Shaw’s Stubborn Streak Not to Be Underestimated

For someone who lives in California reluctantly, Jeff Shaw looks and acts the part of a laid-back surfer dude. But his mild manner belies a tenacity that is triggered in more ways than one.

Ask him to protect a slim lead in the ninth inning, that’ll do it.

Try to put him on the disabled list and, well, be prepared to deal with all the Midwestern stubbornness an Ohio man can muster.

Shaw, the Dodger closer, had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the active roster June 28 because of tendinitis in his right elbow and looseness in the muscles surrounding his rotator cuff. It was his first trip to the disabled list in 14 professional seasons.

“I prided myself on never getting hurt,” he said. “I had gotten away with it for so long.”

Seven blown saves, a 2-4 record and 8.00 earned-run average suggested the jig was up. So did the lack of pop on his fastball, the pitch he uses to establish the inside half of the plate and set up his out pitches--a slider and a splitter.

Once he stopped steaming, Shaw put the 15-day layoff to constructive use. A vacation on the French Riviera couldn’t have been more refreshing.

“I was bound and determined to prove I hadn’t lost it,” he said.

Since returning July 13, Shaw has been almost untouchable, converting all 15 of his save opportunities and posting a 0.92 ERA.

As one question mark after another is raised about the Dodgers, Shaw again is an exclamation point. He has 86 saves since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds midway through the 1998 season.

Case--and games--closed.

Shaw spent the idle time resting his arm and reflecting on his horrific first half. During a game at San Diego, he sat in the dugout and scolded himself.

“I got angry,” he said. “It dawned on me that the mistakes I made were from throwing too many pitches over the middle of the plate. I told myself I needed to keep the ball on the corners.”

During a series at Seattle a few days later, he stopped stewing and went to work on his mechanics with pitching coach Claude Osteen. It was a midseason luxury that turned around his season. “I can’t extend a pitcher through bullpen sessions when there is a chance he will pitch,” Osteen said. “About all you can do is talk about problems and walk through his delivery.

“The time off was a blessing for Jeff. We made sure all parts of his delivery were working as a unit, that he wasn’t rushing forward, that he was breaking his hands at the right time.”

The results were dramatic. Shaw was unscored upon in his first 16 appearances after being reactivated. He gave up a run while recording a save in the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 25, then began another seven-game scoreless streak while saving the second game.

The pitcher Manager Davey Johnson calls “Shaw-shank” is enjoying a bit of redemption.

“My struggles could have gotten a lot bigger,” Shaw said. “Davey took the closer job away from me, and I could have said some things. But I’m not that way. It’s about being a professional.

This wasn’t Shaw’s first bout with adversity. Two years after he was the first pick in the 1986 amateur draft out of Rio Grande (Ohio) College, he lost 17 consecutive decisions for a Cleveland Indians’ Class-A team.

Two years later he was in the big leagues.

Closer status didn’t come until 1997 with the Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team. Jeff Brantley, his mentor, was injured, Shaw stepped in and racked up 42 saves.

Success has a price and Shaw’s success priced him right out of Cincinnati, where he’d hoped to finish his career. He was traded to the Dodgers for Paul Konerko and Dennis Reyes but did not accept a three-year, $16.5-million renegotiated contract until after the ’98 season.

Looks deceive. Sandy-brown shaggy hair and a seemingly mellow disposition do not a Southern Californian make. Shaw lives in Westlake Village during the summer, but his wife and children return to Washington Courthouse, Ohio, during the school year and Shaw will join them the day the season ends.

Shaw’s reasoning for signing with the Dodgers had everything to do with enhancing his chances at pitching in the postseason, something he has never done.

“The expectations of this club are always going to be high with the payroll and talent we have,” Shaw said. “This team should win and I believe we will. With the nucleus of guys here, we can get to the playoffs. Next year we’ll get there.”

There’s that tenacity rearing its head. It is what makes Shaw an effective closer. It’s what kept him in Los Angeles and what enabled him to rebound this season.

And if the Dodgers ever turn themselves around, it’s what will make him a part of the story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A New Man

A look at Jef Shaw’s numbers before and after (in white) he was on the disabled list (June 27-July 14):

Rec: 2-4

Rec: 1-0

ERA: 8.00

ERA: 0.92

Sv: 12

Sv: 15

IP: 27

IP: 29 1/3

H: 40

H: 21

BB: 10

BB: 6

K: 15

K: 22