Even Now, Blyleven Is in There Pitching : Angels: Right-hander, who underwent two shoulder operations in eight months, is working hard to rejoin the team despite the odds.

By the time his Angel teammates are stretching and sprinting on the outfield grass, Bert Blyleven often has already wheeled his 10-speed out of the tunnels of Anaheim Stadium and headed out for the solitary work of a pitcher on the mend.

Nobody on the Santa Ana River bikepath ever seems to recognize the red-bearded 40-year-old on his afternoon rides. Behind the headphones and sunglasses, pedaling the 25 miles from Anaheim Stadium to the ocean and back, is a pitcher who is only 21 victories from 300, and only 10 strikeouts from third place on baseball’s all-time list, behind Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton.

Those milestones, once within reach, have now receded like the landscape in a rear-view mirror.

Last year, on the verge of a lifetime’s achievement, the right shoulder that has endured the wear and tear of more than 4,800 innings and 20-plus seasons finally balked.

This spring, on April 16, 10 days after his 40th birthday, Blyleven underwent shoulder surgery for the second time in eight months.

Recognizing the difficulty of a comeback from surgery at 40, Blyleven and team orthopedist Lewis Yocum opted for a conservative arthroscopic procedure last October. But when Blyleven’s progress stalled during spring training, forcing him to stop throwing off a mound and return to no more than playing catch, Yocum took another look. What he saw was an extensive tear in Blyleven’s rotator cuff, leaving no option but major reconstructive surgery.

With the second surgery, the odds against him increased exponentially.

“By great magnitude,” Yocum said. “You’re talking multiples, not just twice as hard. This is a major reconstructive surgery.

“Look back at how many pitchers have gotten back from rotator-cuff surgery, then at how many 40-year-olds. None I can think of.”

Blyleven is intent on trying. In 1989, he was comeback player of the year, winning 17 games with a 2.73 earned-run average for the Angels. He also deserved consideration for the honor when he won 19 games for Cleveland in 1984 after undergoing elbow surgery in 1982.

“My feeling is, I’m going to make it,” Blyleven said. “Deep down, if I don’t, I want to have given it my best chance. But if I don’t, I’m very happy with my career.

“I never want to say, ‘What if I’d tried a little harder to make it back?’ I’ll be able to say I tried as hard as I can. It’s definitely the right thing.

“I’d like to win 300 games, I’d like to pitch 5,000 innings and be third or maybe second on the all-time strikeout list. Those goals are still in the back of my mind. But if I cannot make it back, then I’ll go on with the rest of my life. Baseball has been very good to me.”

The Angels face a difficult decision after this season, when they either must pick up Blyleven’s 1992 option for $2 million or buy out the contract for $250,000.

Richard Brown, club president, declines to comment on the delicate dilemma the Angels face. Blyleven admits it “will be interesting.”

One possibility is that the Angels could buy out his contract with an understanding that they would later renegotiate with him.

“Hopefully, I can stay here,” Blyleven said. “That’s my ultimate goal, to retire here. I’m very optimistic I will be back. I don’t know under what terms.”

Blyleven’s dedication and drive are about the only things that give him a chance at returning.

“A lot of guys would have said, ‘I had a nice career,’ ” Yocum said. “Bert’s unique.”

Instead, Blyleven has immersed himself in the tedious process of rehabilitation, first regaining flexibility, and now beginning the process of strengthening the shoulder. Playing catch is months away and facing a batter is a distant vision.

Roger Williams, the team physical therapist, says Blyleven will not start throwing until late this season or even after it. He will not throw off a mound until he is able to throw from a distance of 150 to 180 feet without pain. Once on the mound, he will have to rediscover his curve, changeup and slider, as well as his fastball, before even thinking about facing a batter. The goal is simply to prepare for spring training.

One of the few people who can understand what Blyleven is going through is Floyd Bannister, whose locker is next to Blyleven’s in the Angel clubhouse. Bannister, 36, is pitching for the Angels after a two-year comeback from surgery to repair a small tear in his rotator cuff in 1989. Bannister was released by the Kansas City Royals, then pitched in Japan last season before joining the Angels last winter.

One of the frustrations Bannister remembers is the setbacks that sometime follow an illusion of progress. Blyleven was working well on one of his exercises recently, only to find his success came because he was doing it incorrectly.

“He went from six to eight pounds back to two,” Bannister said. “You think you’re making great strides, and then you find out you weren’t isolating the right muscle group. That’s a frustrating part.”

Bannister also provides an understanding ear for Blyleven. He is an inspiration, an example of the increasing number of pitchers who are able to come back from rotator cuff surgery. Another example, Blyleven pointed out, is Jose Guzman, a Texas Ranger who two-hit the Angels last week.

Long the mischievous and even juvenile prankster, Blyleven has been a subdued presence in the clubhouse this season. Crouching to the floor to set shoelaces on fire might chance hurting his shoulder.

“I have been quiet and I can’t play as many practical jokes,” Blyleven said.

“The sad part is not being able to participate, especially with the season the Angels are having. I try to be part of the ballclub, but it’s not the same when you’re not producing, not performing. That hurts.

“Probably the thing I miss most is the camaraderie. I still have that when I’m here. But I’m not between the lines, and I’m a little left out. That’s understandable, really.”

Blyleven has joined the Angels on the road for the first time this trip, the better to maintain his therapy with Williams.

Until now, he has been able to spend time with his family, watching his son Todd, a pitcher at Cypress College last season, play summer ball, and enjoying a houseboat trip to Lake Mead that was the family’s first summer vacation in 21 years.

But for most of the year, his name has been rarely mentioned in the clubhouse or even in news reports, despite the struggle the Angels have gone through trying to fill his spot in the rotation.

“Probably because everybody has written me off,” Blyleven said. “Probably a lot of people say he’s 40, and he’s pitched 20 years. How much more can he have left in his arm? Only I know. I think I have a lot left, but until I prove it . . . “

While he nurses his shoulder, Blyleven runs the steps at Anaheim Stadium and rides a bike to try to maintain the conditioning and leg strength so critical to a pitcher’s longevity. After developing a slight paunch and playing at 220 pounds last season, he is down to 212, and on his way, he says, to 210 or 205.

Blyleven is also working to recover strength, particularly crucial because of weakness or “looseness” caused by the years of strain from pitching.

Much of the rehabilitation would be necessary just to recover normal use, but pitching is the vision in Blyleven’s mind.

“Sometimes when I pedal, I think, ‘OK, first inning,’ and I try to pedal hard,” he said. “Then I take a break. Then I say, ‘This is the second,’ and I really try to go hard. I look at a lot of things as I would pitching. You’re on 15 minutes, then off 15. I do a lot of things by innings.”

Blyleven is bent on succeeding, but if he doesn’t, he doubts many more pitchers will join those who populate the top of the all-time lists for strikeouts and innings pitched.

With five-man rotations and limited pitch counts now the norm, there might not be many more pitchers who will throw as many innings as those such as Ryan and Blyleven, who pitched a career-high 325 innings in 1973 and more than 250 eight times.

He also believes big baseball salaries will shorten careers.

“With the salary structure of today, you have to have a unique individual to have some desire to stay in the game a long time,” Blyleven said. “You’d like to see Dwight Gooden or Roger Clemens pitch 20 years, just to see the numbers. But with the salary structure, do you think they will?”

Yocum and Williams know the odds are against Blyleven, but they are impressed by the fervor with which he has attacked his rehabilitation.

“He’s a hard worker. He wants to come back and wants to pitch again,” Williams said. “He works his butt off and does everything I ask him to. That’s what he wants, to pitch again. If he were 25 and trying to come back, chances might be more in his favor, but I certainly will not say he’s not going to come back and pitch again.”

Blyleven’s not ready to say it, either.

“I’ve had a good career,” he said. “To be saddened by anything that happened now, I won’t do that.”

Blyleven in Pursuit of Milestones

Bert Blyleven, 40, underwent rotator cuff surgery April 16 and is continuing a rehabilitation process that could take nine months to a year. He is working toward a longshot chance of making it back after two shoulder surgeries in less than a year. One of the reasons he hopes to pitch again next season is to attain some milestones within reach--including his 300th victory. Victories

Twenty pitchers have 300 or more victories--Blyleven has 279. Strikeouts All-time strikeout leaders: 1. Nolan Ryan: 5,410 2. Steve Carlton: 4,136 3. Tom Seaver: 3,640 4. Blyleven: 3,631 Innings Pitched

All-time innings pitched leaders:

Twelve players, led by Cy Young with 7,377 innings, have reached 5,000, including Ryan, who reached the mark this season. Blyleven, at 4,837 1/3, is in 13th place.

Source: Angels media guide