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 'Buzz saw' MVP Hitchcock takes suspense out of NLCS
Posted: Thursday October 15, 1998 02:05 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Sterling Hitchcock has had a solid-gold postseason, and now he's going to the World Series. First, he beat Randy Johnson to get San Diego into the NL championship series, then he won against a couple of other former Cy Young winners, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, to help the Padres reach their first World Series in 14 years. Next up are the New York Yankees, who drafted Hitchcock in 1989 and traded him away in 1995 after his first full big league season. Hitchcock, at 27 the youngest of the Padres starters, was voted the NLCS most valuable player for his two victories against the Braves. And this was a pitched who began the season in the bullpen. Counting the win over Johnson and the Houston Astros, Hitchcock made the three biggest starts of his career in 11 days and came up with three wins and 25 strikeouts. The latest was Wednesday's 5-0 win over Glavine and Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the NLCS to clinch the Padres' second NL pennant in their 30-year history. "I can't explain it," Hitchcock said. "I was able to kick it up a notch with my intensity. It really isn't anything that I've done, but this whole team battling and playing well together." Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said Hitchcock threw "exceptionally well" in both wins against the Braves. "We ran into a buzz saw with him," Cox said. "He really went through the middle of our lineup like he knew what he was doing." Hitchcock was pitching on three days' rest for the fifth time in his career, and the numbers from the previous four such starts weren't good -- he was 0-2 with an 8.41 ERA. The last time he went on short rest, May 4, 1997, he gave up four home runs to the Montreal Expos. "I think the difference this time was the last two starts I didn't throw a whole lot of pitches," Hitchcock said. "I think that was the reason for some of the arm strength and some of the pitches there, the sharpness. I had a lot better stuff this time out than I did last time." Ace Kevin Brown had been scheduled to make this start, but he threw 41 pitches in a surprise -- and losing -- relief appearance Monday night, allowing Michael Tucker's go-ahead, three-run homer when the Padres were just five outs away from a World Series trip. As soon as Brown was pulled from Game 5, Hitchcock walked up to pitching coach Dave Stewart in the dugout and told him he wanted the ball for Game 6. Once he got it, he was fabulous. He allowed just two singles in five-plus scoreless innings, struck out eight and walked three. He also poked a ball into left field that bounced off Danny Bautista's glove for an error, bringing in two runs in the five-run sixth that chased Glavine. The Braves got runners to third base twice, but neither scored. After Hitchcock walked Walt Weiss and Gerald Williams opening the sixth, manager Bruce Bochy brought in Brian Boehringer. Jim Leyritz, one of the Yankees' World Series heroes in 1996, resumed his role as Hitchcock's personal catcher when the Padres acquired him on June 21 from the Boston Red Sox. "He's done a great job," Leyritz said. "This is the time of year when people start noticing. They don't notice during the year. Now that they've noticed, he's going to get the recognition he deserves." On October 4, Hitchcock struck out 11 and beat Johnson and the Houston Astros 6-1. In Game 3 of the NLCS on Saturday, he beat Maddux and the Braves 4-1, striking out six and hitting a single off Maddux to start the go-ahead rally in the fifth inning. The Yankees traded Hitchcock to the Seattle Mariners in the deal for Tino Martinez on December 7, 1995, and the Padres got him 364 days later for Scott Sanders. He was 10-11 with a 5.20 ERA in 1997, and 9-7 with a 3.93 ERA this year.
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