With Heavy Metal and Nasty Stuff in Common, Mike Mussina and Scott Erickson Lead the O's Staff

“OU812 a better album than Master of Puppets?”
“David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar?”
“Jeter like to chase high fastballs?”

One can only imagine the late-night conversations that take place between Mike Mussina and Scott Erickson in their regular spots on the sofa in the Orioles clubhouse.

“We go over hitters, pitches, talk baseball,” says Erickson. “Van Halen and Metallica talk.”

The rock 'n jocks say it has become a bit of a tradition over the last three years for the $50-million top of the O's rotation to huddle over the post-game spread. Last one to sit down is responsible for the drinks: lemon-lime PowerAde for Moose, bottled water for Scotty.

Just as those post-game exchanges must be imagined, Mussina and Erickson keep much of their pitching secrets to themselves. For instance, when asked to display their signature pitches during the photo shoot for the OUTSIDE PITCH cover, the two insisted on switching grips. Thus, Erickson cradles a knuckle-curve while Mussina quickly learned how to hold Erickson's sinking fastball.

Of course, there's plenty more where that came from.

With three pitches at the start of his big league career, Mussina's arsenal has risen steadily. He now throws two types of fastballs, two curves (one the knuckle-curve, the other standard), change-up, slider and splitter. With different arm angles on the curves, the number of looks he can present reaches double-digits. And that doesn't count a work in progress: “My knuckleball,” he grins, “so I can still play when I'm 40.”

“You don't see too many guys like that,” says catcher Charles Johnson, “that can throw so many pitches at any time and throw strikes with every pitch. He can do so many things, you can be very creative behind the plate. You can really exploit all kinds of stuff because all his stuff is good. You're not limited to one or two pitches.”

Mussina's vast array of pitches and his ability to improvise when he doesn't have his best stuff have led to an increase in his strikeouts, highlighted by his brilliant 15-K performance in the 1997 ALCS.

“If you're up there hitting and you have more things to worry about,” says the 30-year-old right-hander, “then it makes it tougher to hit. I'm pretty sure I'm a better pitcher than I was five or six years ago. I'm more knowledgeable and I have more pitches to throw. For that reason, I think I get a few more [strikeouts] than I used to. I'm not Randy Johnson or someone who throws 95 m.p.h., and I never have been, so I use a handful of other things to make my fastball look a little faster than it is.”

Manager Ray Miller points to those options as the reason Mussina is the leader of his staff.

“He's the number one for a multitude of reasons,” he says. “I think mostly it's because Mike can beat you on a given day with anything he has.

“I've been in pitching my whole life and that third at-bat is the critical at-bat. If the guy saw any pitches the first two times up, he's pretty much seen everything you've got. As a pitching coach and as a manager, I sit there and think, ‘Okay, this is what he [Mussina] threw him last time, he'll have to do it again.' It'll be the complete opposite. He's just a very intelligent man and a very talented pitcher.”

Erickson throws a fastball, curveball, change-up, slider and cutter. His sinking fastball inspires groundballs (74% of the balls hit off him in '98 were grounders, tops in the AL) and tests the acumen of opposing groudskeepers.

“We've seen it on the road,” says Miller. “Scotty pitches in certain ballparks and there ain't a drop of water on home plate. They get it real hard because they want the ball to bounce.”

The revelation of the sinking action on Erickson's fastball came during a Little League All-Star game when he was 12 years old. The dive on the pitch is now second nature.

“I don't even try,” says Erickson, now 31. “I think it is just in the grip and my arm angle.”

Erickson has been perfecting his change-up since he became a pro but says it is “not my best pitch.”

“When it's going good I don't need one,” he says of the change-up. “If I run into a little trouble sometimes, that's when I need it.”

Different in virtually every way - pitching style, demeanor and build - Mussina and Erickson's seasons last year were also a contrast. Erickson remained healthy throughout, going 16-13 and leading the league with 2511/3 innings and 11 complete games. Mussina, on the other hand, had a season worthy of an ER story line, suffering a line drive to his forehead and a persistent wart on his index finger.

“It could have ended my career with my hand, it could have ended my career with the ball hitting me in the head,” Mussina recalls. “I kind of feel fortunate that I'm still doing this. I don't forget it. I got through all of that stuff. I still had 200 innings. I still had a 3.50 ERA. I accomplished some things last year that, considering the circumstances, I was pleased that I was able to do it.”

The Stanford graduate married in the fall of 1997 and has a stepdaughter. His first child was born in September of last year.

“I think getting hit and coming back changed my perspective on baseball,” he says one afternoon as his wife and baby boy wait outside the clubhouse.

“Having a family changed my perspective on life. An inch lower and I'm blind. It could have been a whole lot worse. I'm just real fortunate that I'm still here.”

Last May, with Mussina, Scott Kamieniecki and Jimmy Key on the D.L., Erickson became the de facto ace. He responded with a 3-0 June, averaging 71/3 innings an outing.

“I think with all the troubles last year with Jimmy and Moose,” says Erickson, “everyone felt that I had extra pressure put on me. I can only take the ball every five days and do the best I can do. I can't do better. If you're already giving 100%, you can't give 200% for two people.”

Says Mussina: “If you consistently have the same five guys out there when it is their turn, like we did the year before, it takes off that unnecessary pressure.”

That was certainly the plan for the Orioles this season, with Juan Guzman, Sidney Ponson and Kamieniecki joining Mussina and Erickson in a starting rotation that appeared to be a team strength.

The oft-injured Kamieniecki, coming off neck surgery, succumbed to a hamstring injury in March. He was replaced by Doug Linton, who has returned from “Tommy John” surgery and a three-year absence from the big leagues. Linton was then sent to the bullpen and replaced by a Triple-A call-up. Guzman followed up an impeccable exhibition season with mixed early- season results. Miller's high regard for the talented Ponson has been tempered by questions about the 22-year-old's weight and conditioning. A dearth of quality starts taxed an overmatched bullpen and ballooned the staff ERA to 6.55 after a dozen games.

And once again Mussina and Erickson are constructing divergent seasons. Mussina began the year in mid-season form. The three games the team won in its first twelve contests were all started by Mussina.

Erickson struggled early and suggested that too many April off days were partly to blame. “I need to pitch,” he explains. “That's pretty much what it amounts to.”

With Mussina at the top of his game and hopeful that Erickson would find his form as his innings mounted, Miller remained cautiously optimistic that his rotation would eventually right itself.

“I'm not going to lose faith,” he said in early April. “In the long grind, I think they'll be a pretty good pitching staff.”