Sales Pitch

That nasty clubhouse altercation with a teammate who questioned his courage, that ugly, injury-plagued 2000 season in which he went 2-7 with a 5.64 earned-run average, that inglorious ending to a once-promising Dodger career . . .

Never happened.

At least, not in Ismael Valdes’ mind.

“We don’t live in the past, we live in the present,” said Valdes, the new Angel pitcher who hopes to resuscitate his reputation along with his fastball this season. “The past is behind me.”

How convenient. Valdes, a 27-year-old right-hander whose career has nose-dived since a breakthrough season in 1996, has chosen to ignore his past, rather than acknowledge it.

But as Philadelphia Phillie Manager Larry Bowa likes to say, it takes 20 minutes to gain a reputation and 20 years to get rid of it, and it’s going to take a lot more than a temporary loss of memory for Valdes to sway public opinion, both inside and outside the Angel clubhouse.

Valdes has this working in his favor: The Angels will give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Whether it’s favorable stuff or negative stuff you hear about a player, it’s not always right,” said Bud Black, Angel pitching coach. “I’m not taking everything that has been said in the past to heart. The true test of a player is what happens between the lines during the season.

“Mike [Scioscia, Angel manager] knows this guy, Ron [Roenicke, third-base coach] knows him, Mickey [Hatcher, batting instructor] knows him, and they’re happy to have him. So am I. I still think there’s something left there. He’s only 27, not 37.”

Valdes earned the nickname “Rocket” when he went 15-7 with a 3.32 ERA as a 22-year-old in 1996 but looked more like a flameout when the Dodgers gave up on him last fall. In between were questions about Valdes’ mental toughness and durability.

Though he threw 196 2/3 innings while going 10-11 with a 2.65 ERA in 1997, 174 innings while going 11-10 with a 3.98 ERA in 1998 and 203 1/3 innings while going 9-14 with a 3.98 ERA in 1999, Valdes had to leave many games early because of finger blisters.

He was put on the disabled list once a year during that span, sitting out three weeks in 1997 because of a strained hamstring, five weeks in 1998 because of a strained chest muscle, and six weeks in 1999 because of shoulder tendinitis.

He’s off to another rocky start this spring--he was scratched from his first Cactus League game because of tightness in his right side.

The low point might have been in 1997, when Dodger first baseman Eric Karros ridiculed Valdes in a team meeting, criticizing him for being passive in a 3 1/3-inning, four-run, eight-hit effort against the Marlins. Karros and Valdes later exchanged angry words and shoves in the shower area of the clubhouse.

Last season was a disaster as well. After being traded with second baseman Eric Young to the Cubs for pitchers Terry Adams and two minor leaguers, Valdes, hindered by shoulder tendinitis and a hamstring injury, went 2-4 with a 5.37 earned-run average in 12 starts for Chicago.

The Cubs were glad to ship Valdes back to the Dodgers for pitcher Jamie Arnold and a minor leaguer last July, but Valdes did nothing to boost the Dodgers’ pennant hopes, going 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA in nine games.

The Dodgers were so fed up with Valdes and his complaints about numbness in the pinky finger of his pitching hand that they pulled him from their rotation in early September.

The Dodgers thought so little of Valdes that they made no attempt to sign him last November and did not offer arbitration after he filed for free agency.

“It’s hard to believe he’s only 27,” Scioscia said. “He’s been through so much at such a young age.”

Dave Wallace, the former Dodger pitching coach who is now a special assistant to Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone, was there for Valdes’ formative years.

Though Valdes, a native of Mexico, has had the ability to throw his breaking ball--a combination curve-slider that doesn’t have much velocity or bite--over the plate since he was 17, Wallace thinks he might have become too enamored of the pitch early in his career.

“His fastball didn’t light up the radar gun, but it got up to 91 mph and got in on you pretty quick,” Wallace said. “I remember telling him when he was young that the fastball was still the best pitch in baseball and that you had to use it now or you’re going to lose it. And from what I hear, his fastball is not what it once was.”

Batters started sitting on Valdes’ breaking ball, which became a lot more hittable when opponents had a good idea it was coming. Valdes’ strikeout totals slipped from 173 in 1996 to 140 in 1997 and 122 in 1998. He gave up 32 home runs in 1999.

“It becomes a mental thing, and it snowballs,” Wallace said. “Your confidence begins to suffer.”

One reason the Angels signed Valdes to a $2.5-million contract that includes the chance to make another $2.7 million in incentives is that his work habits took a turn for the better.

“I’ve never done as much exercising as I have this winter,” Valdes admits. “I don’t know why I stopped. I feel stronger, more ready for the season. I don’t want the injuries to happen again.”

That, of course, was said before Valdes suffered his most recent injury, a setback that does not appear as serious as the ones he endured last spring.

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman is convinced that shoulder and hamstring injuries--and not a complete disintegration of skills--led to Valdes’ decline in 2000. And although Stoneman knew of Valdes’ injuries, the statistic that kept jumping out at him was Valdes’ 3.59 lifetime ERA.

“We considered everything we’d heard about and looked at his record,” Stoneman said. “This is a guy who has consistently given his club 200 innings with low ERAs, and with the offense we have, that’s what we’re looking for. I can’t think of a better environment for him.”

Scioscia has a lot to do with that. The Angel manager was the Dodger bench coach in 1997 and ’98 and had a good relationship with Valdes. Scioscia was one of the main reasons Valdes signed with the Angels.

“He’s a great man and a great manager,” Valdes said. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to make my job easier, but so far I like everything about being here.”

He won’t if teammates begin to question his courage, as those in Los Angeles did. These gritty, blue-collar Angels have little tolerance for those who lack mental toughness, but Scioscia thinks Valdes will fit in.

“He’s always pitched as hard and as long as he can every time he gets the ball, and that’s all anyone can ask for,” Scioscia said. “I’ve seen this guy with blood on his pants because of a blister, out there making pitches. He’s a competitor. That’s not going to be an issue here.”

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V for Victim

Ismael Valdes has become increasingly easy fro opposing batters to face:

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Season Team Opp. BA Opp. Slg. 1997 Dodgers .234 .358 1998 Dodgers .256 .393 1999 Dodgers .270 .446 2000 Cubs-Dodgers .294 .514

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