Nothing Corny About Success

There might be few players out there who have a more offbeat outlook than Bronson Arroyo. Fortunately for the Red Sox -- and the rest of baseball -- they all seem to be in the same clubhouse.

Arroyo, one of the self-styled Red Sox “idiots,” puts down his electric guitar today, tucks his neatly cultivated cornrowed hair under his cap and walks out to the mound at Fenway Park with a chance to eliminate the Angels in the American League division series.

His thoughts on the matter can make heads tilt.

“You know, I don’t think my career is depending on this start,” Arroyo said. “Maybe my, well, you know, people look at big games and when you get the reputation for games like that, that’s why Curt Schilling has the reputation that he does, someone who steps up in big games.

“Obviously, if I go out there and get bombed, giving up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings, it might put a little stain on me. All I can do is try to get people out.”

Translation: This game will not define Arroyo’s career, but then again it might.

Arroyo may talk in circles, but there is method to his madness -- at least there has been for the last month, ever since he began sporting the cornrow look.

Arroyo unveiled his hairdo at the start of September. He went 3-0 with a 3.15 earned-average in his last six starts. That earned Arroyo the chance to follow Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez into the playoff breach.

“I think the hair pulling on his head harder makes him not think much, or not at all, which might be a good thing,” said Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon, whose joking reference to the Red Sox being “a bunch of idiots” had Boston television in a lather Thursday.

This, obviously, is a place where a freethinking -- no-thinking? -- pitcher can thrive. Arroyo is 8-2 with a 3.58 ERA since July 1. That included a September run that softened the bump when Martinez hit a rut.

Arroyo, in fact, picked up some of Martinez’s swagger. After a solid outing against the New York Yankees on Sept. 17, in a game the Red Sox won, Arroyo said, “Without question, it was definitely a blow to their ego. We start getting a little closer, they start doubting themselves a little bit more.”

That certainly showed Arroyo fit in with Boston, as did the fight he started against the Yankees by hitting Alex Rodriguez during a July game.

Not that Arroyo hasn’t taken his own lumps. In fact, in two starts against the Angels this season, he has a 9.72 ERA.

But by the end of the season, Arroyo was the Red Sox’s No. 3 starter.

“Bronson has earned his stripes,” Manager Terry Francona said. “We’ve seen him evolve into a pretty good major league pitcher.”

Maybe all it took was a worker-friendly environment.

“Kevin Millar has brought that attitude to the clubhouse and kind of made it OK for everybody to be themselves and loosen up and not take everything so seriously,” Arroyo said.

At one end of the clubhouse Thursday were Millar, with shaved head but sporting a bushy goatee, and Gabe Kapler, with a scruffy beard, wearing matching Harley-Davidson shirts. At the other end was Damon, wearing Rasputin-like shoulder-length hair and a beard, holding court.

So what’s so strange about a guitar-playing pitcher?

Arroyo plays and sings at local events, including charity functions. He has also become friendly with members of a few rock groups, including Pearl Jam. “He gets to hang out with the rock guys because he’s a really good musician,” Damon said.

Said Arroyo: “I’m a good musician in that clubhouse because we don’t have many guys who are musicians. I jus sit around and sing a bunch of songs you’ve heard on the radio.”

This certainly beats Pittsburgh, where Arroyo labored in the Pirates’ organization for seven seasons. The Red Sox claimed him on waivers in February 2003 and things improved dramatically. Arroyo threw a perfect game for triple-A Pawtucket last season and finished the season by making three relief appearances for the Red Sox in the playoffs.

This spring, Arroyo was ready to become a full-time “idiot” and found the breathing easier in the carefree Red Sox atmosphere.

“In spring training, Curt used to get on me about being so loose in the clubhouse on the day I pitched,” Arroyo said. “You know, everybody’s got a different personality.”

And in the Red Sox clubhouse, everyone does seem to be different.