Shaq-Man Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 from juan rodriguez / sun sentinel: Pavano's tip pays off By Juan C. Rodriguez Staff Writer Posted February 28 2004 JUPITER ? Right-hander Carl Pavano isn't ready to make a play for pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal's job, but there may be a future in coaching for him. World Series MVP Josh Beckett credited Pavano for suggesting an adjustment that helped turn his season around. Before missing two months with elbow tendinitis, Beckett was 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA. After his July return he won 6 of 10 decisions with a 2.55 ERA. "He just got me closing my front side off and pushing with my heel," Beckett said. "It really helped me the second half. He's been through a lot so he was trying to help me so I don't have to go through what he went through. That was his whole thought behind that." As a member of the Expos, Pavano missed two months in 1999 with elbow soreness. Tendinitis and inflammation sidelined him for large chunks of the next two seasons as well. In analyzing Beckett's delivery, Pavano noticed some of the same tendencies that caused his elbow problems. "From what I've learned as a pitcher, you want your bottom and top half to work together," Pavano said. "When you're young like him and you're all brute strength and you've got a great arm, those things don't click usually until you get older. I didn't want to see him go through it. "He was mature enough to take [the advice], give it a chance and it ended up working for him. It was trying to get him to use his legs more. That's the reason why I hurt my elbow. I was trying to get him to stay back, lead with his heel, and he picked it up in like two weeks and ran with it." To help illustrate his point, Pavano showed Beckett a tape of his delivery side-by-side with Curt Schilling's. Both Beckett and Schilling have similar windups, making it easy for Pavano to show Beckett his trouble spots. "I don't have the stats to be like, `Josh, do it like me,'" Pavano said. "You show him a guy like Schilling and he sees it, he's smart enough to know ... I noticed it in the beginning of the year, but he was very stubborn. He wasn't pitching well, and his ego was getting in the way a little bit. I gained his trust, and I told him this is what you need to do. I just wanted to pass it on to Josh before he became a victim of his delivery problem." FLORIE ON THE MEND Right-hander Bryce Florie was diagnosed with an intercostal muscle strain, which should keep him off the mound a few days. Sporting a large ice pack against the left side of his rib cage, Florie may start throwing off flat ground as soon as today. "We're going to ice and ice and ice and try to do whatever I can do that doesn't hurt," Florie said. "It could be a few days. It could be a few weeks. The doctor said I could throw to my tolerance. I'm going to try ... It feels a lot better today. I'm hoping it continues to feel better and when games start I'll be ready." Florie suffered the injury after throwing a pitch during batting practice Thursday. That was the first of two mishaps. Later that night, he had a sleepwalking accident. Florie rose out of bed while dreaming and unknowingly walked into a window at his apartment. The cut he suffered on his chin required 15 stitches. OPENING DAY UPDATE The Marlins have already sold more than 40,000 tickets for their April 6 season opener against the Montreal Expos at Pro Player Stadium. Though lower-bowl seats are sold out, the Marlins have made an additional 1,000 club-level tickets available. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basebal...-sports-marlins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBMarlin Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Perhaps there will be a coaching job for Pavano in his future. To help illustrate his point, Pavano showed Beckett a tape of his delivery side-by-side with Curt Schilling's. Both Beckett and Schilling have similar windups, making it easy for Pavano to show Beckett his trouble spots. He even went as far as preparing the tapes to illustrate his point. How many players would take the time to do that? I find that very impressive. :thumbup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Perhaps there will be a coaching job for Pavano in his future. To help illustrate his point, Pavano showed Beckett a tape of his delivery side-by-side with Curt Schilling's. Both Beckett and Schilling have similar windups, making it easy for Pavano to show Beckett his trouble spots. He even went as far as preparing the tapes to illustrate his point. How many players would take the time to do that? I find that very impressive. :thumbup He obviously had way too much time on his hands before he started dating Alyssa Milano. Good job Pavs on both counts. :brigginbounce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 When you have a teammate as young and as talented as Beckett, you get to him now and make sure he doesn't carry bad habits into the season and beyond. Great job for Pavz. He's already filling the leadership role left behind by Big Red in the rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot4beckett Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 Wow. I didn't know that about Pavano. Nice that Beckett gave him credit for it. Pavano's help worked too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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