Mays wants to show durability after surgery

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

There are several types of spring training feature stories, and Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Mays has been in almost all of them.

The latest type of story: player coming off an injury.

On Sept. 11, 2003, Mays had "Tommy John" surgery on his right, throwing elbow, in which Dr. James Andrews replaced a torn elbow ligament with a tendon from another part of the body.

Mays missed all of last season rehabilitating the elbow, and he just recently recovered from a minor, follow-up surgery in November.

The Minnesota Twins held their second official workout for pitchers and catchers Tuesday morning at the Lee County Sports Complex. Afterward, Mays admitted he had trouble sleeping two nights ago.

"I was nervous for the first time in quite a few years coming into spring," Mays said. "I was really kind of lost out in a big ocean for awhile. Now I'm back on the mainland.

"I just want to be treated like any of the other pitchers. I just want them to give me an equal opportunity. The last thing I want them to think is that I need to be brought along slow."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Mays won't be treated any different from the other 22 pitchers in camp.

"He knows he's doing what we're doing now," Gardenhire said. "He says he's ready to go, and everybody says he's ready to go. He's just one of the pitchers in our program now.

"He's worked hard to get where he's at. That's a good sign."

The surgery Mays had was named after Tommy John, who had the first such surgery on Sept. 25, 1974. After missing all of the next season, John went on to win 171 more games, retiring in 1989 after a 26-year career. John went 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA upon returning to the L.A. Dodgers in 1976.

John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves, Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs and Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees are others who have enjoyed success following the surgery.

"If he comes back and has a decent year, he could help us out a lot," Twins starter Brad Radke said of Mays. "It's hard coming off a major surgery, but he has the mental toughness to do it."

Because Mays has had an up-and-down career, he has fit the bill for four of the five most frequent types of spring feature stories:

Hot prospect trying to break into the big leagues: In 1998, Mays had a 7-2 record and 3.04 ERA for the Class A Fort Myers. A year later, he broke through into the majors, going 6-11 with a 4.37 ERA as a rookie.

Player coming of a bad year: In 2000, Mays had a 7-15 record and a 5.56 ERA, bad enough for a demotion to the minor leagues at Triple-A Salt Lake City.

Player coming off a good year: Mays went 17-13 with a 3.16 ERA in 2001.

"Everything just went right that year," Mays said. "You can throw your heart out and still lose 1-0."

Mays, 29, has yet to qualify for the fifth type of story: aging veteran trying to make it with another team.

Mays laughed at that.

"You try to open people's eyes, but you also try to stay under the radar," he said. "You try not to be the focal point of the camp."

Minnesota's pitching rotation has reigning Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana at the helm along with Radke, Kyle Lohse and Carlos Silva. The fifth spot is up for grabs, barring any injuries or setbacks.

"If Joe Mays is throwing the ball good, it looks good on paper, but paper never wins ballgames," Gardenhire said. "It would also give us some depth in Triple-A (in the minor leagues) with some pretty good backups there. It just depends on how it all breaks down."