Whitson Is Feeling the Pain : Baseball: Pitcher worried that strained flexor muscle could mean the end of his career.

Padre starter Ed Whitson sat motionless Sunday in front of his locker, but his mind moved at full speed.

This isn’t fair, he mumbled over and over. He worked out all winter, vowing to prove he’s still one of the finest pitchers in the National League. Now this happens.

“I’ve got a sick feeling, deep in my gut,” Whitson said. “It’s a major blow for me, and this entire ballclub.”

Whitson sustained a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow Sunday, forcing him to leave the first game of a doubleheader against the Angels. Although no one knows the severity of the damage, Whitson is fearful of the worst.

He wonders aloud if the pain will ever go away. Not even surgery is a cure this time, doctors say, simply because it will strip him of the strength of his pitching arm.

The Padres, although quite concerned, refuse to show even hints of panic.

“We’ll know for sure in 24 to 48 hours,” said Cliff Colwell, team physician. “If in 48 hours the pain is over, there should be no problems.

“If he still has terrible pain in two weeks, well . . .”

Colwell’s voice trailed off. It’s not his job to tell a pitcher his career is over.

“I still think I can pitch,” said Whitson, who will turn 37 in two months. “I can’t believe it’s over. It’s not time.

“I’m not done yet, but this thing won’t let go.”

If it wasn’t for the memories of his elbow problems of a year ago, Whitson wouldn’t be so alarmed. He went on the disabled list in June with tendinitis and had an operation in July to remove a bone spur.

The pain, though, is too familiar.

“It’s the same thing I went through last year,” Whitson said. “The same damn thing. I thought I got rid of it, and now it’s back.”

Whitson had been pitching almost flawlessly Sunday when it happened, on the 23rd pitch. It was a fastball to Gary Disarcina, and the moment he released it, he felt something pop. The inning was over, Whitson walked toward the dugout and no one suspected anything unusual.

“Usually a pitcher will grimace, or you can tell by the way he threw the ball,” said Padre catcher Dann Bilardello. “But Whit had no facial expression at all. I didn’t even know anything about it until he wasn’t going out for the third inning.

“That’s when I got scared, because for Whit to even say it hurts, its really got to hurt.”

Said Whitson: “I don’t get it. Everything felt just fine, just like it had all spring. But on that last pitch, a straight over-the-top fastball, I put a little more on it, and it grabbed me.

“I said, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ ”

Whitson notified Padre pitching coach Mike Roarke of the pain when he entered the dugout. The Padres immediately summoned Colwell. Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, was hit with the news next. In a matter of 30 minutes, the Padres’ entire spring-training complex was aware of Whitson’s plight.

“I was hoping the whole time it was just an adhesion,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said, “but the doctor informed me it wasn’t. You better believe it’s a concern.”

It’s no secret to the Padres, and the rest of the National League, how devastating Whitson’s absence could be to the pitching staff. They would be left with Bruce Hurst as their only starter who has more than three years of experience. Dave Eiland, a non-roster pitcher from the New York Yankees, would become the front-runner to replace Whitson. Maybe the Padres would even consider Craig Lefferts, who has not started a game since 1983.

“I don’t even want to think about it until we know for sure,” Riddoch said. “I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.”

Said Whitson: “I know I’m a key part of the pitching staff. I realize that. And they realize that. That’s why it’s so hard to take.

“I mean, I’ve done everything on God’s green earth to prepare for this, and this thing won’t let me go.”

Whitson was prescribed with an anti-inflammatory medication called Indocin. He’ll take 75 milligrams three times a day. In ten days, they’ll know whether it was of any help.

“That stuff just tears your stomach apart,” Whitson said, cringing at the thought. “I don’t have too much faith in it. It didn’t work when I tried it last year--why does anyone think it’ll work this time?”

Whitson pitched 13 years in the major leagues without the slightest hint of an arm injury, and now he can’t stay healthy. Maybe his arm finally has succumbed to age. He has pitched 2,241 innings in his career. The only active National League starter with more innings is Dennis Martinez of the Montreal Expos.

Whitson thought back to last yearand remembered the uncertainty of his future and how he felt pressured to pitch the final week of the season. He gets angry.

“We were out of it, and there was nothing at stake,” Whitson said. “But they (the Padre front office) wanted me to prove I could still pitch. I look back now and I should have just shut it down.”

McIlvaine discounted the theory: “Hey, he’s been working out all winter. If his arm was bothering him, I think he would have said something.”