<i> Hasta la Vista, </i> Baby : They Call Braves’ Reardon the Terminator, as Much for His Calm as His Effectiveness

Baseball’s all-time save leader, Jeff Reardon is nicknamed “the Terminator” because he chokes off opponents’ late-inning rallies. But Reardon says his job is to retire hitters, not rile them.

He wears a full beard and a stern expression that give him a menacing demeanor, but Reardon displays little emotion on the mound.

There is none of the fist-pumping, finger-pointing exultation of the type Dennis Eckersley exhibits, which so annoyed the Toronto Blue Jays during the American League playoff.

Now it’s Reardon, acquired by the Atlanta Braves from the Boston Red Sox in August, who figures to encounter those sensitive Blue Jays at some point in the World Series that opens tonight.

“Eck has his style and I have mine,” Reardon said Friday. “I don’t like to show people up. Eck is a good friend and I’ve asked him about it and he says it’s just his emotions coming out. But I think he may have pumped Toronto up. He definitely takes a lot of heat.

“I mean, hitters never chalk it up to adrenaline. It’s all right for them to go around the bases pumping their arms after they’ve hit a home run, but we’re supposed to stay cool and calm.”

Reardon seems to do it naturally, but he said there are times he would like to respond otherwise.

“I’d like to shake a fist, too, at times, but I don’t want to give the opponent another reason to come at me with their bats,” he said. “Eck is the best in baseball. The A’s would never have been there without him, but he may have pumped Toronto up too much. You shouldn’t have to apologize for your emotions, but why give a team that extra edge?”

Hoping to regain a bullpen edge after Alejandro Pena was put on the disabled list because of an elbow injury on Aug. 15, the Braves got Reardon from the Red Sox for two minor leaguers on Aug. 30, a deal similar to Pena’s acquisition from the New York Mets in August of 1991, when Juan Berenguer was injured.

The Red Sox, having their worst season in 60 years, were looking to dump salaries and Reardon was making $2.6 million in the last year of a three-year, $6.8-million contract.

But the main factor, from the Boston standpoint, was that he would have to be offered arbitration within five days of the end of the World Series or he could become a free agent.

Now Atlanta must decide if it wants to pick up the tab on a new contract for the 37-year-old Reardon. There have been no discussions, and the feeling is that the Braves will allow Reardon to leave, moving Mark Wohlers into the closer role and applying their financial resources to a pursuit of free agent Barry Bonds.

In the meantime, Reardon has done what he was rented to do.

He picked up the slack down the stretch, gave continuity to the bullpen, and dismissed postseason pressure with the poise expected of a 14-year veteran. He had, after all, been in the playoffs with Boston, Minnesota and Montreal, and did not give up a run while working four World Series games for the 1987 Twins.

“We didn’t have a closer. Jeff has saved our bacon the way Pena did last year,” General Manager John Schuerholz said. “His presence allows the other relievers to fit into their proper spot and do their job naturally.”

Added Chuck LaMar, Atlanta’s director of scouting and player development: “Jeff isn’t the overpowering pitcher he once was, but he’s good enough to get major league hitters out.

“Our young relievers were struggling in September. Jeff has done a good job statistically, but you can’t measure his impact on leadership, experience and competitiveness.”

Only Reardon and Lee Smith have had seven seasons of 30 or more saves.

Reardon’s 15th of this year broke Rollie Fingers’ record of 341. Reardon has 357, Smith 355.

For Reardon, it was a dream to pitch for the hometown Red Sox after leaving Minnesota as a free agent, but it turned bitter this season when Reardon questioned how he was being used and had an argument with Manager Butch Hobson in August.

“I’d have loved to finish my career there, but it’s not always up to the player,” Reardon said. “I didn’t agree with how I was used all the time, but that’s not to put all the blame on Butch. It was fine until the All-Star break, then I struggled, didn’t do the job, and he started to use other people in the ninth inning. You can’t argue with that, but then how does a proven pitcher regain his groove if he isn’t used?”

Reardon saved 88 games in two-plus seasons with the Red Sox, 27 this year. He said his departure came down to money and the Red Sox refusal to make another multiyear commitment while finishing last with a $40-million payroll.

“I had fun there,” Reardon said. “My family got to see me pitch more in three years there than in my previous 10. I have no bitterness. How could I?”

Reardon can’t be sure he has a future with the Braves, but he figures he has a future somewhere. He wants to pitch until he is 40, saying he can still do things “a 27-year-old can’t.”

He was 3-0 with three saves and a 1.15 earned-run average in 14 regular-season appearances with the Braves. He pitched three shutout innings in three playoff appearances and has given up two runs in 18 1/3 innings since joining Atlanta. An alteration in his grip on the changeup has given him a new weapon.

“I read that I’m not the guy I used to be, and that bothers me,” he said. “Look what I’ve done since I’ve been here. Sure, I’m nowhere near the fastball pitcher I used to be in terms of the percentage of fastballs I throw, but I’m a better pitcher now. I know how to mix it up better.

“I still think I have closer stuff, and that’s what I’m trying to prove here, that’s what I want to continue to be. If it’s not here, I know it will be somewhere. I’m not worried.”

Save Leaders

All-time save leaders since 1969, when saves became an official major league statistic:

1. x-Jeff Reardon: 357

2. x-Lee Smith: 355

3. Rollie Fingers: 341

4. x-Goose Gossage: 308

5. Bruce Sutter: 300

6. x-Dave Righetti: 251

7. Dan Quisenberry: 244

8. x-Dennis Eckersley: 239

9. x-John Franco: 226

10. Sparky Lyle: 222

11. x-Tom Henke: 220

x-active