Hussman Single-Minded on Comeback

The honeymoon is over for Darrell Hussman.

The former Quartz Hill High right-hander married his college sweetheart, Julia, in January.

They celebrated with a trip to Hawaii but have seen each other very little since.

“In the last 14 weeks, I’ve seen her a total of three days and eight hours,” he said.

Soon after their return from Hawaii, Hussman packed up and left their Tucson apartment for spring training in Florida.

Then it was off to Billings, Mont., location of the Cincinnati Reds’ rookie-level Pioneer League affiliate.

Julia stayed in Arizona, where she hopes to become a teacher. She’s learning some tough lessons already.

“I tried to prepare her,” said Hussman, the Reds’ fourth-round selection in 1998. “But no matter how much you tell someone, there’s no way to prepare for what has happened.”

The Hussmans, who met at the University of Arizona, hoped to go through this adventure together, but Darrell’s attempt to rebound from shoulder surgery that sidelined him the 1999 season has sent him zig-zagging across the country.

Julia had a plane ticket to Billings earlier this month. Just before the trip, Hussman learned he was being promoted to Class-A Clinton, Iowa.

“It was a nice plan,” Hussman, 23, said of the visit. “It looked real good on paper.”

He is using the seclusion to focus on his comeback.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound right-hander has been watched closely by the Reds’ organization, which until recently had him on a strict pitch count.

In his third rehabilitation start at Billings, Hussman needed only 68 pitches to carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning. His limit was 65, so he was pulled.

He had no complaints. Hussman has had so many setbacks since March, 1999, surgery to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder that he figures caution is best.

He was first told his recovery time was six to eight weeks and was sent to the Reds’ training facility in Sarasota, Fla., to begin arehabilitation program. He remained there the whole season.

“Every time it seemed like I was getting close, something would go wrong and I’d get shut down,” he said. “I’d go a month, month and a half, then my shoulder would pop or I’d get tendinitis or something else would happen.”

He says he feels stronger, but it’s not easy after such a long layoff.

“I’ve had to relearn the entire game of baseball,” Hussman said. “And my stamina isn’t where I’d like it to be.”

He had a 1.54 earned-run average at Billings, but that has ballooned to 5.52 at Clinton, where he has struck out 13 batters in 14 2/3 innings but walked eight, hit two and thrown five wild pitches.

“I’m just trying to finish the year strong,” he said. “If I can do that and stay healthy, hopefully I’ll get to go to instructional league after the season.”

And marital bliss will have to wait a little longer.

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Barry Zito, former Pierce College left-hander, became the second pitcher from the region to make his major league debut this month when he started for the Oakland Athletics on Saturday against the Angels.

Jon Garland, from Kennedy High, debuted for the Chicago White Sox on July 4.

Oakland promoted Zito, their No. 1 draft pick last season, on Saturday, to almost no one’s surprise. When a healthy Zito was scratched from a scheduled start Tuesday for triple-A Sacramento, speculation swirled.

At Sacramento, Zito was 8-5 with a 3.19 ERA, had pitched 22 consecutive shutout innings and pitched a scoreless inning in the Futures Game.

He’s been in professional baseball less than a year.

“He’s been pitching well and deserves the opportunity,” Manager Art Howe said Friday. “Everybody who’s seen him lately says he’s ready.”

Against the Angels, Zito (1-0) struck out six and walked six, allowing one run and two hits in five innings of the Athletics’ 10-3 victory.

Also on the Oakland staff are Kevin Appier, formerly of Antelope Valley High and Antelope Valley College, and Mike Magnante, formerly of Burroughs High.

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Keith McDonald, former Pepperdine catcher who tied a major league record earlier this month by hitting home runs in his first two major league at bats, was sent down to triple-A Memphis on Friday by the St. Louis Cardinals.

McDonald was replaced by journeyman catcher Rick Wilkins, McDonald’s backup earlier this season at Memphis.

St. Louis media reported Manager Tony La Russa lost confidence in McDonald’s defense but predicted that the 27-year-old player, who hit three home runs in seven at-bats, would return to the big leagues.

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Two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen pitched last week for the first time since the 1999 American League playoffs.

The former Cleveland High right-hander, who underwent rotator cuff surgery last winter, struck out five and allowed one hit in three innings for the Lowell Spinners, the Boston Red Sox’s Class-A affiliate in the short-season New York-Penn League.

Saberhagen is expected to make at least two more rehabilitation starts before the Red Sox decide if he is ready to rejoin the major league rotation.

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Infielder Willie Bloomquist of the Lancaster JetHawks was promoted to the triple-A Tacoma Rainiers last week by the Seattle Mariners.

Bloomquist, recently named the top Class-A second baseman by Baseball America, was batting .379.

The move improves the chances of Lancaster outfielder Juan Silvestre for claiming the California League’s triple crown.

Silvestre entered the weekend leading the league with 105 runs batted in, was one home run short of the lead with 23 and was fourth with a .324 batting average.

Former JetHawk left-hander Lindsay Gulin has won 11 consecutive decisions for Daytona, the Chicago Cubs’ affiliate in the Class-A Florida State League. He is 11-2 with a 2.46 ERA.

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Pitcher Mike Schultz, formerly of Cleveland High and a second-round selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks last month, was promoted to the Class-A High Desert Mavericks last week. . . . Infielder Steve Sisco, formerly of Thousand Oaks High, was recalled from triple-A Richmond by the Atlanta Braves. . . .

Outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., formerly of Granada Hills High and Mission College, was recalled from triple-A Iowa by the Chicago Cubs. . . . Catcher Steve Soliz, formerly of Rio Mesa High, was promoted from double-A Mobile to triple-A Las Vegas by the San Diego Padres. . . . Andrew Lorraine, formerly of Hart High, was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday.

Of the 12 pitchers who opened the season with the Philadelphia Phillies, only Randy Wolf, formerly of El Camino Real High and Pepperdine, and Chris Brock made it to this weekend without going on the disabled list.