The Angels’ Dr. Mc-K : For a Hockey Player, Kirk McCaskill Is Quite a Pitcher

The novelty of being a novelty has worn off for Kirk McCaskill, heretofore known as hockey’s great gift to baseball, the pitcher who came in from the cold, the prospect the Angels kept on ice.

McCaskill has heard all the puns about his days on skates. He has answered all the questions, too--from Boston to Toronto to Baltimore, bringing hockey writers out of the woodwork for a nice little off-season human-interest piece.

Yes, he is the son of that old L. A. Shark, Ted McCaskill of the World Hockey Assn. Yeah, he was an All-American hockey player at the University of Vermont. Yes, he was the Winnipeg Jets’ No. 1 draft choice in 1981, and yes, he gave up a $300,000 contract with the Jets to become a minor league pitcher.

McCaskill knows his hockey background is an easy hook for reporters and understands why he has been a curiosity since his major league debut last May.

But given his druthers, McCaskill would like to give the hook to that hook.

“Frankly, I’m kind of getting tired of all the talk about hockey,” McCaskill says. “Those days are just about blanked out of my mind by now. That’s an angle that’s just about been exhausted, I think.”

In the fourth month of his second season in the big leagues, McCaskill has taken it upon himself to manufacture a newer, fresher angle.

How about this?

Kirk McCaskill, Angel stopper.

As the 1986 baseball season approaches its halfway point, McCaskill, an Angel for a season-and-a-half, is 8-5 with a 3.69 earned-run average. Both marks rank him second among Angel starting pitchers to Mike Witt, regarded as the ace of the staff.

But there is more to those numbers than meets the cursory eye.

In half of McCaskill’s victories, the opposition has been held to four or fewer hits.

On April 22, he threw a two-hitter at the Oakland A’s.

On May 31, he threw a two-hitter at the Baltimore Orioles.

On June 16, he threw a four-hitter at the Texas Rangers on an evening better remembered as the night Charlie Hough’s no-hitter passed away on a hit and two passed balls.

And on June 25, he threw a one-hitter at the Rangers. Only a solo home run by Steve Buechele in the third inning came between McCaskill and some bold print in the record book.

Oh, and one other thing. In 115 innings, McCaskill has struck out 103 batters. That ranks him fifth in the American League behind Roger Clemens, Ted Higuera, Witt and Jack Morris.

This from a pitcher whose scouting report once read: Skates faster than he can throw.

So, let’s get to the heart of the matter. What in the world has gotten into McCaskill?

Well, for one, a touch of confidence.

“Last year, I was more of a worrier,” McCaskill said. “I worried about being sent down, I worried about getting people out. My anxiety level would fluctuate from day to day--even from inning to inning. I’d get into a little trouble and there it would go again. The tension level would start to rise.”

There was good reason for that. On April 30, 1985, McCaskill was recalled from the minors to fill a roster spot while Geoff Zahn mended on the disabled list. From the start, he viewed his major league status as tenuous. It was compounded daily when he staggered to an 0-4 record in his first seven starts.

Throughout his first two months with the Angels, every game McCaskill pitched was with a demotion slip to Edmonton hanging over his head.

“Potentially, every start I made could have sent me back to the minors,” McCaskill said.

After six outings of nothing, McCaskill was on the brink. In late May, the then-defending champion Detroit Tigers came to Anaheim, and McCaskill could feel the vibes with every pitch he delivered.

Can do . . . or Canada.

“Even though nobody said anything, I knew I had reached the crisis point,” McCaskill said. “I had to show something then or else.”

Angel Manager Gene Mauch knew it, too.

“We’d gone just about as far as we could, for fear that if he didn’t get it done then, he might start to wonder if he could ever do it,” Mauch said. “I didn’t want him to get to the point where he starts thinking, ‘Maybe I can’t pitch here.’ ”

McCaskill didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning against the Tigers. He finished with a no-decision, but it prompted the Angels to make another decision: McCaskill would stay.

“That kind of turned things around,” McCaskill said. “I had a little job security after that.”

After that, McCaskill went 12-8, ending his rookie season at an even 12-12. That was enough for Mauch to guarantee the kid a berth in the ’86 starting rotation.

McCaskill added a pitch to his scant 1985 repertoire--developing a curveball to augment his regular diet of fastballs and sliders. Amazing what a third pitch can do for a guy.

“Last year, when I ran into trouble, I had no options,” McCaskill said. “(Catcher) Bob Boone had no confidence in me throwing a breaking ball when I got behind in the count.

“This year, we go to the curve. Bob calls a different game for me now, but I’ve earned it.”

And, then, there’s another reason for the sudden greening of McCaskill. But keep it quiet.

Psst. McCaskill has been lifting weights to get more punch behind his fastball. But, remember, you didn’t read it here.

McCaskill says he began a weight-training program last winter and continues to work with dumbbells three times a week during the season. It has added speed to his fastball--McCaskill has consistently been clocked in the 90-91 m.p.h. range this year--although he would like to keep that information classified.

“Don Sutton said to me, ‘Don’t tell anybody you’re throwing harder,’ ” McCaskill said. “For 20 years, all you’ve heard about Sutton is that he has no stuff, that he just gets by. Well, I can tell you--that’s bull.

“But that’s what he has made people believe and it’s worked for him. He keeps people off-guard. I never thought much about the psychology of the game before, but what he told me makes a lot of sense. . . . I don’t want to tell anyone how fast I’m throwing.”

When Sutton learned of this information leak, he launched into a mock fit.

“Did he tell you that?” Sutton demanded, throwing his hands up in the air. “Well, there he goes, blowing the whole thing.”

Mauch said: “There’s no secret. He (McCaskill) has quality stuff. Two-hitters, one-hitters . . . he’s capable of doing those kinds of things.”

Still, when Mauch considers the scant time McCaskill has put into learning the science of pitching, he admits some surprise at the quick development. Before he signed a professional contract, McCaskill had pitched fewer than 400 innings through four years of high school and four years of college.

Now, McCaskill is entrenched in the Angels’ rotation. Talk to him now about those old anxieties of ’85.

“When I first came up, Gene and Lach (pitching coach Marcel Lachemann) were so intense, I thought I had to act and react the same way,” he said. “I thought I had to blow up and throw things around to show everybody I was competitive. I had to be Mr. Intensity. But I knew that wasn’t me.

“Now, I’m on a much more even keel. I don’t have to think about being sent down or getting taken out of the rotation. And I’ve learned to take baseball for what it’s worth. Baseball is not going to solve any world problems. It’s not going to stop hunger in America. To a lot of people, it’s not that important.”