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By PAUL SOKOLOSKI; Times Leader Sports Writer
Monday, July 04, 1994 Page: 5C QUICK WORDS: PITCHER MAUSER A
CONFIDENT PADRE
There’s nobody watching his every move now, nobody ready to send him back
to the minor leagues with the next bad pitch.
In the tranquility of Jack Murphy Stadium, Tim Mauser found confidence. And
with it came success.
“The more work I get, the more comfortable I feel,” said Mauser recently
during a pre-game interview in San Diego. “It’s working out good.”
Work is something the 27-year-old relief pitcher had trouble finding when
he pitched last year for the Philadelphia Phillies.
After going 2-0 with 10 saves and an incredible 0.87 ERA for Class AAA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year, Mauser was promoted to the Major Leagues.
But he was seldom used by the Phillies, as Mauser appeared in just eight
games before being traded to San Diego for Roger Mason.
“In the situation I was in with Philly, it was do or die,” Mauser said.
“Every time you went out there, you were looking over your shoulder. You ended
up thinking, every time you came in, `I better do good, or hell, I won’t get
out there again for two weeks.’ ”
One year ago today came the trade that changed his career. And the gutsy
right-hander didn’t need to pitch scared anymore.
The Phillies — in the thick of a pennant race in 1993 — traded Mauser to
the Padres for Mason. It was a move Mauser welcomed, as he’s finding the same
success in San Diego he knew as a Red Baron.
“It’s a relaxed atmosphere,” Mauser said. “A lot more relaxing on me.”
By the time he began the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he was the
Class AAA team’s grizzled veteran. Mauser appeared in more games (116),
pitched more innings (347), won more games (21), lost more games (24) and
struck out more batters (229) than any Red Baron pitcher in the franchise’s
six-year history.
But to accomplish all that, he needed a baseball to be placed in his hands
with regularity, something the Phillies were reluctant to do.
It’s also something the Padres don’t seem shy about doing. Mauser has
already pitched in 19 games for San Diego by the All-Star break this season,
almost twice as many games as he saw in two separate stints with Philadelphia
during the last two years.
Pitching with that kind of regularity, Mauser has prospered with a 2.52 ERA
and a 2-2 record with 20 strikeouts in 25 innings as a setup man for Padres
closer Trevor Hoffman.
“The more I get out there, and the more success you have, the more
confident you become,” Mauser said. “I’m a control pitcher. I’m not a guy
who’s going to blow hitters away. So my arm isn’t affected that much throwing
everyday.”
He’s been successful in a variety of roles. There have been games where
Mauser was asked to escape tough late-inning jams, and others where the Padres
needed him to hold the fort much earlier.
“I don’t think it really matters,” Mauser said. “Long or middle or short,
you’re number one job is to keep the game the way it is at that point.
Everybody’s got the same job to do, at different times.”
And at the most important time of his career, Mauser is only happy to keep
doing his job.
I
‘m a control pitcher. I’m not a guy who’s going to blow hitters away.
Tim Mauser
Padres’ pitcher