Mike Scott Is Spending His Summer Watching, Waiting : Baseball: Astros’ pitcher, who resides in Laguna Niguel, hopes to return to major leagues after undergoing arthroscopic surgery.

It’s Friday morning, and Mike Scott prepares for another trip to the ballpark, a summertime ritual he has practiced for years.

Got the glove, Mike? Check.

Are the bats packed? No problem.

How about the ice chest, seat cushions and the score book?

Wait a minute.

Scott’s packing a little different luggage this summer.

And he’s not making a trip to the Astrodome or to another National League park. He won’t be going over batters before the game or joking in the bullpen with the other Houston Astro pitchers.

He’ll be watching. And waiting.

It’s all he can do.

For the first time in 17 years, Scott’s not spending the summer pitching. And he’s dealing with the possibility that he might never throw in another major league game.

But the former Cy Young award winner still goes to the ballpark--as a spectator. On this day, he’s going to Moreno Valley to watch his 11-year-old daughter, Kim, play left field for a Laguna Niguel softball all-star team.

“This is the first time since 1974 that I haven’t been playing in the summer,” said Scott, who has lived in Laguna Niguel for the past five years. “It’s fun. After playing for such a long time, I was looking forward to enjoying a summer off.

“But sitting through some of those (softball) games is tough. In one game, our team lost, 18-1, and then lost another one, 40-0.”

Scott, 36, hasn’t touched a baseball since May. Throwing one is out of the question.

The right-hander underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right rotator cuff in December. He bypassed major surgery that would have required as many as 18 months of rehabilitation.

“When the doctors went in to fix some tears in my shoulder, they found more tears and a hole in my rotator cuff, which we’re still trying to figure out,” he said. “I could have had major surgery then, but there was no guarantee how I would have come out of it.

“Both the doctors and I thought arthroscopic surgery and rehabilitation was best. If I was 25, they probably would have done the operation, because I could have run into more problems down the road. But I was 35 at the time, and we thought major surgery wasn’t a good idea.”

After two rough outings at the start of this season, Scott went on the 60-day disabled list in hopes that rest would help the tightness in his shoulder.

So far, it hasn’t.

“I haven’t been able to do much of anything,” he said. “For me to pitch again this season would be very, very unlikely. After that, I’ll have to make a decision.”

Scott knows his chances of returning to the Astros are slim. His $2.4-million contract, the highest on a team that has cut its budget by replacing veterans with prospects, ends after this season.

Team doctor Bill Bryan has told Scott his career is in jeopardy. Astro General Manager Bill Wood said, “We’ve faced the possibility that we’ve seen the last of him in uniform.”

Scott understands that it could be the end of his major league career, which spanned more than 10 seasons, including eight with the Astros. He cringes at the thought of major surgery, which may be his only option if he wants to return.

“That’s not really an option,” he said. “That’s not going to happen.”

He fears that his split-fingered fastball, once one of the most potent pitches in baseball, will lose its sting if he undergoes surgery.

“I don’t want to go out and pitch again if I’m going to get beat up,” Scott said. “And 10 years from now, I don’t want to look back and say that I wish I hadn’t played those last few years.

“I’m a power pitcher, after a (major) operation, I can’t be one anymore. I get most of my pitches from flexibility in my arm and shoulder, and my shoulder won’t be as flexible as it once was.”

Bryan plans to examine Scott later this week in Houston. Bryan said he’s trying to be optimistic.

“The word I get is that basic activity, such as raising his arm above a horizontal position, is still causing him some pain,” Bryan said. “We’re all still hoping Mike can pitch, but it isn’t looking too good.”

Bryan said major surgery is almost inevitable if Scott wants to pitch.

“He would have to sit out all of 1992 and could come back as a reliever in 1993,” Bryan said. “I’m disappointed, but I think Mike has done everything right so far.”

Little went right for Scott last season. He was 9-13 with a 3.81 earned-run average, his worst season since 1984, when he was 5-11 with a 4.68 ERA.

After arthroscopic surgery, he underwent rehabilitation and didn’t start throwing until spring training.

“It went great,” he said. “The problems I had were with ‘catches’ in my shoulder and soreness when I lifted my arm, and those were gone.

“My first simulated outing was good, and I was really optimistic. My last spring training game was my best, but I knew something wasn’t right.”

Still, Scott landed a spot in the starting rotation.

When he left the bullpen for his first start, his right shoulder began tightening. He figured it would begin to loosen after a few more pitches. It didn’t.

“I would throw and throw and throw, and I had absolutely nothing on the ball,” Scott said. “I would throw 10 pitches, and only one or two were even close to what I was trying to do. I should have had seven or eight.”

Suddenly, the pitcher who led the league in ERA in 1986, and was 20-10 in 1989, couldn’t get anyone out. He lost his first two games, giving up 10 runs in only seven innings.

“They (Astros) put me on the disabled list for a few days to get some rest,” he said. “Then I made a the trip to Chicago. I wasn’t in excruciating pain, so they let me throw on the side in Chicago. But it started hurting as soon as I tried to throw harder.”

Scott went back to Houston and was placed on the 60-day disabled list on April 14. For now, he figures, rest is best.

“I can’t do anything,” he said.

Scott doesn’t mind taking a summer off. He’s glad he can spend some time with his wife, Vicki, and daughters, Kim and Kelsey, 7.

“We’ve been going to a lot of softball and soccer games with the girls,” he said. “And I’ve had a few projects around the house. I’ve been pretty busy, but I’m finding some time to get down to the beach, too.”

Scott hasn’t had so much free time in the summer since he was a kid growing up in Hawthorne.

A graduate of Hawthorne High, he earned all-conference honors three consecutive years at Pepperdine before signing with the New York Mets, who selected him in the second round of the 1976 free agent draft.

Scott spent three full seasons in the minors, and was called up to the Mets for stints in 1979 and 1980. He joined the Mets full-time in 1981.

But after a 14-27 record in two-plus major league seasons, Scott was traded to the Astros for Danny Heep in December, 1982.

He began to develop his split-fingered fastball with the Astros. As a result, he was 86-49 from 1985 to 1989.

His best year was in 1986, when he won the Cy Young award after leading the majors in strikeouts (306), innings (275 1/3) and ERA (2.22).

He capped the regular season by throwing a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory over the Giants at the Astrodome. The victory clinched the Astros’ second NL West title.

The momentum carried over to the playoffs. Scott threw 16 scoreless innings in two complete-game victories over the Mets in the NL championship series, but the Astros lost the fifth game and a trip to the World Series.

But Scott became the first player from a losing team to be named MVP of a championship series.

“That was the year,” he said. “Everything was happening. Everything went well.”

He knows there’s an outside chance he can pitch again. Inspiration? All he has to do is watch former Houston teammate Nolan Ryan, now with the Texas Rangers, to remind himself that careers don’t end at 36.

Ryan, 44, gives Scott hope.

“When it comes to reality and pitching, you have to throw Nolan out of the equation,” Scott said.

And Scott’s still waiting to see if reality will catch up with him. It’s all he can do.

Mike Scott, By the Numbers

Year Team W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER 1979 New York (NL) 1-3 5.37 18 9 52 59 35 31 1980 New York (NL) 1-1 4.34 6 6 29 40 14 14 1981 New York (NL) 5-10 3.90 23 23 136 130 65 59 1982 New York (NL) 7-13 5.14 37 22 147 185 100 84 1983 Houston 10-6 3.72 24 24 145 143 67 60 1984 Houston 5-11 4.68 31 29 154 179 96 80 1985 Houston 18-8 3.29 36 35 221 2/3 194 91 81 1986 Houston 18-10 2.22 37 37 275 1/3 182 73 68 1987 Houston 16-13 3.23 36 36 274 2/3 199 94 89 1988 Houston 14-8 2.92 32 32 218 2/3 162 74 71 1989 Houston 20-10 3.10 33 32 229 180 87 79 1990 Houston 9-13 3.81 32 32 205 2/3 194 102 87 1991 Houston 0-2 12.86 2 2 7 11 10 10 Totals 13 seasons 124-108 3.51 347 319 2068 1858 908 813

Year BB SO 1979 20 21 1980 8 13 1981 34 54 1982 60 63 1983 46 73 1984 43 83 1985 80 137 1986 72 306 1987 79 233 1988 53 190 1989 62 172 1990 66 121 1991 4 3 Totals 627 1469