Bankhead a Pitcher the Mariners Can Count On Again

A couple of years ago, Seattle’s Scott Bankhead was the toast of the town. Until the past few days, however, he had been about as popular in the Great Northwest recently as week-old bread.

Last Wednesday, the Mariner right-hander went six innings in a game against Minnesota that Seattle eventually won in 11 innings. It was Bankhead’s longest outing since September of 1989.

Tuesday night in Anaheim Stadium, Bankhead got one more out and took one more step toward re-establishing his place in the Mariner rotation. He limited the Angels to five hits over seven innings and picked up his first victory in more than a year as Seattle beat the Angels, 2-0.

“Is Bankhead back or what?” Seattle Manager Jim Lefebvre said, shaking his head. “Golly. He made a lot of great pitches when he had to tonight. That was really impressive.”

Bankhead made a habit of making the right pitch at the right time in 1989, when he won a career-high 14 games--including a club-record nine-game winning streak--and fashioned an earned-run average of 3.34. At 26, he was Seattle’s hope for the future, not to mention the present ace of their staff.

So he started the Mariners’ home opener in 1990, but suddenly his right shoulder stopped acting its age. And he soon embarked on a numbers game that sent him spiraling toward the disabled list and, eventually, surgery. It was not a great debut for the decade. Bankhead lasted just 1 1/3 innings as Oakland rolled, 15-7.

And then things really turned sour.

He spent two extended stints on the DL and on June 12 had arthroscopic surgery--his second in three years--to remove bone spurs from his shoulder. His 1990 ERA with the Mariners was 11.08. His ERA with Calgary during his rehabilitation assignment in the minors was 6.43.

Then he struggled to a 9.00 ERA in five starts this spring. And his ERA this year was 6.10 going into Tuesday night.

This pitcher of the ‘90s seemed headed for a decade of discontent.

“It was very frustrating emotionally,” Bankhead said. “Last year was a total wash and this spring I wanted everything to happen too fast. I needed to be patient, to try and tie it all together. I just needed to get some work, go out there every five days and get comfortable again.”

He looked pretty relaxed Tuesday night as he sat in the Mariner clubhouse eating Chinese food while slumped in a director’s chair.

“I haven’t felt like that in a long time . . . a long time,” he said.

The Angels managed to get a runner to third with fewer than two outs twice Tuesday night, but Bankhead got Dick Schofield in the third and Lance Parrish in the seventh to hit comebackers that preserved the Mariners’ slim lead. He struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

“My control is really coming around,” Bankhead said. “The location on my fastball was very good and I got some really big plays behind me. The two comebackers, well, what are the chances of getting behind in the count to those guys and then getting them to hit it right back to me?

“If either of those balls were a little bit to one side of me, we might still be out there.”

They weren’t, however, which might mean Bankhead’s fortunes have changed. And maybe the ‘90s won’t be so bad after all.