BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Consistency Elusive for Hershiser

It has been difficult--virtually impossible even--to measure accurately the effectiveness of Dodger pitchers during the 1992 and ’93 seasons.

Bad fielding, inconsistent hitting and questionable intensity have created a foundation that is appreciated only by seismologists.

The suspect support is an important consideration when analyzing the return of Orel Hershiser from the pioneering surgery in which his right shoulder was reconstructed on April 27, 1990.

Hershiser has been back pitching for three seasons--his ability to take a regular turn testimonial to the artistry of Dr. Frank Jobe and his own courage and work ethic.

Support aside, however, the bottom line has not been all that Hershiser had hoped for, though he is confident the consistency will come.

“My stuff is as good as it was (before surgery), but the mechanics that create the stuff aren’t as good,” he said. “I’m still striving to find that mechanical base.

“It’s frustrating that the results aren’t consistently up to my standards, but I don’t go home disgusted, thinking I’m throwing away this gift I’ve been given. I don’t say, ‘Woe is me, I stink, I’m going to give it up.’

“I’m comfortable with who I am and what I’m putting into it. I feel like I’m doing my best. My attitude is that it’s great to be pitching again, I still throw close to 90 (m.p.h.), my curve is sharp, and it’s just a matter of finding the formula mechanically.”

The difficulty of that search is reflected in Hershiser’s 1993 statistics--some good, some bad. He has made 11 starts of five innings or more in which he’s given up two or fewer runs. He’s also given up five or more runs in eight starts and failed to get past the fifth inning in six of his 24 starts.

He pitched a complete-game five-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on July 26, but lasted only three innings in his next start against the Chicago Cubs and was charged with seven runs and seven hits.

He has lost eight of his last 10 decisions and is 8-12 with a 3.90 earned-run average after going 10-15 with a 3.67 ERA in 33 starts last season and 7-2 with a 3.46 ERA in the 21 starts of his comeback season in ’91.

“He’s not as consistently dominant, but you wouldn’t expect him to be with that operation,” pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. “He’s such an intelligent pitcher, he doesn’t need his great stuff all the time. He can win consistently with the stuff he has, but sometimes intelligence can affect you in adverse ways. Sometimes there’s a tendency to overthink your mechanics.

“With Orel, we’re trying to find that consistent release point and follow-through so that he has that consistent sinker again.”

Hershiser never overpowered hitters. He hit spots with a variety of pitches and then left them swinging at that sinking fastball in the dirt. Now you see it, now you don’t.

In the six full seasons before his surgery, despite being restricted by the caliber of his team to a .500 record in three of those seasons, he was 98-64 with a 2.68 ERA. He averaged 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

He is 25-29 in the three seasons since the surgery, not bad considering the quality of his support, but his ERA of 3.70 is up more than a run from pre-surgery days, and his strikeout average of 5.8 per nine innings is down about four.

“One of the problems is that I’m being compared to one of the best years any pitcher ever had,” Hershiser said, referring to 1988, when he was 23-8, went a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings down the stretch and was 3-0 with a save in six postseason appearances.

“I’m being compared to a different standard, not that I mind it. I like having that year in my past, but if I was a third-year pitcher with a record (four) games under .500, which is what I am since the surgery, people would be saying, ‘Gee, the kid’s doing pretty good, he’s got a future.’ ”

Hershiser, of course, is not a kid. He’ll be 35 on Sept. 16. That’s another factor in his comeback, in the Dodgers’ thinking. Can he be an ace again, or is he merely another arm in the rotation? Should he switch positions and be in the daily lineup with his .423 batting average? How to measure 8-12?

“I’ve gained 10 pounds of muscle since the surgery,” Hershiser said. “My velocity and endurance are on the same plane they were before. My arm and mind received a year and a half rest, and I think that will help my longevity.

“I’m also free of pain. The surgery is not even part of my life other than the fact I had it and continue to work to erase the bad habits that crept into my delivery because of the pain I was experiencing.

“I had to start at ground zero again, but I enjoy that process because I love my job. If it’s been harder than I anticipated, that’s because I’ve always felt I had an edge mentally and that my body would automatically listen to my mind. I always thought I’d be able to re-create my mechanics and delivery, but the muscles have memories, too.”

Hershiser said he is using videotape and feel in an effort to put it together as you would a golf swing. Sometimes the mind gets in the way of the body, and sometimes it’s the opposite.

“Hopefully,” he said, “I’ll find it before I’m forty -five.”

BONUS BABIES

Seven players selected in the first round of the June amateur draft remain unsigned. Three are advised by agent Scott Boras, conducting his familiar game of chicken with the clubs to see who blinks first.

Two of Boras’ clients--pitcher Darren Dreifort of Wichita State, who was drafted No. 2 by the Dodgers, and Georgia Tech catcher Jason Varitek, drafted No. 21 by the Minnesota Twins--face a major loss of leverage should they return to college for their senior years.

Dreifort, who has an Aug. 26 deadline for deciding between the Dodgers and Wichita State, may be moving closer to a $1.2-million compromise after holding firm at $1.5 million.

Varitek, the first collegiate position player selected, has been left in limbo by the Twins after being offered $450,000, far short of his $1-million hopes.

The Twins, who had two first-round selections, obviously believe they can put the screws to the switch-hitting Varitek after signing high school outfielder Torii Hunter, taken just ahead of Varitek, for a bonus of $452,500.

The other Boras client, high school shortstop Alex Rodriguez, taken No. 1 by the Seattle Mariners, is adamantly pursuing a $2.5-million signing bonus, which the Mariners will not give him. Rodriguez has options, though there is no guaranteeing he will ever be drafted No. 1 again.

He can accept a scholarship to Miami, in which case he can’t be drafted again until he is 21 or after his junior year. Or he could go to a community college, which would allow the Mariners to retain rights until the next draft and allow Rodriguez to be drafted after both his freshman and sophomore years.

The first-rounders signed so far, with their official bonuses:

No. 3--College pitcher Brian Anderson, by the Angels, $675,000; No. 4--College pitcher Wayne Gomes, by the Philadelphia Phillies, $750,000, plus a $112,000 minor league contract; No. 5--College pitcher Jeff Granger, by the Kansas City Royals, $695,000, plus a $91,000 minor league contract; No. 6--College pitcher Steve Soderstrom, by the San Francisco Giants, $750,000.

No. 10--College pitcher-infielder Brooks Kieschnick, by the Chicago Cubs, $650,000; No. 11--College pitcher Daron Kirkreit, by the Cleveland Indians, $600,000; No. 12--College pitcher Billy Wagner, by the Houston Astros, $580,000; No. 14--High school first baseman Derrek Lee, by the San Diego Padres, $600,000; No. 15--High school pitcher Chris Carpenter, by the Toronto Blue Jays, $580,000.

No. 16--College pitcher Alan Benes, by the St. Louis Cardinals, $500,000; No. 17--College pitcher Scott Christman, by the Chicago White Sox, $475,000; No. 18--High school outfielder Chris Schwab, by the Montreal Expos, $425,000; No. 19--College pitcher Jay Powell, by the Baltimore Orioles, $492,800; No. 20--Hunter, by the Twins, $452,500.

No. 22--High school outfielder Charles Peterson, by the Pittsburgh Pirates, $420,000; No. 23--High school pitcher Jeff D’Amico, by the Milwaukee Brewers, $525,000; No. 24--College pitcher Jon Ratliff, by the Chicago Cubs, $355,000; No. 25--College pitcher John Wasdin, by the Oakland A’s, $375,000; No. 26--College pitcher Kelly Wunsch, by the Brewers, $400,000; No. 27--College pitcher Marc Valdes, by the Florida Marlins, $415,000; No. 28--High school pitcher Jamey Wright, by the Colorado Rockies, $395,000.

PITCHING MOVES

The Chicago White Sox, still looking for the killer instinct that will allow them to put the American League West out of its misery, sent displaced closer Bobby Thigpen to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jose DeLeon the other day and jolted Wilson Alvarez by optioning the No. 3 starter to triple-A.

Alvarez, sent out on the second anniversary of his no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, is still scheduled to pitch against the New York Yankees on Aug. 24, but the White Sox hope the brief demotion will serve as a wake-up call.

“We’ve got to get him back on track,” Manager Gene Lamont said. “His stuff is okay, but when you pitch behind so often, you start throwing into the hitter’s count, and that’s not good.”

Alvarez was 7-2 with a 3.12 ERA on June 20. He is 1-6 with a 4.40 ERA since. He averaged 5.8 walks in his last six starts and led the American League with 98 walks.

Thigpen’s save and appearance totals had diminished from 55 and 77 in 1990 to 30 and 67 in 1991, to 22 and 55 last year, when Roberto Hernandez replaced him as the closer, and to 1 and 25 this season.

It was the chicken-and-egg story. Thigpen thought he wasn’t getting enough work to be effective while the White Sox believed he wasn’t effective enough to get more work. Scouts talked about diminishing velocity, Thigpen about a breakdown in mechanics.

White Sox General Manager Ron Schueler, a close friend of Thigpen’s, said he was determined to get him a fresh start with a winning team.

“I think his frustration level had got to the point where he couldn’t perform here anymore,” Schueler said. “Mentally, he had to go somewhere.”

Thigpen is hopeful that the reunion with Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi will lead to more work and restoration of his form.

The Phillies have produced a success story with their recycled pitching staff, but they failed with their reclamation projects on relievers Mark Davis and Barry Jones, and are making no boasts about Thigpen.

He’ll be used only in low-risk games, and it’s a low-risk gamble for the Phillies, who are unlikely to pick up his 1994 and ’95 options for a total of $6.6 million unless he has a significant turnaround.

NUMBERS GAME

Rickey Henderson received $300,000 from the Oakland A’s to waive his no-trade rights before being sent to the Toronto Blue Jays, but it has since cost Henderson $25,000 to get the shirt off teammate Turner Ward’s back.

That was the price Henderson paid to coerce Ward out of the No. 24 Henderson had always worn before joining the Blue Jays. Henderson was given No. 14 by Toronto and couldn’t get comfortable with it during a 3-for-24 tailspin that prompted him to meet Ward’s price this week.

Henderson wasn’t happy.

“I told him he was garbage,” he said of Ward. “I told him he was tight and should be honored to wear my number. Oh well, at least I got it.”

Henderson missed Saturday’s game against Boston and may miss the rest of the series because of a skin burn he received from an ice pack.