Seattle: Freddy Or Not

What is most striking about Freddy Garcia, even more impressive than the 96-mph fastball, the power sinker and the Pedro Martinez-caliber changeup that thrust him into Cy Young Award contention this season, is the tranquility with which he goes about his job.

The Seattle Mariner right-hander, who will start Game 1 of the American League division series against the Cleveland Indians today in Safeco Field, is about as stoic on the mound as a guard at Buckingham Palace.

After delivering one of his devastating pitches, he snags the return throw from the catcher, ambles straight back to the rubber, takes a deep breath, and goes right into his windup. Not one iota of energy is wasted. Not one hint of emotion is displayed.

This process is repeated pitch after pitch, batter after batter, inning after inning, to the point where it’s almost hypnotic. Garcia seems so relaxed on the mound, he looks as if he could fall into a nap.

“But don’t let that aura misrepresent him,” Mariner pitching coach Bryan Price said. “When I got this job [in 2000] I looked at that and wondered if he should be more aggressive on the mound. The more I got to know him, the more I realized what a tremendous competitor he is. So I never said anything. It was a good choice.”

Garcia, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Caracas, Venezuela, is nicknamed “Chief,” because of his resemblance to the hulking but hushed character in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Acquired from Houston with shortstop Carlos Guillen and pitcher John Halama for former Mariner ace Randy Johnson on July 31, 1998, Garcia is the anti-Big Unit. He does not glare menacingly at opponents. He does not stalk around the mound screaming, pounding the ball into his mitt. Rarely does he pump his fist after a big strikeout.

Whereas many starting pitchers go into seclusion before games, hanging the do-not-disturb sign on their lockers, Garcia spends his pregame time wandering the outfield during batting practice, mingling with teammates and even chatting with fans, the better to soak up the stadium atmosphere.

“I’ve always been like that,” said Garcia, who went 18-6 with a league-leading 3.05 earned-run average, helping the Mariners run away with the AL West title. “With confidence and focus--and with this team behind you--there’s no reason not to be relaxed.”

Garcia’s approach helped him tame the New York Yankees twice in last year’s AL championship series, pitching 62/3 shutout innings in a 2-0 victory before a raucous Yankee Stadium crowd in Game 1, then giving up two runs and seven hits in five innings of a 6-2 Game 5 victory in Seattle.

Garcia was well prepared for the rigors of October baseball in New York. When he was 18, he pitched in the Venezuelan Winter League playoffs, “and I think that was worse than Yankee Stadium,” Garcia said. “There were 25,000-30,000 people, and the atmosphere was unreal. It was different than New York, but just as intense.”

Garcia, who turned 25 last week, said his playoff performance gave him a significant confidence boost, and it showed. He went 8-1 with a 3.72 ERA in the first three months of this season.

But as June turned to July and the trading deadline approached, General Manager Pat Gillick still thought the Mariners, despite their double-digit advantage in the West, needed a No. 1 starter.

He didn’t exactly issue an all-points bulletin, because Seattle, which had the league’s best team ERA (3.54), wasn’t going to fall out of contention if Gillick couldn’t swing a deal. Rather, it was more a challenge to Garcia, who, after hearing Gillick’s comments, asked Price what he needed to do to become that No. 1 starter.

Price told Garcia he had to maintain focus for the whole game. Instead of picking at corners with a four-run lead in the final two innings, Price said, be aggressive every inning. Don’t worry so much about strikeouts. Challenge batters to put the ball in play.

Garcia’s response? He won his first four games of July and had a 2.35 ERA in six starts that month. He had a 2.79 ERA in the second half and four complete-game victories, three of them shutouts. He finished the season with a league-high 2382/3 innings. He struck out 163 and walked only 69. He held opponents to a .225 average.

“We knew he was our No. 1 guy, but he still had a ways to go to be like Greg Maddux, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson, guys who could pitch at the top of any rotation,” Price said. “Was that a motivator for Freddy? Maybe. He won 17 games his first year [1999], but this year he’s really elevated his game.

“He could be one of the dominant strikeout guys in the league, but he’s accepted the fact he can go deeper into games by letting guys hit into outs. His velocity is more consistent. He was a six-inning pitcher last year, but this year he wants to finish what he starts. He has that mind set.”

Is he a No. 1 pitcher in the eyes of Gillick?

“He’s getting close,” Gillick said. “He made a lot of progress in the second half. To me, a No. 1 starter is a guy like Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez--pitchers who win seven out of 10 games. They’re guys who, when they run into tough situations like a bad call or an error behind them, they can pick the team up. Fred has the equipment to be a No. 1 starter, but he isn’t there yet. He needs more game experience and more playoff experience.”

Don’t tell that to the Angels. To them, Garcia was a No. 1 and then some, going 5-0 with an 0.97 ERA in six starts, overpowering them with a fastball that rarely loses starch in the later innings and baffling them with his breaking balls and off-speed pitches.

“He has three above-average pitches and incredible movement on all of them,” the Angels’ Darin Erstad said. “He has a funky delivery; he kind of jumps out at you and gets a great downhill angle. He’s tough to get a good look at, and you have less time to see the ball and make a good decision.”

Garcia missed 21/2 months of the 2000 season because of a stress fracture in his right shinbone, and the Angels didn’t face him. But they had their fill of him this year and don’t relish the thought of facing him in the years to come.

“It’s safe to say that Mr. Garcia has a couple of Cy Young Awards in his future if he stays healthy,” Erstad said. “He’s definitely one of those guys who you’d better have your ‘A’ game against or you’re going to be in trouble.”

Johnson gave the Angels similar fits, and there were probably cartwheels in their clubhouse--and locker rooms all around the American League--when the left-hander was dealt to the Astros.

Some reprieve. Garcia, who was 22 and had a combined 7-7 record at double-A Jackson and triple-A New Orleans then, has filled the Big Void at the top of the Mariner rotation.

“I knew there would be a better opportunity for me in Seattle when I found out I was traded for Randy Johnson,” Garcia said. “If I was traded for anyone else, I might still be in the minor leagues. But [the Mariners] wanted to see who they traded the stud of their team for.”

Another one, it turns out.