Hawkins Is King of the Hill With Yankees

Andy Hawkins, overshadowed in San Diego, has a chance with the New York Yankees to emerge as the ace of the pitching staff. Dallas Green has already identified Hawkins as the anchor of the rotation, a weight the 29-year-old right-hander is willing to shoulder.

A baseball club is not a bowling team or a TV newscast, so what does Green mean by an anchor?

“You can pencil him in every fourth or fifth day and feel good that you’ll get seven to nine innings,” he said.

Other managers speak that way about an ace, the stopper in a rotation who ends losing streaks and the workhorse of the unit who guarantees innings. Anchor or ace, Hawkins thinks he fits the role.

“I was always going to be second-rated in San Diego,” he said Thursday before the Yankees’ intra-squad game in which he allowed one run and four hits in three innings. “No matter what I did I would always be behind Eric Show. It didn’t provide the kind of opportunity I have here. I know I’ll be consistent in giving the Yankees a lot of innings.”

The Yankees haven’t had such a pitcher in recent years. No Yankee pitched 200 or more innings the past two seasons. Hawkins surpassed 200 three of the past four seasons. Shoulder tendinitis in 1987 limited him to 117.

The last Yankees ace was Ron Guidry, whose last big year was 1985 (22-6, 3.27 ERA) when he challenged Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen for the American League Cy Young Award.

That same season, Hawkins redefined himself as a pitcher with the Padres. The mild Texan developed a mean streak. His fastball became more effective once he started to pitch tight to hitters. Hawkins’ heater tops off in the mid-80s but appears quicker because he delivers it from a motion that includes an elbow hitch. That momentary pause is a weapon to destroy batters’ timing.

“The fastball is still the toughest pitch in baseball to hit,” Hawkins said. “I’m going to go after hitters and bust them inside.”

The change began in the 1984 National League playoffs and World Series when Hawkins yielded an earned run in 15 innings (0.57 ERA) in six postseason appearances combined against the Cubs and the Tigers. He carried that over into 1985. Hawkins won his first 11 decisions, 14 of 15 and finished with his best record, 18-8 and a 3.15 ERA.

As the Padres’ fortunes tumbled, so did Hawkins’. He struggled in 1986 (10-8, 4.30 ERA) and ’87 (3-10, 5.05 ERA) but rebounded last year (14-11, 3.35 ERA).

The Yankees liked Hawkins’ ability to pile up innings enough to reward him with the wealthiest contract they’ve ever given a pitcher--3 years for $3.6 million.

He is among friends here. Former Padre teammates Lance McCullers, Jimmy Jones and Dave LaPoint are on the staff. Back in San Diego, they heard plenty about New York from Goose Gossage and Ed Whitson, but Hawkins isn’t frightened.

“Guys have walked in here and done well, and guys have walked in here and fallen flat on their faces,’ he said. “I don’t like to talk about whether I’ll succeed. I know I have a great ballclub behind me, and I think I can do the job. Players are different. Some get scared and worry. Some don’t.

“Baseball was an afterthought there,” he said. “I know not everything said about a pitcher will be good. You have to have a thick hide. Since ‘84, I’ve wanted nothing more than to get back to the Series with a chance to win. The Yankees’ goal every year is to win the World Series. I like that attitude.”