MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK / MIKE DiGIOVANNA : Greg Mathews Travels the Comeback Trail One Pain-Free Pitch at a Time

His arm strength has returned, as has his passion for the game, and it is this combination that former St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Greg Mathews believes will get him back to the major leagues.

“I really love the game now that I’m pitching without pain,” said Mathews, who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers’ triple-A team in Denver. “Before, it wasn’t any fun. My arm was hanging, and I had to evaluate whether I should go on or stop. I decided I wasn’t ready to take an office job.”

Mathews, a former Savanna High School, Rancho Santiago College and Cal State Fullerton left-hander, appeared headed for early retirement in the spring of 1989, when he tore the medial collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.

He underwent surgery, in which a tendon from his forearm was transferred to his elbow, and missed the 1989 season. He tried to come back in 1990 but was ineffective in 11 games at St. Louis (0-5, 5.33 earned-run average) and two games at triple-A Louisville (0-2, 9.22 ERA).

“The more I threw, the more my arm weakened,” said Mathews, who spent most of three seasons (1986-88) with the Cardinals. “It never felt right.”

The Cardinals released Mathews after the season, and the 29-year-old signed with the Kansas City Royals, who cut him after seeing him pitch only seven innings this past spring training.

But the Brewers took a chance on Mathews, signing him and sending him down a comeback trail that has passed through Class-A Beloit, Wis., double-A El Paso and now Denver.

Mathews went 3-1 at Beloit, allowing only seven runs and striking out 49 in 40 innings. He pitched two games at El Paso, going 0-0 with a 6.30 ERA, but is doing well at Denver, where he is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in five games.

“The more I throw, the more I think I’m at a point where I was before,” Mathews said. “Nothing hurts anymore, and that’s why I’m pitching better. I’m concentrating on where the ball is going, not how my arm feels.”

Add Mathews: He wasn’t considered much of a professional prospect--or a college prospect--after his first season at Cal State Fullerton in 1983.

“I wasn’t drafted after my junior year, and I had such a bad season that they even wanted to take my scholarship away,” Mathews said. “But the other pitchers they recruited all signed (pro contracts) and they didn’t have anyone else.”

The experience helped end Mathews’ lackadaisical attitude toward the game. He went 9-4 with a 3.27 ERA to help the Titans win the 1984 College World Series and was a 10th-round pick of the Cardinals that June.

Mathews rose quickly through the Cardinal organization and was in St. Louis by May, 1986. His most memorable major league moment came when he allowed four hits in 7 1/3 innings to lead St. Louis to a 5-3 victory over San Francisco in the first game of the 1987 National League Championship Series.

“My biggest handicap through high school and college was my mental attitude,” Mathews said. “I didn’t take it serious enough. I wasn’t intense enough. But when I signed with the Cardinals, I really got into it and worked my butt off, and it reflected on the field.”

No tomfoolery: When Tom Allison received a call from someone claiming to be the New York Mets’ director of minor league operations and telling him he had just been sent to double-A Williamsport, Pa., he first thought it was a hoax orchestrated by one of his Columbia, S.C., teammates.

“But when he called back with a plane reservation, I knew it wasn’t a prank,” said Allison, who played at Chapman College in 1989-90.

It was June 23, but you couldn’t blame Allison for checking the calendar to see if it was April 1. Yes, Allison was having a decent season at Class-A Columbia, batting .322, but he wasn’t even an everyday starter.

Why would the Mets promote a utility player who was a 48th-round selection only a year ago?

Allison didn’t bother asking questions. He kept his mouth shut, reported to Williamsport and earned a starting position. The infielder is batting .254 with six RBIs in 18 games, splitting time at second and third base.

The Williamsport position opened when Tim Bogar was called up to triple-A Tidewater to replace shortstop Kevin Baez, who was hit in the jaw by a pitch.