An Ace Needs No Bandage

The ace of the Dodger rotation provided a huge dose of relief Monday. Showing off his surgically repaired right elbow to a large contingent of coaches, medical staff and front-office workers, Kevin Brown made 40 long-toss throws and threw 40 pitches off flat ground in his first spring-training appearance, an outing that seemed mundane to him but dazzling to the Dodgers.

“The thing that was most special to me was the way the ball came out of his hand,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “The ball jumped out of his hand instead of it having to be an effort to come out. He had surgery in late September, and here we are in mid-February. For a guy to be throwing that firmly off flat ground shows you there are no residual effects [from the surgery].”

Brown provided a little comic relief, too.

After his third long toss, with General Manager Dan Evans, assistant GM Kim Ng, physical therapist Pat Screnar, pitching coach Jim Colborn and Tracy in attendance, Brown, who underwent surgery to repair a torn flexor muscle last September, clutched his right elbow and winced as if in pain.

Just kidding.

“That was taking gallows humor to another degree, but I appreciate his sense of humor,” Evans said. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a live show.”

Colborn said Brown looked better Monday than he did at any time during the second half of the 2001 season.

“He looked very smooth, fluid and powerful and had better life on the ball,” Colborn said. “Nothing surprises me with Kevin Brown.”

Brown has been throwing vigorously for a few weeks, so Monday wasn’t that big a deal to him. His next big step will probably come at the end of this week or early next week: throwing off a mound.

“What I did today was pretty mild,” said Brown, who is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $105-million contract.

“From the descriptions I got from other players and medical people [about the recovery], I didn’t expect a lot of problems. I’m not real anxious about it. Things have gone pretty much like they predicted.”

Tracy said the Dodgers “won’t push the envelope” during Brown’s rehabilitation. Though Brown will continue his throwing regimen and take part in fielding drills with the rest of the pitchers, he won’t take batting practice until he feels he’s throwing normally.

“There’s nothing I have to really be careful of, I’m just going to try to not be too aggressive with it,” Brown said. “But I haven’t felt this good in a year and a half.”

Brown, who turns 37 in March, had an 8-4 record and 2.95 earned-run average through last July 15. He beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh that day but left the game because of elbow pain after five innings and flew back to Los Angeles to be examined by Dr. Frank Jobe.

The diagnosis: a severe sprain of the flexor muscle in his right elbow.

Brown went on the disabled list and returned in late August, but further damaged his elbow in four starts. The flexor muscle had torn, and Brown underwent surgery on Sept. 27.

The Dodger medical staff monitored Brown’s rehabilitation closely over the winter, and Brown passed his first test in Dodgertown Monday, throwing two- and four-seam fastballs, sinkers and cut fastballs in a bullpen area surrounded by willow trees.

“It’s not the final exam, we know that, but it’s very encouraging,” Evans said.

“You could feel a giant sigh from a lot of people who hadn’t been closely involved in the [rehabilitation] process. You could also hear that he made a lot of progress because he popped the catcher’s mitt pretty good.”