Delahoya Keeps His Cool Thanks to Mom’s Advice

Before each game Javier Delahoya pitches, he phones his mother, Imelda, in Sun Valley.

Imelda is no baseball guru.

“But she’s an expert on me,” said Delahoya, who pitches for the Rochester Red Wings, the Baltimore Orioles’ top affiliate.

When the former Grant High right-hander called home on Wednesday before the Joint Triple-A All-Star game, Imelda gave very simple advice: “Don’t be nervous.”

Delahoya, who has pitched more than 1,000 innings during a 12-year minor league career, rarely gets the jitters.

But this was different, and Imelda knew it.

When Delahoya was introduced before the nationally televised game, the hometown crowd in Rochester roared.

He began to get nervous and felt an adrenaline rush.

“It was incredible,” he said. “It really got me pumped up.”

Remembering what his mother had told him, Delahoya managed to harness the energy.

When he took the mound for the International League in the second inning, relieving Rochester teammate Josh Towers of Hueneme High and Oxnard College, Delahoya was focused and confident.

Then he retired all six Pacific Coast League batters he faced.

The International League lost, 8-2, but Delahoya’s effort earned him the game’s Lou Gehrig pitcher of the game award, as well as an expensive new watch.

But he doesn’t need the timepiece to understand that the clock is ticking on his career.

Drafted by the Dodgers in 1989, Delahoya turned 30 in February.

He has played for minor league teams of the Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets and Orioles, as well as professional teams in his native Mexico and in China, but has never appeared in a major league game.

He’s hopeful this will be the year.

Delahoya, 7-5 with 4.45 earned-run average, says he feels better than he ever has, and the Orioles are struggling in the American League East.

Their 5.72 team ERA is the second-worst in the American League, ahead of only the Kansas City Royals (5.84).

Perhaps there will be a call for help.

“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Delahoya, who led the Orioles’ minor league pitchers last season with 13 victories. “It’s been frustrating so far because they haven’t been doing very well but they haven’t been calling anyone up.

“All I can do is keep on working.”

And not be nervous.

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Former Kennedy High right-hander Jon Garland was projected as the International League’s starting all-star pitcher until his promotion to the Chicago White Sox earlier this month.

Garland was named the top player in triple A for the first half of the season by Baseball America.

Jack Wilson, formerly of Thousand Oaks High, was batting .321 for St. Louis Cardinals affiliate Arkansas at the all-star break and was selected the top shortstop in double A.

Second baseman Willie Bloomquist and outfielder Juan Silvestre of the Lancaster JetHawks were named the top players at their positions in Class A.

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Last week, Silvestre became the first professional player to reach 100 runs batted in this season and is on pace to drive in 160 runs. The California League record is 172.

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Of the first 12 players selected last month in the major league draft, only pitcher Matt Harrington of Palmdale High and outfielder Joe Borchard, formerly of Camarillo, remain unsigned.

No. 1 selection Adrian Gonzalez received a $3-million signing bonus from the Florida Marlins.

Harrington, selected seventh by the Colorado Rockies, is reportedly seeking a similar deal.

Borchard, drafted 12th by the Chicago White Sox, is deciding between playing quarterback at Stanford or playing professional baseball.

Catcher Dane Sardinha of Pepperdine, taken in the second round by the Cincinnati Reds, also is unsigned.

The only other second-round selection from the region was pitcher Mike Schultz, formerly of Cleveland High. He signed for a reported $500,000 last week with the Arizona Diamondbacks and was assigned to the organization’s Arizona League rookie team.

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Darrell Hussman, formerly of Quartz Hill High, was promoted last week from rookie-level Billings to Class-A Clinton by the Cincinnati Reds.

Hussman, who missed the 1999 season after undergoing arm surgery, had a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings at Billings.

The Reds are still being careful with their fourth-round pick from 1998.

In one start at Billings, Hussman had a no-hitter through six innings but was removed from the game because of a strict pitch count.

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Left-hander Chris Garza, formerly of Notre Dame High, was promoted last week to triple-A Salt Lake City by the Minnesota Twins. Garza, a reliever used mostly against left-handed hitters, was 2-4 with a 3.50 ERA and had 52 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings for double-A New Britain.

Catcher Brian Luderer, formerly of Crespi, has been promoted from Class-A Modesto to double-A Midland by the Oakland Athletics.

Infielder John Santor, formerly of Highland High, was promoted from rookie-level Johnson City to Class-A Peoria by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Former Kennedy High right-hander Jack Cassel was promoted from rookie-level Idaho Falls to Class-A Fort Wayne by the San Diego Padres. He struck out 13 and had a 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings at Idaho Falls.