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By BILL SAVAGE; Times Leader Sports Writer
Monday, May 23, 1994 Page: 1B QUICK WORDS: GADDY, RICCI MAKE SURE
BARONS FINALLY NAIL CLIPPERS
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Mike Quade went out to talk to Robert Gaddy in the
sixth inning of the Red Barons’ game at Columbus Friday night, he was in no
mood to beat around the bush with the pitcher they call “Gator.”
“He said, `Reach back, find something and get us out of here,”‘ said Gaddy,
who responded by holding Columbus to one run and keeping the game even long
enough for the Red Barons to score an eighth-inning run and beat the Clippers,
2-1, at Cooper Stadium.
It was the Red Barons’ first win over Columbus in 12 games, dating back
nearly an entire calendar year.
It was their first win at Cooper Stadium since Mickey Weston beat the
Clippers in Game 3 of the 1992 Governors’ Cup finals.
And it was a crucial win for the Red Barons, 15-24, after their horrendous
14-10 loss to Norfolk in the second game of a doubleheader the day before.
“We got that monkey off our backs,” said Gaddy.
He was referring to the losing streak to Columbus, a team the Red Barons
hadn’t beaten since May 31 of last year, when Gaddy himself beat the Clippers
for his first-ever Class AAA victory.
On Friday night, Chuck Ricci got that feeling. The right-hander pitched
three scoreless innings in relief of Gaddy to do something he didn’t do at
Rochester last year — get that Triple-A victory.
“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” said Ricci, who pitched four
innings in a 13-3 loss to Norfolk on Wednesday. “Four innings, a day off, then
three. But I’d rather pitch too much than not at all.”
Ricci, 1-1, got his victory by staring down big Sam Horn with one on and
two out in the bottom of the ninth.
Quade came out to talk to Ricci in that situation and had Scott Wiegandt, a
left-hander just up from Class AA Reading, prepared in the bullpen.
“I talked to Jimmy (pitching coach Jim Wright) for three batters before
about that,” Quade said. “But right up to the point I got to the mound, I
really didn’t know.”
Rather than put Wiegandt in such a spot on his first day with the team,
Quade stuck with Ricci.
“I wanted to make sure — and Chuck’s been around — that we made tough
pitches away,” Quade said of facing Horn, who had 38 home runs last year for
Charlotte.
“Sometimes you play the hot hand. Plus I hated to take him out in that
siutation and have something bad happen.”
The day before, Norfolk scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning
against two of Quade’s relievers. And besides, something in Ricci’s
performance reminded Quade of the 41-year-old pitcher he just sent back to
Philadelphia after an injury rehabilitation stay last week, Larry Andersen.
“His slider after slider kind of looked like Andy a bit,” Quade said.
Horn grounded out to end the game.
Gaddy, pounded by Columbus in an early-season start, struck out eight
Clippers in his six innings.
“That (the earlier start) didn’t really enter my mind at all,” he said.
“The last time I faced `em, I didn’t have my curveball or my split-finger. I
was kind of a crippled pitcher.”
The Red Barons took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jason Moler, who
had three hits in the game, doubled and came around to score on a ground-out.
Gaddy was up over 100 pitches in the sixth when, with two out, he issued
his second walk of the inning, to Mike Humphreys.
A great diving catch by center fielder Phil Geisler had kept him in the
game and, even though Gaddy gave up a double to Masse to score one run, he
came back and struck out Chito Martinez to strand two of the 14 runners
Columbus left on base in the game.
“He was tired in the sixth but I said, `Look, you’ve got to get us out of
this,”‘ Quade said.
In the eighth, with runners on first and second, Tom Marsh nearly hit into
a 5-4-3 triple play. But, after beating the throw to first, he stole second
and then came around to score on Mike Lieberthal’s single.
Ricci had one strikeout in each of his three innings to earn his victory.
Columbus, 19-19, struck out 11 times in the game. The Clippers have struck
out 282 times in 38 games this year.