Control Freak

Paul Quantrill knew he hurt himself pretty badly when he lost control of his snowmobile and slammed into a tree in the woods east of Toronto on Jan. 6, 1999. Not until he saw the ghastly sight below his waist did he realize the extent of his injuries.

“I wanted to get up,” Quantrill said, recalling the accident, “but I realized something was wrong when the boot on my right foot was facing the other way.”

Quantrill broke his right femur, which extends from the hip to the knee and is the largest bone in the body. Three days later, he underwent surgery in which an 18-inch metal rod--it still “sets off all the bells and whistles at the airport,” Quantrill said--was inserted in his leg. Six months later, despite a noticeable limp, Quantrill was pitching in the big leagues.

Heavy mettle beats heavy metal.

“After a bad outing, the writers would ask about the leg and whether it affected me,” said Quantrill, who will play a key role in the Dodger bullpen this season. “If I take the mound, you’re not going to get an excuse out of me.”

Such an attitude made Quantrill one of baseball’s most hard-nosed and durable short relievers and has already endeared him to Dodger coaches this spring. When a manager gives Quantrill the ball, he takes it, whether he’s a little tired, a little sore--or if he’s having a little trouble walking.

A 33-year-old right-hander, Quantrill was acquired from Toronto this winter. He appeared in an American League-high 80 games for the Blue Jays last season, going 11-2 with a 3.04 earned-run average. He led the majors in wins by a reliever and was named to the AL All-Star team.

A sinker-ball specialist, Quantrill has impeccable control; in 83 innings last season, he walked only 12, and seven of those were intentional. He has 262 walks in 937 innings during his 10-year career.

“The appreciation for him will grow more during the season, when we’re playing games, because he doesn’t throw balls and he wants the ball every day you can give it to him,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “You never see this guy pitch away from a baseball bat. He’s not afraid of contact, and that’s definitely a quality you need to have.”

Quantrill, who has 18 saves in his career, is expected to be the Dodgers’ primary set-up man, but he could also share closing duties with Matt Herges. Tracy says their contrasting styles--Herges is more of a power pitcher, and Quantrill relies more on ground-ball outs--will complement each other in the bullpen and give opponents different late-inning looks.

Quantrill has been sharp this spring, allowing only two earned runs in eight innings--a 2.25 ERA--striking out four, walking two and giving up only six hits.

“His command to both sides of the plate is phenomenal,” Tracy said. “He trusts his sinker so much that he’ll throw the ball to a spot where the hitter thinks he’s going to rip it, and he’ll pull if foul. Guys get infatuated with the inside of the plate, then he’ll paint one on the outside corner, and they can’t reach it.”

“Knowing you have a definitive ground-ball guy in the bullpen, knowing he can take the ball three or four days in a row, that’s a marvelous situation to be in.”

Quantrill will be the pitcher Tracy turns to when there are runners on first and second and none out in the eighth inning of a one-run game.

Or, he could get the ball to open the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He has never been a closer, but Quantrill has no fear of the responsibility and pressure that come with such a role.

“I don’t mind the attention or being in the spotlight like that; I’ve been there, done that,” Quantrill said. “The thing about closing is that in many ways it’s an easier job [than being a set-up man] as long as you don’t get too worked up about it or choke it off. You have a lead and a clean inning. Just go out and pitch.”

Quantrill has never been sidelined by an arm problem, so he is expected to provide some durability to a Dodger pitching staff that was besieged by injuries last season. Quantrill’s only stint on the disabled list came after his snowmobile accident, when he missed the first 2 1/2 months of the season.

Quantrill, an experienced snowmobile driver who grew up in Canada, said he was not traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident. While guiding three less-experienced drivers through the woods, he glanced over his shoulder to see where they were, lost control of the snowmobile and fish-tailed into a tree.

“A lot of thoughts went through my head; there was a lot of fear and anxiety with spring training coming up,” Quantrill said. “But it never crossed my mind that it would end my career. An elbow or shoulder injury would scare me a lot more. The femur is a big bone, but I figured it’s just a bone, it’ll heal.”

Quantrill appeared in only 41 games in 1999, going 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA, and he struggled for much of 2000, going 2-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 68 games. By 2001, there were no lingering effects from the leg injury, and the Blue Jays were so impressed with Quantrill they gave him a three-year, $9.6-million contract extension last August.

But when new Toronto General Manager J.P. Ricciardi was given a mandate to cut payroll, Quantrill became part of a salary purge that included Alex Gonzalez, Billy Koch and Brad Fullmer. The Blue Jays traded Quantrill and shortstop Cesar Izturis to the Dodgers for pitchers Luke Prokopec and Chad Ricketts.

“I wouldn’t have signed [with the Blue Jays] if I knew what they were going to do,” Quantrill said. “They traded Gonzalez, Koch, they eventually traded Fullmer, and they were trying to trade [right fielder] Raul Mondesi. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to see the direction they were heading, and I knew I was a candidate to go.

“Everyone thought I’d be so disappointed to get traded and have to leave home. It is hard to move your family and your kids, but I’ve been playing a long time, and I’m sick of being on [awful] teams. I want to be on a good team, and I think I am now.”

The Dodgers were off Monday, but pitcher Eric Gagne threw five innings in a Class-A game, giving up two earned runs and three hits, striking out five and walking none. Gagne threw 62 pitches.... The Dodgers resume Grapefruit League action today against the Houston Astros in Kissimmee, Fla. Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby, who are both recovering from elbow surgery, are scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers.... Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, slowed by a sore right hamstring this spring and hitless in his first 11 spring at-bats, will remain in Vero Beach and lead off all nine innings of a minor league exhibition game.

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Using the Q Ball

Paul Quantrill’s statistics from last season in Toronto and in his career:

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