Minor League Notebook : Former Canyon Pitching Star Damian Learning to Go at a Slower Pace

Leonard Damian threw hard in high school. He threw so hard that the El Toro High baseball team, preparing to play against him, moved the pitching machine in closer during batting practice to simulate how fast the ball reached the plate.

He threw so hard that, as a junior in 1984, he accounted for nine of Saddleback High’s 13 victories. He threw so hard that when he transferred after his junior season from Saddleback to Canyon, it caused something of an uproar. He threw so hard that once he got to Canyon, he threw a no-hitter.

All of which made Leonard Damian a darling of professional baseball scouts and landed him in the Chicago Cubs’ organization. He is in his fourth season with that organization, at its triple-A club in Des Moines, Iowa, having made a rapid ascent through Wytheville, Peoria and Pittsfield.

He has a 41-28 lifetime record in the minors; he has never had a losing season, and there are some people who think Leonard may get a shot with the Cubs before the 1988 season is through. He has accomplished all this because he stopped throwing hard and learned how to pitch.

“Guys at this level will hit the ball no matter how hard you throw it,” he said. “I never knew how much was involved in pitching. I was just throwing when I was in high school, but I didn’t know how to pitch.”

Damian, 22, is 9-6 with the Iowa Cubs, and he shares the team lead for victories with Dave Masters. He still has good velocity, throwing in the high 80s, but admits, “I’m not overpowering anybody.”

Instead, he has mixed up his pitches. He has an effective slider, and midway through last season in Pittsfield, Mass., he learned to throw a changeup.

“From the time I started using the changeup until the end of last season, I went 9-1,” Damian said.

Bill Bathe, an Iowa catcher, said: “The changeup is the key with him. I keep telling him, ‘You gotta pitch; you can’t throw anymore.’ He’s learning real fast.”

But there’s a lot to soak up. If it’s not the changeup, then it’s learning to brush back hitters, or to improve concentration.

The adjustments have been made a bit easier by the fact that pitching coach Jim Wright has been with Damian at every level. Damian credits Wright with helping him improve his concentration on the mound.

“There would be times when I would drift off into the stands while I was pitching,” Damian said. “He’s helped me keep on top of myself. I think concentration may be the biggest part of pitching. You can’t allow anything to get in your way while you’re pitching. I used to get distracted by everything.”

Still, no one’s perfect. In his last start, Damian was leading Buffalo, 8-2, going into the ninth.

“I went out there like I had the game in my pocket,” he said. “I didn’t take the last hitters very serious.”

One out and a three-run homer later, he did.

“I took a walk around the mound and made up my mind I’d pitch to the next batter like he was the first batter of the game.”

Damian got that batter to ground out and struck out the next batter to end the game.

Add Damian: He also has had to adjust to a new town every summer. He admits that Des Moines is not where he plans to settle, but “it’s a lot better than Pittsfield.”

Des Moines and the rest of the Midwest is experiencing a severe drought, and Damian has had to contend with extreme heat as he pitches.

“I’m dripping sweat after a few pitches,” he said. “I just want to drink a couple gallons after every inning, but you have to control yourself, because if you drink, you run the risk of cramping up.”

Bill Bathe, who played two seasons at Fullerton College, has been in professional baseball since 1981. He started in the Oakland organization and was traded to the Cubs after the 1986 season.

He has spent the majority of his career in triple A. He has had his share of injuries, broken collarbones, broken bones in the foot, muscle atrophy. Still, as Iowa’s starting catcher, he is leading the American Assn. in hitting with a .317 average, and he was named to the triple-A all-star team.

At 27, he’s not panicking about making it to the big time, but he is getting a bit impatient. The Cubs seem to have made a commitment to developing and bringing up their farm talent. Unfortunately for Bathe, one of the young players developed and already brought up is Damon Berryhill, who shared catching duties with Bathe in Iowa in 1987. Berryhill, a Laguna Beach High graduate, is 24.

Bathe, who hit .331 in 46 games with Iowa in 1987, said he hopes to get a shot this season, if only as a pinch-hitter.

“The most important thing is getting there,” he said. “If that’s what it takes, that’s what I’ll do.”

Bathe is 3 for 4 as a pinch-hitter this season.

When Troy O’Leary graduated from Cypress High in 1987, it was for fame and football at Oregon State. A year later, O’Leary is making a name for himself up north, but it’s not because of football.

O’Leary is hitting .417 in 15 games with the Helena (Mont.) Brewers, Milwaukee’s rookie class affiliate.

O’Leary made a name at Cypress as a wide receiver with excellent speed and signed a letter of intent to play at Oregon State. But he was also a standout on the Cypress baseball team, hitting more than .400 as a junior and .359 as a senior.

His speed helped him run down just about everything in the outfield. The Brewers became enamored with him and tried to sign him, even after O’Leary had committed to OSU.

“They just kept taking me and my family to dinner and asking what they could to make us change our minds,” O’Leary said.

The clincher was when Milwaukee said it would pay for O’Leary’s college education if he signed. The Brewers also offered a pretty sweet amount of money. How much? O’Leary balked at revealing that but said, “It was just too good a deal to pass up.”

He spent last fall loading trucks in the morning and attending El Camino College in the afternoon. To stay in shape, he worked out with the Cypress High team and lifted weights.

O’Leary has played left and center field at Helena. He has 15 hits in 36 at-bats, has stolen two bases and been caught once.

“There’s a lot to learn,” he said. “I’ve had a good start, but I’m not getting ahead of myself. I just want to progress one level at a time.”

With football season approaching, O’Leary says he has been feeling a bit homesick for a helmet and shoulder pads. On a recent trip home, he popped in an old videotape of himself playing football and started to cry.

“It hurts sometimes,” he said. “I really miss it. But it’s something I had to do. I know I did the best thing.”

There are eight John Christensens listed in the Portland (Ore.) phone book. One of the them is an outfielder for the Portland Beavers. Christensen, who played at Troy High and on a national championship team at Cal State Fullerton, has played in the New York Met, Seattle Mariner and the Minnesota Twin organizations.

He’s hitting .304 for Portland, Minnesota’s triple-A affiliate.

A reporter who called the Beavers recently asked to speak to John Christensen and in a matter of seconds heard, “Hello, this is John.”

Reporter: “Is this John Christensen?”

Christensen: “Yes it is.”

Reporter (after introducing himself): “So, how are things going this season?”

Christensen: “Great, just great. Wonderful season so far.”

Reporter: “I imagine the only thing that could make it better would be a trip to the major leagues.”

Christensen: “Well, of course that’s what everyone is hoping for. I’m just happy to be here right now.”

Reporter: “Now, you started off in the New York Met organization . . .

Christensen: “Wait. I was never with the Mets.”

Reporter: “It says here in the press guide that you started with the Met organization.”

Christensen: “Oh! I see. You want to talk to John Christensen the ballplayer , I’m John Christensen the broadcaster .”

Believe it or not, there are two John Christensens associated with the Beavers. They’re both from Orange County, and they were both born in September.

John Christensen the ballplayer is three years older at 27. John Christensen the broadcaster graduated from Santa Ana High in 1981. He says they are constantly getting each other’s mail and phone calls.

Christensen the broadcaster played some baseball at Santa Ana High, but he quit as a sophomore. He also played basketball. Asked what kind of player he was, he replied: “Not much.”

Christensen graduated from UCLA, where he broadcasted Bruin football, basketball and baseball games on KLA, the campus radio station.

In Portland, he handles play-by-play in the middle three innings on KVIX radio. He also does the play-by-play when the local cable station televises games.

He lists Dick Enberg as a role model, though he also admires Al Michaels. He believes he actually does a better job announcing football and basketball, but “you’ve got to be versatile in this business.”