Minor League Notebook / Chris Foster : Buice Hopes to Star in a Major Rerun

It wasn’t long ago that Maxwell Smart was milling around the Angels’ locker room. Not to mention Bullwinkle and a variety of other characters.

DeWayne Buice treated the locker room as if it were an improvisational theater. Or maybe group therapy.

He did comedy, he did impersonations, he did shtick. He also found time to be a relief pitcher. And, in 1987, he was a very good one.

After being recalled from Edmonton early in ‘87, Buice led the Angels with 17 saves. It was his first chance in the major leagues after 13 years of bouncing around the minors.

But two years later, injuries and inconsistency have landed Buice back in the minors. The Angels traded Buice and his cast of characters to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Cliff Young in March.

“To tell you the truth, it was tough going back to the minors,” said Buice, who’s pitching for the Syracuse Chiefs, Toronto’s triple-A franchise in the International League. “I had to swallow some pride. But I knew a healthy DeWayne Buice could pitch in the big leagues or triple-A.”

Buice has been down this road before--from Great Falls in the Pioneer League to Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican League. Still, at 32, he still believes he can get batters out.

And, so far, he has.

In 10 appearances for the Chiefs, Buice is 0-1. However, his earned-run average is 1.76 and he has allowed only nine hits in 15 innings.

Buice’s rise to the major leagues was slow. He was part of three organizations, plus he played in the Mexican League before the Angels signed him in 1986.

He pitched for Midland and Edmonton in 1986, accumulating 10 victories and 15 saves. He started the 1987 season in Edmonton, but was called up by the Angels after relief ace Donnie Moore was injured.

Given his chance at last, Buice established himself as the team’s best reliever.

His fall came a lot quicker than the climb.

Buice started the 1988 season with the Angels, but had trouble getting batters out. Then came the infamous wallet incident.

With Moore scheduled to come off the disabled list, Buice appeared ticketed for the next bus to Edmonton. But before Moore returned, Buice injured his hamstring.

The injury reportedly occurred when Buice sat on his wallet wrong.

Buice said he also had back problems, which led to his ineffectiveness. (Buice was 2-4 with three saves and a 5.58 ERA with the Angels in 1988.)

The back injury, which he said occurred during the 1988 season, persisted through the winter. Buice is only now able to move without pain.

“There’s nothing you can do to rehabilitate a back,” he said. “You just have to rest. I did see a chiropractor and I do a lot more stretching before games now. I also do a lot a stretching after long bus rides.”

Buice hopes he won’t have to ride buses from town to town for too much longer. His preference would be to travel by airplane, like with the Blue Jays.

“I don’t know if Maxwell Smart can speak French-Canadian,” he said. “Bullwinkle can. He’s from the great white north, you know.”

Mike Warren, who pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox in 1983 while a member of the Oakland Athletics, is giving it one more chance.

A graduate of Fullerton High School, Warren, 28, never fulfilled the promise he showed against the White Sox and was released by the Athletics in 1985. The next year, he injured his arm while pitching for Omaha, the triple-A franchise of the Kansas City Royals.

Warren walked away from the Class-A Reno Silver Sox last summer, but has returned to pitch for the team this year. He is currently 1-5 with a 5.92 earned-run average.

Jim Fregosi Jr., former El Modena High School star, was given his unconditional release by the West Palm Beach Expos last week. West Palm Beach of the Florida State League is the Class-A franchise of the Montreal Expos.