THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220482
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 112 lines
While most of America filled itself with turkey, ham and candied yams, Mike Gardiner spent his Christmas Day throwing a baseball between dusty rows of auto stock in a snow-covered warehouse.
With every pitch he wondered if he could regain the form that had landed him in the major leagues each of the previous six seasons.
It had been just six days since Gardiner underwent major sinus surgery at Boston University Medical Center. The blockage in his sinus cavities was so severe it affected his equilibrium, making every delivery a balancing act and cutting short his 1995 season.
``I'd rock back and start to throw hoping the pitch would be somewhere near the catcher's mitt,'' Gardiner said. ``I had a sinus infection that grew a life of its own.''
The balance has returned. Now it's the opposition that's on its heels.
Gardiner has been nothing short of awesome for the first two months of the season, racing to a 6-0 record and International League-best 1.07 earned run average. The Tides have won all eight games in which he started.
``You can believe it's a lot better than I expected at this point,'' Gardiner said. ``I pretty much missed a year of baseball.''
When the sinus problems began, Gardiner was a setup man for the Detroit Tigers, coming off a solid 1994 in which he was 2-2 with five saves. In the years before that, he'd pitched for Seattle, Boston and Montreal.
Within the first week of the 1995 season, Gardiner was battling pneumonia. A week later he was quarantined while on a road trip to Milwaukee.
One doctor would say it was a cold. Another would point to allergies. Gardiner was off the disabled list, then back on the disabled list. Optioned to the Toledo Mud Hens, then called back up. The Tigers eventually released him in August.
He returned home to Canton, Mass., and began a slow, surly sulk.
``How'd he act? I thought he'd been abducted by aliens,'' said wife Julie.
There weren't many highlights to Gardiner's 1995 campaign. But Julie Gardiner has one: hubby striking out Ken Griffey Jr., in a nationally televised game seen on ESPN. Proving that when he's on, he's tough.
After repeated visits to doctors once his season was over, Gardiner eventually ventured to Boston University Medical Center where he was told he had about 10 percent usage of his sinus cavities.
``The doctor there said it was the most impressive CAT scan he'd ever seen,'' Gardiner said. ``I was relieved because I finally knew there actually was something wrong.''
Once surgery was performed, Gardiner began throwing in an auto parts warehouse in nearby Jamaica Plain, Mass. A friend of Gardiner's owns the place and moved two isles of stock so that Gardiner and Detroit Tigers pitcher Greg Gohr, coming off shoulder surgery, could work out over the winter.
The Christmas Day workout, however, was unplanned. Still feeling the affects of surgery, Gardiner passed on a road trip to Pennsylvania to visit his wife's family. But cabin fever set in.
He talked Colin MacNaught, who pitches for Oral Roberts University, into going to the warehouse that day.
``I remember him asking what we were doing,'' Gardiner said. ``I told him, `Nobody else in the country is going to be throwing today. That's the advantage I need to have.' ''
As spring training approached, Gardiner was still looking for a team when he arrived at the New York Mets' spring training facility hoping to land a minor-league deal. The Houston Astros were the only other team that made an offer, and that was to be a minor-league middle reliever.
``We are lucky he came over to our complex to have a look,'' Tides pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. ``(Mets minor-league roving pitching instructor) Al Jackson and I were asked to give Mike a look. It wasn't tough to see he still had it. In fact it took about 30 seconds. I could have stopped him after 10 pitches. I'd seen enough.''
The Tides offered Gardiner a career switch. Instead of relieving, he could try his hand at starting, something he hadn't done since 1992.
``I was more prepared to be a starter this time,'' Gardiner, 30, said. ``When I was younger I didn't deal with it well. I was always over-preparing myself. I'd start to think about my next start two days before it would come. My teammates called me Sgt. Friday. I was so serious. Just the facts, ma'am.''
The fact is that Gardiner hasn't allowed a run in the month of May. Heading into his scheduled start tonight against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Harbor Park, he's pitched 20 consecutive scoreless innings. During that span, he's pitched two complete seven-inning shutouts as parts of doubleheaders in Toledo and Pawtucket. His scoreless innings streak stretches to 24 innings and he hasn't given up an earned run in 27 innings, dating back to a 12-5 victory over the Charlotte Knights on Apr. 23.
This streak has not been without some help.
``In Toledo, Andy Tomberlin went over the wall to bring one back,'' Gardiner said, recalling a shot off the bat of Fausto Cruz. ``The whole time he was going back for it, I knew he was going to catch it. That's just the way things have been going.''
In 50 2/3 innings, Gardiner has struck out 49 while walking six and has allowed no home runs.
``He doesn't overpower you with a 95-mph fastball,'' said Tides catcher Alberto Castillo. ``Instead, he has complete command of all four pitches. Every pitch he makes could be called a strike.
``I've caught only one other guy I can remember who pitched like Mike, not really overpowering, who had this kind of year. That was Jose Martinez and in 1991 in (Class A) Columbia.''
Martinez went 20-4 with a 1.47 ERA that season.
Apodaca hopes Gardiner's success doesn't breed impatience.
``If he doesn't get distracted, he'll get to the major leagues this year,'' Apodaca said. ``He's generated interest by making this his major league season.''
Gardiner concedes the path back to the majors may not run through New York.
``The Mets have an agenda,'' Gardiner said. ``There's nobody in that starting rotation that you can replace. I've got to remember they signed me as an insurance policy. And if there's no room (on the Mets roster), maybe they trade me to get somebody who can help in another area.
``Either way, I think I've established that I can pitch again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Tides pitcher Mike Gardiner has taken to a career switch, going from
reliever to starter. He's 6-0 with an IL-best 1.07 ERA. In 50 2/3
innings, Gardiner has struck out 49 while walking six and has
allowed no home runs. by CNB