,” DeGrasse said.

DeGrasse has refined his pitching and seldom allows a walk.Last Sunday, when he walked two in an inning on his way to a 7-0 victory over Studio City, DeGrasse, was so miffed at himself he actually apologized to his teammates for allowing the walks.

“I don’t usually walk anybody,” DeGrasse explained. “And usually the pitcher’s got to be the strongest part of the team. He makes everything happen.

“You don’t win games by walking people.”

And you don’t have many off-days if you don’t walk batters. Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breeden, whose team is 13-4 and in first place in the Eastern Division, remarked: “I can’t remember the last time he pitched a bad game.”

But DeGrasse can. Like it happened yesterday. And why shouldn’t he? He gave up all of one run--and when you expect only the best from yourself, allowing even one run is considered failure sometimes.

“We (Notre Dame) were playing Servite in the opening round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs,” DeGrasse said. “I pitched really bad and we lost, 1-0.”

“It doesn’t sound like I pitched really bad--I gave up two hits--but I walked six batters.”

Most pitchers who give up only one run aren’t so hard on themselves. But DeGrasse is different, and not just because he was nicknamed Psycho for his intensity--he is painfully honest, his own toughest customer to please.

“When I play baseball, I have just got to bear down and work my butt off,” DeGrasse said. “Most of the high school guys--especially the guys on all-star teams--don’t have to work their butts off because they are good.”

DeGrasse is good, too. He made the All-Del Rey League team with his 6-5 record for Notre Dame this spring, and now that he has graduated, he plans to attend Valley College in the fall. He said he will pitch for the junior college for at least one season.

Scouts from the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals have talked to him, DeGrasse said, but only to get an idea of what he would be doing for the next few years.

His eventual goal is to pitch for a major, four-year college. But if things don’t work out, he won’t fret--making baseball a way of life isn’t a must.

“I really have no plans to make a career out of baseball,” DeGrasse said. “I’d have to see what forms. I just have a lot of stuff to do before that.

Including honing his already considerable skills.

“First of all, I have to become a better pitcher. It takes more than a 6-0 record to make it in college baseball.

“I’ve also got to mature.”

Like any star pitcher who still has some growing up to do, DeGrasse is busy. In addition to working 30 hours a week at the car-rental agency and playing Legion baseball every weekend, he also plays in Palomino and Babe Ruth leagues.

It’s work and baseball that take up most of Tim DeGrasse’s time. And he has baseball down pat.

Fearsome foursome: Newhall-Saugus has four players batting at the top of its lineup with three or more home runs.

“It’s really nice,” Newhall-Saugus Coach Don Pedersen said. “You really get the feeling you’re going to score some runs.”

The four who have their coach feeling good are: Billy Picketts (5 home runs), Gary Morgan (4), Don Pedersen (3) and Tom Dodson (4).