MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK : Man on the Missions Seeks Return to Big Leagues and Big Waves

On Thursday, Manhattan State Beach reported waves of 2 to 3 feet at 10-second intervals. The water temperature was 71 degrees. There was a southwest swell.

A good day to go surfing?

Zackary Shinall used to think so, back in the days when he attended El Segundo High and El Camino College. Then Shinall had time to enjoy his two summer loves--baseball and surfing. He followed the daily surf reports as closely as the box scores.

But now that he’s a professional in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league organization stationed at San Antonio, Tex., Shinall has time to ride only one wave--baseball. He hopes it will carry him back to Los Angeles and into the major leagues.

“I’ve been a surfer since I was 9,” said Shinall, a 6-foot-4 sinker-ball pitcher who will turn 22 in October. “In the summertime, I missed a lot of surfing to play baseball. But it will pay off later on.

“There always will be another wave,” he said. “In baseball you get one chance, and this is it for me.”

Shinall’s first chance to make the big time came this spring, after three seasons in the minors. He was selected to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster and earned a trip to Vero Beach, Fla., for major league training camp.

A longtime Dodger fan, Shinall couldn’t wait to play alongside the other Dodgers. When the 32-day baseball owners’ lockout ended in March, Shinall was the first player to report.

“It was an unbelievable feeling to be in the locker room with the other players,” he said. “I became friends with Mike Munoz, John Wetteland and Mike Hartley. I got along well with everyone.”

Unfortunately, Shinall was also one of the first players the Dodgers cut.

A long shot to make the team, he had little time to impress the Dodgers’ coaching staff. He pitched four scoreless innings, giving up only two walks and one hit. With his last pitch, he got Darryl Strawberry to hit into an inning-ending double play.

But the Dodgers had already decided to send Shinall to San Antonio, a wasteland for aspiring surfers.

“It was really hard to make the club because it was a short training camp,” Shinall said. “I was going at 100% while the rest of the pitchers were trying to get in shape.

“I remember Tommy (Lasorda) calling me to his office. He said he enjoyed having me here and that I was being reassigned to the double-A club.”

Shinall was sent to play for the San Antonio Missions in the Texas League and spend the summer in such non-beach cities as Little Rock, Ark., Tulsa, Okla., and Wichita, Kan.

It’s the farthest he’s ever been away from the surf.

Shinall grew up in the South Bay area. When he attended El Segundo High, he spent his lunch breaks surfing at El Porto Beach. During his junior year, he won his first age-bracket surfing tournament.

“I think surfing kept me in the best possible shape for baseball,” Shinall said. “I built up my arm strength from paddling out to the waves.”

In his senior year at El Segundo, Shinall had an impressive 13-4 record and a 1.94 earned-run average, but he was not drafted.

After earning all-conference honors at El Camino, however, Shinall was selected by the Dodgers in the 29th round of the June, 1987, free-agent draft.

Primarily a starting pitcher, Shinall was moved to the bullpen during his third minor league season, with the Dodgers’ Class-A team at Vero Beach. In 47 games, he was 5-7 with seven saves and a 2.51 ERA. He walked only 29 batters in 86 innings.

The previous season, at Bakersfield, Shinall had walked 104 batters in 113 innings.

“Being a short man, I learned to throw strikes,” Shinall said. “I discovered it was more important to go after a hitter by getting him to ground out.”

At Vero Beach, in addition to playing baseball, Shinall also got a chance to surf once a week.

Now that he’s in San Antonio, Shinall’s summer has been a long, rough ride on and off the disabled list. He missed a month with a torn muscle in his right forearm, then missed two starts with a broken little finger on his right hand. In six starts, he has a 3-0 record with a 2.95 ERA.

“I can’t say that I wouldn’t get the injuries if I had a chance to surf,” Shinall said. “You can be in the best shape and still get hurt. Just look at Orel (Hershiser). He did his exercises and he blew out his arm.”

Shinall remains optimistic that he will get called up, because the Dodgers need a fifth starting pitcher. Teammate Jim Poole, a left-handed reliever, was promoted earlier this season from San Antonio.

“You never know when they’ll be looking for another pitcher,” Shinall said. “Everyone (on the San Antonio pitching staff) realized that eyes were opened when Jim got called up.”

Shinall hopes to get the call in September, when major league rosters expand to 40 players. Then he will be able to enjoy at least part of another endless summer in Los Angeles.

Former Toro honored: Rick Davis of the Riverside Red Wave was selected Pitcher of the Week in the Class-A California League last week by Howe SportsData International.

Davis, a former Cal State Dominguez Hills standout, had a win and a no-decision last week against the San Jose Giants.

“He really doesn’t give up hits very much,” said Riverside pitching coach Steve Luebber. “The ones he does give up are two- or three-hoppers through the infield. He rarely gives up a home run.”

Davis throws a knuckle curve, a pitch that only a few major leaguers have been able to master. During his senior year at Dominguez Hills, he set a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. record with 171 strikeouts.

Although his knuckle curve is still effective, Davis has found it harder to strike out batters at the Class-A level.

“In college, they would hit (the knuckle curve only) once in a while,” he said. “I can still get the first or second strike with it. But with two strikes, the batters here are going to put the bat on the ball.”

In 10 appearances before this week’s games, Davis had a 4-4 record with a 2.91 ERA. On Tuesday, against San Bernardino, he earned his fifth victory, giving up eight hits and two earned runs in seven innings.