Fregosi Knows His Closer
By JON COOK -- SLAM! Sports
When the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals play each other, Ricky Bottalico and Billy Koch have more in common than being the guy their teams turn to when they need to protect a lead in the ninth inning. They are both proteges of Jim Fregosi.
Bottalico was molded into a closer by Fregosi when the two were together in Philadelphia and Koch was converted from a starter in the minors into a full-time closer last year in Fregosi's first season as the Jays' manager.
Bottalico entered the game from the opposing bullpen on Wednesday night to nail down a 4-3 victory for his new manager Tony Muser and hand his old manager his first loss of the season.
"Jimmy gave me my start and I thank him for everything I have right now," said Bottalico, who saved 34 games for Fregosi in 1996. "He brought me up when I wasn't pitching well in the minor leagues and he let me play. He gave me the confidence I have now so I owe him a lot, but it feels good to beat him too."
Fregosi was fired at the end of that season, after his Phillies finished fifth in the National League East Division with a record of 67-95. While the team did poorly, Fregosi said Bottalico always performed well for him.
"I like the kid a lot," said the 57-year-old skipper, who has managed close to 2,000 games with the Phillies, Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and California Angels. "He set up for me for a year and we made a closer out of him and he had a couple of good years for me. He's a tough kid. He's been through the wars and he knows what it takes."
In 1995 Bottalico led Fregosi's bullpen in games (62) and strikeouts (87) and paced the entire Phillies' staff with a .167 opponents batting average. In 1996 he was named to the 1st National League All-Star squad.
Fregosi said he looks for two things in a pitcher to determine if he has what it takes to be a major-league closer: "Stuff and mental approach."
By "mental approach" the grizzled manager means toughness, something Bottalico says he's developed with age.
Bottalico's toughness was evident on Wednesday, when he entered the game with a 4-2 lead in the ninth and immediately served up a solo homer to Jays' third baseman Tony Batista. He then issued a one-out walk Jose Cruz Jr., who then stole second and went to third on catcher Brian Johnson's throwing error. However Bottalico never panicked and got Alex Gonzalez to ground to Randa at third base and Cruz was tagged out in a rundown as he attempted to score. Darrin Fletcher followed with a grounder to first for the final out and Bottalico had his first American League save.
"If this was last year with the Cardinals and that first guy hits a home run I think I would have been in panic mode," said the 6-1, 215-pound righthander, who was acquired by the Royals in January after spending 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals. "I think last year helped me out a lot, because you learn to get beat around a little bit every once in a while but last year I didn't take it very well. So when he hit that home run I looked at the scoreboard and said it's allright we're still up one run and all I have to do is get the outs and we go home and that's exactly what happened."
Bottalico led the Cardinals with 20 saves last year, but recorded five of his eight blown saves in the second half as his surgically repaired arm began to wear down. The 31-year-old Bottalico did some extra work in the offseason and said now his arm feels as good as it ever has.
Bottalico said that while Koch has all the tools to be the majors' next big closer, the most important element to his success is the man sitting beside him in the Jays' dugout.
"I was talking to Billy the other day and I said you've got love him (Fregosi), because I know how he treats his closers," said Bottalico after the game. "He was very good with me and I'm sure it's the same with Billy and Billy says he enjoys playing with him."
While Fregosi has seen and worked with a lot of closers during his 34 years in the majors, he said Koch has the most talent of any of them.
"To be honest I've never seen a kid who's got the kind of stuff that Billy Koch has got," said Fregosi. "I've been fortunate Ricky Bottalico was a great closer for me and I've had a lot of them through the years, but I've never seen one of them who has had as good a stuff as Billy."
After being informed about his manager's sparkling comments about him, Koch seemed taken aback.
"Hell that guy's been around for a long time and has seen a lot of good players and it's just an unbelievable comment," said the Jays' 25-year-old closer. "For him to say that after only having seen me for a year just blows my mind."
Under his first year with Fregosi, Koch set a new AL record for saves by a rookie with 31. Koch, who possesses a 100-mph fastball, credits his rookie success to Fregosi's breaking him in slowly and showing the confidence in him to do the job.
"He gradually worked me into the role and then a couple of time when things didn't go our way and I had a blown save or a loss, he took me in and said 'Look things like this are going to happen' and he just reassured me that I'm still the guy he's going to go to in the ninth inning."
Fregosi's untouched confidence in his closer was on display in Tuesday's 6-3 win against the Royals, when he put Koch into the game after the sophomore had blown his first save of the year the night before. Koch gave up two hits in the ninth, but was able to get pinch-hitter Greg Zaun to ground out to end the contest. On Monday, Zaun had a two-run single off Koch in the ninth that tied the contest.
The Royals and Jays split their opening series at 2-2, but Fregosi's past and present closers were 1-0 and had two saves.
While Fregosi's blustery style may rub some people the wrong way, he will always be admired by Koch and Bottalico. For them Fregosi has been more than just another manager, he has been like a father and in turn they have been and will always remain his sons.
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