Looks often can be deceiving, but the new Jim Parque looks a whole lot like the old Jim Parque.
He’s a few pounds heavier, a couple years older and he still has that laptop-sized chip on his shoulder about the ubiquitous Jerry Manuel hook.
But after nine months of rehabbing and soul-searching at his Seattle home, Parque may be back to the pitcher who won 13 games in 2000 and started the opening game of the playoffs that season.
Only last October the word from the White Sox dugout was Parque would be relegated to bullpen duty this year, keeping his innings down after missing the final five months with his torn left labrum. Instead, Parque enters spring training as the No. 3 starter and a vital ingredient in Manuel’s 2002 game plan.
“I’d heard [the bullpen rumor], but I figured if I came into spring training healthy and pitched the way I did in 2000, if not better, I felt I had a real good shot at getting my job back,” Parque said. “I did a good job in 2000, and that was my second full year. This is really only my third full year, and I learned a lot last year.
“When you go out and throw and aren’t able to throw the way you’re used to throwing, you have to work around it. I felt I became more of a pitcher. I was always able to spot my fastball before, but then I had speed to go along with it. Now hopefully the speed will be back and I’ll be able to use what I learned last year this year.”
One thing Parque learned was that every move he makes is subject to scrutiny. He enjoys sparring with the media, partly because he wrote a column for a while until the Sox pressured him to give it up.
But he kept using his laptop to answer critics, writing an “open letter” for a WSCR-AM Web site last April after being ripped for questionable mound demeanor.
When removed in the fifth inning of a start April 10, Parque stormed off the mound without making eye contact with Manuel and headed straight into the clubhouse to let off steam. Parque and Manuel met at Manuel’s request the next day. Parque said afterward he wasn’t showing up his manager, and the incident died a quick death.
Two starts later, on April 20, Manuel let Parque throw nine innings in a complete-game loss to Minnesota. But Oakland knocked Parque around in his next start, when he allowed seven runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. The shoulder tear was discovered days later and Parque disappeared from sight soon after his surgery.
Manuel said Monday that Parque “needed to get clarity” about why he wasn’t letting him pitch complete games, which is why he let him go the route that night. Whether that outing exacerbated the shoulder tear is unknown.
“My point is this,” Manuel said. “What the young pitchers don’t understand is that they want to go nine [innings] because it’s an ego thing. But they don’t understand that if you go nine on Sunday, you’re next start is Friday, and most of the times [you last] three innings after going nine. That’s exactly what happened to him. He needed to see that.
“A lot of times we’re trying to protect the pitcher from abuse. They have the mentality of, `Hey, if it takes 150 pitches, I want to finish this game.’ But if it takes you 150 pitches, you probably won’t pitch very long unless you are Nolan Ryan or one of those types, very strong like a Roger Clemens. There aren’t many of those guys around. That’s why you have to be careful about bringing them along–so they can be consistent on Sunday and Friday. Unless you’re [a Ryan or Clemens], it’s usually going to catch up with you the next time.”
Perhaps it caught up with Parque. Regardless, he still believes he can pitch late into games this spring, given the opportunity.
“For the most part, even with a bad arm I went nine and seven innings on a consistent basis,” Parque said. “The last outing I didn’t because I was shot–I couldn’t throw the ball. But if I could do it with a bad arm . . . I know I am a young pitcher, but I’ve had some experience. [Manuel] gave me the benefit of the doubt and let me go [nine]. I didn’t think it hurt my arm, but so be it.”
If Parque can last late, it would suggest the arm is back and strong as ever. And if the old Parque is back, can the White Sox be far behind?
