Pitcher's passion in check

Relief candidate John Frascatore returns from a year off with a better handle on his rage.

By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays right-hander John Frascatore says the heat is still there but deep in his soul; where once burned a roaring fire now flickers a steady flame.

That's what a year away from baseball will do for you.

It'll give you perspective and take away the anger. It'll rejuvenate your juices. It'll remind you of how much you love the game and how much you love some things more.

So when you're 33 and your children are growing up and your wife is working the farm and you're always on edge, spending time with them is more important than working on the curveball.

So it was, at the end of an impressive 2002 spring training with the Mets, Frascatore walked away.

With the job offer in hand, Frascatore said no to baseball and yes to manning his 40-acre ranch in Brooksville and having picnics with his family.

"I had been doing this thing for going on 13 years and I just got burned out," Frascatore said. "I was burned out from the traveling, burned out from some of the politics that we have to go through. I had had enough.

"I consider myself a family guy and we never got to go on vacations and I finally got to take them on vacation. I got to get away from the mental grind of the game. When I pitched, I was so intense I would be burned out by the end of the year. It was taking a toll on me and my family."

So while waking at 5 a.m. to tend to his herd of 30 cattle and his stable of eight horses, Frascatore found the way to bring peace to his life was to share it with those who cared: wife Kandria, son Gavin (7) and daughter Kaylee Marie (4).

"We have a horse trailer with full living quarters and we were able to take the kids up to Pennsylvania," he said. "Then we came back down and went to Busch Gardens and we were there for the Fourth of July and we got to do some great family stuff. It was the stuff I had missed."

Frascatore, who made his major-league debut July 21, 1994 with the Cardinals, said the time spent working the farm gave him an appreciation of the way most people live their lives: long days, tired bones, dinner with the family. And while his soul was recovering, his mind was learning that baseball should be played on the field and not taken home.

"I'm always on edge," he said. "I hear it from my wife, still today. I'm a little bit more relaxed than I was, but I'm always on edge. Sometimes it did hurt family life because I was not the most romantic or the most gentle person. I was always rough."

Though he walked away, Frascatore said he never abandoned the game. He built a regulation mound in his back yard and used the mounds at Hernando and Citrus high schools to keep his form. He worked out rigorously.

Now he i's back in the game, hoping the Rays can give him one more shot at glory. The comeback, Frascatore said, is not about money, but about a refreshed love of the game. Over the years, Frascatore has made more than $1.5-million and is content with his lot in life. He lives in a 36-foot-long horse trailer he said is equipped with all the necessary trimmings.

And though the Rays accept that a year away from the game makes the challenge of making a roster harder, they're prepared to give Frascatore a solid chance.

"I tell you what you gain is a true respect for the game," pitching coach Chris Bosio said. "I know when I got out of the game I literally cried myself to sleep many nights because I missed it that much. It's a passion. It's about the camaraderie. That's his life.

"All indications are that he's very focused and has a greater appreciation for where he's at right now in his career. He's been a pleasure to have in camp, almost like another coach on the field."

Of course, the climb still is very much uphill. The Rays have 39 pitchers in camp jockeying for a likely 12 positions.

"It's much easier for a veteran pitcher because they have the experience, the maturity (to handle coming back)," manager Lou Piniella said. "It'll be much tougher on a younger kid who hasn't been through it. I know that he likes the ball and I know that he competes very well. You need some experience in the bullpen and that's where he fits in, and we're going to let him compete in spring training."