Bowa Attitude Shifts Phillies Into First Gear

As April turns to May, the early appraisal of the best off-season moves centers on the Colorado Rockies’ acquisition of pitchers Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle and Ron Villone, the Seattle Mariners’ signing of Ichiro Suzuki, the Boston Red Sox’s acquisition of Manny Ramirez and the Philadelphia Phillies’ hiring of Larry Bowa as manager.

Coming off a season of 97 losses and looking for the first season above .500 since 1993, the Phillies lead the National League East through a month of games and seem to have caught some of Bowa’s fire, or as third-base coach John Vukovich said, “These guys know he has only one gear.”

Bowa, of course, was at such a high, on so much of a roller coaster from wins to losses, that he pretty much imploded when given the opportunity to manage the San Diego Padres in 1987, only a year after ending his career as a fiery shortstop. No one would give him another managerial chance until he returned to Philadelphia as the people’s choice last winter. He now has better control of his emotions, although there is no mistaking the gear as he paces the dugout.

“I know they know my intensity is there and I love winning, but they’re the ones who play,” Bowa said. “I still think it’s early, but this team had never experienced success, so for their psyche [a start like this] has to be positive. The upside is there’s a lot of talent here.”

Another upside is that the Phillies have engineered a solid start without the middle of their order--Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen and Mike Lieberthal--hitting consistently yet. Two weak links of last year, the bench and bullpen, have been major pluses. If Jose Mesa--one of General Manager Ed Wade’s key additions during the off-season--sustains his rebirth as the closer during the heat of summer, when the hitting should pick up, the Phillies could remain competitive and more in a division in which the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are no longer as formidable.

“This team reminds me of our club in the early ‘70s, when we got our rear kicked for three or four years in a row,” Bowa said of the Phillies that came back to win three consecutive division titles. “Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom. Maybe those 97 losses last year, the guys said, ‘That’s enough.’ ”

Maybe shifting to a higher gear helped as well.

*

The Braves should get a mid-May lift from the return of John Smoltz, but they clearly miss Andres Galarraga in the middle of a lineup that includes B.J. Surhoff at .165, Quilvio Veras at .181, Wes Helms at .194, Brian Jordan at .239 and Javier Lopez at .228.

Asked if he planned changes, General Manager John Schuerholz cited the team batting average of .238 and said, “If we used the current stats as criteria, we’d have to trade the entire roster.”

It has been even worse for the Mets, who no longer feature Hampton at the top of their rotation and have put Al Leiter on the disabled list because of an ailing elbow. Manager Bobby Valentine had a team meeting Wednesday, telling his players to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

Said first baseman Todd Zeile: “I feel like we don’t have the same arrogance we carried with us last year, when we felt like we were always going to win. And if we didn’t win, it was just one lucky ballgame.”

*

After breaking Babe Ruth’s record for walks Wednesday night, Rickey Henderson needs 63 runs to equal Ty Cobb’s record for runs and 79 hits for 3,000. Henderson is headed to the Hall of Fame whether he gets them or not, but a .200 average and the ongoing deterioration in his defense is likely to end his pursuit as a member of the San Diego Padres soon--and it may be doubtful he’ll be hired elsewhere. Henderson is expected to survive Mark Kotsay’s return from the disabled list Tuesday, but Tony Gwynn’s activation Saturday could be it for baseball’s all-time leadoff hitter. Henderson has walked the walk, and no one was more appreciative of seeing him break the Ruth record than San Diego bench coach Rob Picciolo. As an infielder with the Oakland Athletics in 1980, Picciolo set the record for at-bats in a season (268) before drawing a walk. He wound up with two in 271 at bats.