M’s Baldwin insists he will shine

By Larry LaRue

The News Tribune

PEORIA, Ariz. – James Baldwin never got into the numbers side of baseball – strikeout ratios and earned run average, innings pitched or home runs allowed.

“I only worry about one thing, and that’s winning,” Baldwin said. “I’ve got a career ERA of about 5.00, and people can criticize that all they want. The bottom line is, I win games.”

Win them he has – 72 of them in six full major league seasons, despite injuries to his right elbow and right arm.

And it’s not just because some stats don’t look good that Baldwin doesn’t care much about them. One of the biggest games of his career came in the 2000 American League Division Series against Seattle. Baldwin went six innings, allowed three hits and one run.

Great game?

“We lost, 2-1, and you don’t lose great games,” Baldwin said. “The object of the game is to win, and I’ve never gone to the mound thinking any other way.”

A North Carolina athlete who played baseball, basketball and football in high school, Baldwin was big enough – 6-3 and 235 pounds – to get recruited by colleges as a fullback.

Instead, he graduated from high school and was drafted in 1990 by the Chicago White Sox. He signed and reported to the team. A few weeks later, his father died.

“My dad was a good athlete, too,” Baldwin said. “He might have gone on to become a professional, but when he was 19 my mother got pregnant. Dad had responsibilities, and that was the end of sports.”

Baldwin is named for his father, James, and Baldwin’s son is James Baldwin III. Though his father never saw him pitch in the majors, in one sense he’s never missed a game.

“I have a ritual before every game I pitch,” Baldwin said. “I run out to center field and I say a prayer, then I tell my dad I’m thinking of him.”

He has a philosophy about the game, too.

“I’ve taken the mound hurt many times, that playoff game in 2000 I had no business being on the mound,” Baldwin said. “But if you want to consider yourself a warrior, you’ve got to go out there any time you can. I think of every game like it might be my last.”

Baldwin is the Mariner asked to take the role filled the last two seasons by Aaron Sele. The third man in the Seattle rotation, Baldwin will be asked to eat up innings, which means staying in games regardless of the score.

“He’s a lot like Aaron that way, in that he keeps you in the game no matter what the score is,” Lou Piniella said. “He gives you the chance to win, which is all you ask of any pitcher.

“I’d rather have a pitcher with a higher ERA that wins than one with a low ERA who finds ways to lose games. James is tough. He competes. He wins.”

One of Baldwin’s best friends is outfielder Mike Cameron, and the two have known each other since their minor league days in the White Sox organization.

“We went to dinner the night before we faced each other for the first time,” Baldwin said. “And I told him, ‘I’m not giving you bleep to hit, and if you crowd the plate I’m going to hit you.’

“That first game, he stepped in and we smiled a bit and then went about our business. He’s a good man, and after we lost in the 2000 playoffs, he came into the clubhouse and hugged me.”

Few other Mariners know Baldwin well. He says by the end of camp, they will know what’s most important – what he’s like when he’s on the mound.

“I’m quiet in a clubhouse, although if something needs to be said I’ll say it,” Baldwin said. “What matters is that my teammates know that I’ll do what has to be done when I’m on the mound.

“I had choices this winter, and I chose to come here. I liked the way this team plays, I liked Lou Piniella. He’s like a light bulb in the clubhouse, he comes in and that energy turns on and doesn’t leave.”

Splitting the season between the White Sox and Dodgers last year, Baldwin went 10-11, making 29 starts despite coming off shoulder surgery. He watched the Mariners win 116 games and get to the AL Championship Series.

“I came here to help this team finish what it started last year, to get further,” Baldwin said.