After His Layoff, Games Are Fun Again for Carr

Tim Carr could hardly believe what he was experiencing.

There he was, with the game on the line in the eighth inning, standing on the mound and ready to pitch at Shea Stadium in New York.

He glanced over his shoulder to see his picture larger than life on the Diamond Vision screen.

For a moment, it didn’t matter that Carr was just a Class-A pitcher throwing in a New York-Penn League game.

This was Shea Stadium. Who cared if the real New York Mets were waiting in the clubhouse to play the featured game?

“You look up and see that big apple behind the [outfield] wall, your name on the scoreboard. . . . It’s like, ‘Wow,’ ” said the former Westlake High pitcher, who is 2-3 with a 6.00 earned-run average for the Pittsfield Mets.

Little about baseball excited Carr last year, when he packed his gear and left extended spring training in Florida, retiring at the age of 19.

Disillusioned and homesick, he returned to Westlake and didn’t pick up a baseball for nine months.

“One day I loved playing, the next I didn’t,” he said.

The time off allowed Carr to rethink his decision.

“I decided I didn’t want to look back one day and wonder what might have been,” said Carr, who returned to the Mets’ organization this spring.

While Carr has recaptured his love for the game, he is still battling to regain his fastball.

Once clocked consistently at 92 mph, Carr’s fastball now tops out at about 88 mph.

“After nine months, I would have been surprised if I had come in here and just started blowing people away,” he said.

At least, homesickness is no longer a problem.

Pittsfield pitching coach Doug Simons is a former Calabasas High and Pepperdine pitcher, and six Pittsfield teammates are from Southern California.

Carr also had the opportunity to visit recently with two former Westlake players.

Last month, he drove to nearby Wareham, Mass., where former teammate Matt Riordan was playing in the Cape Cod League, the nation’s top amateur league.

Two weeks ago, during his day at Shea Stadium, Carr met with Matt Franco of the Mets, another Westlake graduate.

“I’m having a good time again,” Carr said. “I’m glad to be back.”

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Mark Loretta’s name came up repeatedly last week during frenzied last-minute trade talks, but the Milwaukee Brewers had little intention of parting with the versatile infielder from St. Francis High.

“Whenever somebody wanted an infielder, they asked about Loretta,” General Manager Sal Bando told the Milwaukee media. “Somebody needs a third baseman, they talk about Loretta. Second baseman? They want Loretta. Shortstop? Loretta.

“They can’t give us enough in this situation to give him [up].”

Loretta, who has played at least eight games at every infield position this season, recently unseated Jose Valentin as the starting shortstop.

Loretta was batting .326 through Friday and had only one error in 30 games at shortstop.

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Jon Tucker, former Alemany High and Chatsworth first baseman, struck out three times Monday in his first game for Harrisburg, the Montreal Expos’ affiliate in the double-A Eastern League, and had three hits in his first 13 at-bats.

Tucker was part of the seven-player deal that brought pitcher Carlos Perez and infielder Mark Grudzielanek to the Dodgers.

Jon Garland, former Kennedy High pitcher, struck out 11 and allowed two hits in his six-inning debut for Hickory, the Chicago White Sox’s affiliate in the Class-A South Atlantic League.

Garland, the Chicago Cubs’ first-round selection in 1997, was sent to the White Sox in exchange for major league reliever Matt Karchner.

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Pete Paciorek (Glendale College) was selected California League player of the week after batting .552 (16 for 29) with nine runs batted in for Rancho Cucamonga, the Class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

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Torey Lovullo, former Montclair Prep infielder, first reached the major leagues in 1988 at the age of 23. But he has had difficulty sticking.

Over the last decade, he has collected only 680 big league at-bats and spent most of the time bouncing between six organizations and their triple-A affiliates.

Now playing for Buffalo, the Cleveland Indians’ triple-A club, Lovullo is enjoying his best season.

He leads the International League with a .342 average and recently reached two career milestones.

Lovullo, who turned 33 on July 25, collected the 1,000th hit of his minor-league career last month and scored his 600th run last week.

He needs 118 at-bats to reach 4,000.