The first hint Sean Tracey might be tiring came with two outs in the seventh inning Tuesday night when a wild pitch sent only the second Durham baserunner as far as second base.
But Tracey got a flyout to end the inning and headed off manager Razor Shines almost before he could open his mouth.
“He was about to pull me,” the Triple-A Charlotte Knights starter said. “And I told him, `No. This is my game. This is my moment.'”
So, Shines said, “I just got out of his way.”
If Sox fans were worried about the psyche of one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, last seen with his jersey over his head in the visitors’ dugout June 14 after failing to hit Texas’ Hank Blalock with a retaliation pitch, rest assured that yes, he is chagrined. And yes, he has recovered.
On a steamy summer night in which the air hung still and heavy, the Knights pounded out 12 hits for seven runs while Tracey mowed down the home team to the tune of eight strikeouts with just one walk while scattering six hits on his way to his first career shutout.
“He was unbelievable, electric, he was that good,” Shines said. “He had one purpose and that was performing. I don’t know what he was trying to [prove], but whatever he did, the Durham Bulls don’t want to see it anymore.”
For Tracey, still steely-eyed and sweating in a frosty visitors’ clubhouse, Tuesday night’s victory was not, he insisted, a direct response to his short, strange experience with the big club last week.
“It had nothing to do with what took place in Texas,” he said quickly. “I let my teammates down and I obviously messed up and it’ll never happen again.”
But his exchange with Shines was certainly an example of his determination.
“No one is ever going to take the jersey off my back,” Tracey said. “I’m just trying to live the game one pitch at a time.”
The subject of endless commentary depicting the 25-year-old right-hander as everything from traitor to martyr to a combination of both, Tuesday’s game was his second outing since incurring the wrath of Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
Tracey pitched the same night he returned from Texas and looked shaken, lasting just two-thirds of an inning in relief. He gave up two hits, including a home run, and two earned runs while striking out two.
“I don’t know if shaken is the word, but I think he was still thinking about what went on with Chicago,” Shines said.
It later became apparent Tracey was but one target of Guillen’s displeasure on a night in which he had called out his entire team. But Tracey’s failure to hit Blalock, the only batter he faced, in reprisal for Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski getting hit by pitches twice earlier in the game, became the subject of much debate and called into question how soon, if ever, Tracey would get another shot in the big leagues.
“I don’t know what happened and I don’t know if he was told to hit somebody or not,” Shines said. “But I do know if the major-league manager tells you to do something, no matter what it is, you do it. That’s just the case. Again, I don’t know if that’s what happened or not, but I know Sean was upset with what transpired.
“He told me there were a lot of things going on in his head and he didn’t exactly know what to do. He asked me, `What do I do? Do I call time out and ask somebody?’ It’s his first year in the big leagues and I’m not making excuses for him. He’s a young kid. I’m a minor-league manager, and if Ozzie Guillen calls and tells me to do something, I’m going to do it. That’s simple. That’s not even a question. It’s just how you want it done and when you want me to do it.”
Tracey’s trip back to Charlotte after spending six days with the Sox and appearing in three games–allowing two runs on three hits, including a home run, with two walks and two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings–had more to do with making roster room for acquired reliever David Riske, Guillen said.
“This kid is going to come back,” Guillen said Tuesday night in Chicago. “He was sent down because we made a trade. He will come back and pitch for me. I don’t see why not.”
Told of Guillen’s comments, Tracey still would not absolve himself.
“Of course it makes me feel good, but I let my teammates down up there and it’s never going to happen again,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.
“I flat out made a mistake and it will never happen again.”
His call-up to Chicago in early June provided Tracey with his major-league debut. After starting the first six games of this season in the bullpen in his first year in Triple A, he has continued to improve and is 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA.
On Tuesday, he had full command of his fastball, which was in the 93-95-m.p.h. range, slider and changeup.
“After the ninth inning, he looked like he had at least three more innings in him. It was unbelievable,” Knights catcher Pascual Matos said. “He throws the slider for strikes any time he wants. I wasn’t afraid to call for it on 3-and-2. I’m so happy for him because he’s so focused.”
But that intensity coupled with his very public experience in Texas could have had the opposite effect on Tracey, Knights pitching coach Juan Nieves said.
“It could be easy for him to say, `You know, I want out of this organization. I want to start somewhere else.’ But the biggest thing he has said is `I want a second chance because this is my family.’ It takes more of a man to say that,” Nieves said.
“That was very encouraging to hear him say that because a lot of kids nowadays, it’s easy for them just to say, `I don’t care.’ But he does. He’s a very caring guy. He knows how this organization is run. Everybody deserves a second chance.”
Nieves said he had no doubt Tracey’s attitude coupled with what he does on the mound would help erase any negative impression he may have left.
“I know . . . Ozzie and Coop (pitching coach Don Cooper). They have huge hearts and [general manager] Kenny [Williams] loves his players . . . so we’re going to give a chance to our guy before somebody else’s.”
Tracey never considered his only way back to the big leagues would be with another team.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I wasn’t mad because I knew I didn’t get my job done. You have to confront adversity. You can’t run away from it.
“There’s always second chances in life. I believe in that, and as long as you stay positive, good things will happen. Really. This was a lesson well-learned.”
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misaacson@tribune.com
