MINOR LEAGUES / GARY KLEIN : Demotion Has Worked in His Favor

Joe Ciccarella was demoted from triple-A to double-A in May, a stroke of fortune that Ciccarella readily welcomed.

Ciccarella, a left-handed pitcher, was languishing as a middle reliever for Pawtucket (R.I.), the Boston Red Sox affiliate in the triple-A International League. At New Britain (Conn.) in the double-A Eastern League, he is relishing his role as a closer.

Ciccarella, a former standout first baseman and outfielder at Loyola Marymount, is 0-2 with a 4.19 earned-run average, but he has eight saves in 18 appearances. He has walked 16 and struck out 25 in 19 1/3 innings.

“I thought I was going to get to be the stopper at Pawtucket, but things didn’t work out that way,” said Ciccarella, who was 0-1 with a 5.60 ERA when former major leaguer Jeff Plympton took his spot on the Pawtucket roster. “I was pitching middle relief, which was tough, because I wasn’t used to facing guys more than once through the lineup.”

Ciccarella pitched in a few games for Loyola in 1991, but he spent his first pro season as a first baseman, batting .314 in the Gulf Coast Rookie League and .250 during a brief season-ending stint in the Class-A Florida State League.

He went to the Instructional League as a position player, but piqued the Red Sox interest with an impressive bullpen performance during the final day of workouts.

“During that off-season, I kind of got burned-out on first base, I don’t know why,” Ciccarella said. “I saw the opportunity as a pitcher and I think the Red Sox had thought about it too. I pushed it a little bit at spring training last year and all of a sudden I was a pitcher.”

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Ciccarella was 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 12 saves in 38 appearances for Winter Haven in the Florida State League last season. His performance in spring training enabled him to jump to triple-A at the start of this season, but he is happy to be in the more comfortable role as closer at New Britain.

“I enjoy being the short man because it’s similar to being in the game as a position player in the ninth inning when everything is on the line,” Ciccarella said. “Right now, being left-handed is considered a commodity. Hopefully, I’ll get the most out of it.”

*

Scott Talanoa, a former standout at El Segundo High and Cal State Long Beach, is among the leaders in virtually every offensive category in the Class-A Midwest League.

Talanoa, a first baseman, is batting .291 with 21 home runs and 54 runs batted in for the Milwaukee Brewers affiliate at Beloit (Wis.). But the Brewers, with a logjam at first throughout the organization, will probably keep Talanoa where he is for the rest of the season.

“Right now, I don’t anticipate moving him at any time during the year,” said Fred Stanley, the Brewers’ director of player development. “I’m going to let him stay and have a monster year.”

*

Jeff Ahearne, a 1992 All-American right-hander at Pepperdine, is 3-7 with a 3.63 ERA for Lakeland, the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate in the Class-A Florida State League.

Ahearne, a former standout at St. Bernard High, was drafted in the seventh round last year. He was 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA in five innings at Lakeland in 1992.