Saturday, September 11, 1999
Rijo stays for the love of the game
BY TIM SULLIVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jose Rijo is running out of elbow room. Five times he has had surgery on the fragile joint in his splendid arm, and five times he has attempted to come back and pitch.
This time, he says, is for keeps. Four years since he last pitched in the major leagues, Rijo has finally reached the point where he will interpret another setback as a signal to retire.
In the meantime, he's planning on winter ball. This is a man who has a hard time taking a hint.
“I made up my mind that if I can't pitch winter ball, I'm going to call it quits,” Rijo said Friday afternoon at Cinergy Field. “Mario (Soto) told the Dominican newspapers that I should give it up. The only thing that I have that he doesn't have is the love of the game. Baseball has been my whole life.”
Once the ace of the Cincinnati Reds, Rijo is now formally connected to the club only through his baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. He is still just 34 years old, but no longer under any player contract with any team. His pitching progress is followed more out of curiosity than anticipation.
Not here as pitcher
Officially, Rijo's purpose here this week relates only to organizational issues. Yet when he borrows a glove from Brett Tomko and commences to play catch, well, it gets people talking.
“Is there a way he can pitch? Yes,” said Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the Reds medical director. “There are a fair number of big-league pitchers who have insufficient ligaments on the inside part of their elbow. Most of those guys have been around the big leagues for a long time and they compensate with their shoulder and with their head.”
Rijo continues to believe because the goal never seems very far from his grasp. Quality pitching is so scarce that 10 major-league clubs carry ERAs above 5.00. Rijo need not be at his best to be better than most guys.
“That's one of my motivations,” he said. “There are not as many good pitchers as there used to be. I don't have to be Jose Rijo. I can be Jose Sojo.”
If it were simply a matter of stuff, he might succeed as Jose So-So. When his fastball was last measured, three months ago, Rijo reached a respectable 86 mph.
“I threw 145 pitches and didn't feel anything,” he said. “But the next day, I did. I was tired and weak. I thought, "Better take another month off.'”
"Some kind of miracle'
Reds pitching coach Don Gullett says it would be “some kind of a miracle,” if Rijo were to pitch again in the big leagues. Yet he does not entirely rule it out. The Reds stopped waiting on Jose Rijo's return three or four years ago, but they continue to leave a light in the window just in case.
“I won't write him off till he writes himself off,” Gullett said. “Nobody works any harder. If he's dedicated to get here, it's not out of the question. His experience would be very beneficial. He knows how to pitch, how to get people out.”
At his best, Rijo was breathtaking. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1990 World Series, winning two games of the four-game sweep and retiring 20 straight Oakland A's in one stretch. His slider was moving so much in Game 4 that Mark McGwire might have done as much damage swinging at snowflakes. The home run king was 0-for-6 against Rijo.
“It would mean everything to pitch again — even in winter ball,” Rijo said. “I'm not even talking about major-league level. I just want to pitch again, to feel the emotion ... I want to be able, when I leave, to say goodbye, not to be rushed to the hospital to get an X-ray.”
Jose Rijo has spent four years trying to rewrite his exit scene, trying to coax his arm into shape for one last fling. At times, he has been the only one who thought it was worth his trouble.
“Time I have,” Rijo said. “I have 24 hours a day to do what I want. I'm doing this for me — for my heart.”
Enquirer columnist Tim Sullivan welcomes your E-mail. Message him at tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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