Bielecki on Baseball: The Orioles Fast Start, Injuries, and Building Young Pitchers' Confidence

Before Mike Bielecki broke in with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1984, on his way to a 14-year big league career, he grew up playing ball little league ball here and pitching for Dundalk High. Career highlights include an 18-7 record with the Chicago Cubs in 1989 and an appearance in the 1996 World Series with the Atlanta Braves. On weekends during baseball season, he’ll participate in a Q & A for Dundalk Patch with longtime friend Lonnie Nelson, president of the Sharing Hopeful Hearts Foundation, on his playing career, the state of baseball and the Orioles – among other topics.

Readers are encouraged to submit questions for upcoming Q & A’s, via e-mail, to ron.cassie@patch.com. 

First question this week is from Dave Lurz, 47, of Dundalk.

Lurz: The Orioles have a number of good young pitchers now. Do you think Peter Angelos will spend the money down the road to keep these pitchers in Baltimore if they become stars?"

Mike Bielecki: “Well, he better or we will have 10 more years of losing seasons. Back in the 90's John Hart of the Indians started signing young players to long term contracts before their free agent years and paid young guys more up front for security later.

It was a great idea but the union frowned upon it because it could cost the player money in the long run. I’m not saying this is the solution, but you need to treat your core players well or they will walk when they can. You need to take care of what got you there. If you keep you good young players and continue success, you will be more capable of landing that key free agent who can get you over the top for a championship or playoff spot.

Top end free agents don’t want to play for a loser. Sometimes it’s not about the money. It’s either pay your guys now, or pay more later trying to land free agents. Winning or a chance to win will entice players to stay more than money.”

Patch: Mike, you played for the Pirates and Cubs when both teams were trying to build a championship team. Can you compare those teams with the current Orioles squad?

“My last season with Pittsburgh was the first year in their rebuilding scheme. But they did bring in Sid Thrift  as GM and traded away some good older players to contenders and got some good young non-established players in return. For example, Rick Rhoden went to the Yankees for Doug Drabek; Logan Easley  and Tony Pena went to the Cards for Andy Van Slyke, Mike Dunn and Spanky LaVallier.

In Chicago they had a good core of players, and the young pitching staff of Maddux, myself and Cal Schiraldi was anchored by Rick Sutcliffe. Very similar to the O's staff now. As soon as the young guys have a few good outings and convince themselves they can win at that level they will really help Buck getting deep into games. This is important because he won’t have to exhaust the bullpen every day with starters getting lifted early.

It’s a long season and many games are won by a bullpen being able to instill damage control They can’t do that if their arms are hanging from having to get up every inning in a game. All a starter has to do is give his team a chance to win and get into the 7^th.”

Patch: A great start with a 5-1 record and many people are jumping on the playoff bandwagon already. With the amount of young arms on the current staff what problems do you see in the future for the Orioles that may arise?

“Keep the guys out of the whirlpool. It’s early and a long season, but it’s always great to start off with all cylinders running. It will be important for the young guys to be able to bounce back from bad outings and forget. A lot of times a young pitcher will get unsure of himself after a shellacking and get timid on the mound trying to make perfect pitches. You are gonna have bad days and you learn, but  you need to forget.”

Patch: During your career you had more then your share of injuries, how hard was it to come back from them and what was the worst injury you had?

“I had Tommy John elbow surgery in1992, my free agent year while I was pitching great starting for Atlanta. It was very tough because I was coming up on a chance to really establish myself and make some money and gain security and now I had to start all over to prove myself. It was like now you are a risk and clubs shy away from investing too much in you.

I came back strong from that but it took time, about 18 months to gain full strength. I signed with Cleveland and was supposed to go to the minors and pitch and rehab to get my arm strength back, but ended up going back up to the big leagues to pitch because we lost three pitchers that one spring from that terrible boating accident on Little Lake Nelly. Tim Crews and Steve Olin were killed and Bobby Ojeda was hanging on for life.

I started for the Indians but lost it quick around 70 pitches.  The only way to get back arm strength is extend your innings but I was doing my rehab in the big leagues. Its hard enough getting big league hitters out when you are 100 percent. I really struggled that year and was almost out of baseball. I tore my rotator cuff in 1997, which ended my career. I was 40 years old and just wore out from years of pitching and age."

Patch: Getting back to how young the current Orioles staff is, who would you compare this O's staff to in history?

“I sat first hand with the Atlanta staff as they matured. The 1991 staff really came on with Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. All had great years, but the year before not so great. John Shuerholz and Bobby Cox went out and got some great defensive players to catch the ball for these young guys so they wouldn’t have to keep getting four outs an inning. Their confidence got better with success and they felt they didn’t have to make perfect pitches every time and the rest is history with about 15 straight divisional titles!”

Patch: Have you ever considered a coaching or another job in baseball?

“When I retired Bobby Cox told me if I ever wanted a job in baseball to give him a call. That’s a good guy to have on your side. I had two young daughters when I left the game and was divorced. I chose to stay home and be a good father for my girls. More money would have been great, but the benefits of raising girls with self-respect would pay off more than a few more bucks in the bank. Both are smart, beautiful and considerate young women.

My oldest Mallory has just finished her first year of college and Ashley, is a junior in high school at Archbishop Spalding. I work with kids locally, sometimes on a private level, and enjoy seeing a kid apply something I taught him. If I want to get back in the game, it will be when Ashley graduates from high school. But I really enjoy not having to work and spending my kids’ inheritance. LOL”

Patch: You do many things for the community that people don't hear about, like attending the events for the Sharing Hopeful Hearts Foundation.What other events do you attend during the year in the Dundalk or Baltimore area?

“I do a lot of stuff for the Ripken Foundation and MLB. It’s usually kids clinics for inner city youth, golf tournament fundraisers. I have done a few tournaments for the Wounded Warriors project, which is a great cause for helping out struggling families when a wounded hero comes home.

I just took up golf so I don’t help my foursome out so much with my driver, but I sure go have some good stories over a beer!”

Patch: Last question, have you ever thought about having your own camp in the Dundalk/Baltimore area?

“I am doing a camp in Dundalk April 21. If interested contact Coach Gus at
443-255-1669.”