Mulholland has love affair with baseball

Jim Souhan
Star Tribune

FORT MYERS, FLA. -- Wind followed rain to Hammond Stadium on Sunday, cutting short the Twins' workout.

If you were a pitcher wanting to leave the ballpark early, this was your chance, but as others filtered out of the clubhouse there was Terry Mulholland sitting in his corner locker in workout togs, outlasting the youngsters, in no hurry to leave.

This is about as surprising as nightfall. Mulholland broke into pro ball in 1984, yet when he jogs onto the diamond each morning, a coach will ask how he's doing, and Mulholland will smile and say, "Another day in the big leagues."

There are too many to count. He will turn 42 March 9. He figures he's covered first base about 12,000 times in spring training drills, and he is making strides toward fulfilling his goal as a young man -- pitching in the big leagues when his age matches his jersey number.

That would be 45.

"I might have to readjust that in the next few years," Mulholland said. "I'm having too much fun."

As he gazed at empty lockers, Mulholland said he's thinking of 50 as a new goal, but he doesn't need to live in the future, or past. Lots of players miss the rattle and hum of the clubhouse once they're gone; Mulholland realized long ago that this baseball life is precious and unique, that he is in no hurry to leave the clubhouse.

"When you do something for as many years as I've been doing it, you'd better enjoy it, you better like talking about it, you better be able to show up with a smile on your face and genuinely love what you're doing and who you're with, young guys and old," Mulholland said. "I love this time of year. The offseason is fun. But after two or three months you feel like, now what?

"Right now, everybody's gone for the day, and, man, I could hang out here until 8 o'clock if I knew I wasn't going to keep the clubhouse guys here too long.

"When you're away from this for a few months, and you get back, you don't want to leave. You don't want to miss any of the moments."

He's had a few to remember as a Twin. Last year, when the Indians surged to within a game of the Twins, the teams played a Sunday game at Jacobs Field, and the Twins found themselves sending to the mound a guy they had bought for $1 from Seattle. The occasion caused Mulholland to say, "I want to prove it was a dollar well-spent."

In the previous two games, the Indians had jumped on Twins starters in the first, so Mulholland told pitching coach Rick Anderson, "They won't score on me in the first."

After the Indians did, Mulholland came back to the dugout, tapped Anderson and said, "I meant the second."

Mulholland shut down the Indians the next seven innings. The Twins rallied and won an extra-innings thriller, and the Indians quickly faded.

"I just refused to accept that they were going to beat us that day," Mulholland said. "I went out and pitched one of my better ballgames, and sent a message. Not only to the Indians, but to our ballclub, that, 'He's still got a little left in the tank, and he can contribute like everyone else.' It was a very good feeling."

Mulholland's statistics, whether for 2004 or his career, won't win him any awards. The Twins see him as their 11th pitcher, a second lefthander out of the bullpen who can save the staff in long relief or with a spot start.

Just as important, Anderson says, is Mulholland's care and maintenance of young pitchers, his ability to teach a young pitcher sitting next to him in the bullpen clubhouse.

Most days in spring training, you find Mulholland talking quietly with young players by his locker, or at the table in the center of the clubhouse.

"He commands their respect," Anderson said. "Sometimes players need to hear a different voice, and Terry has so much knowledge and experience, sometimes I can ask him to talk to someone about something specific."

Mulholland underwent elbow surgery in November. "I called the doctor who did my surgery in 1995, Warren King of Palo Alto, California, and said, 'How's the warranty on my elbow?' " Mulholland said. "He said, 'For you, whatever you need. You're like the Jerry Rice of baseball.' "

Former Twins manager Tom Kelly used to tell players, "Hurry out of the clubhouse, hurry out of baseball."

Sunday, Mulholland appeared in no hurry to leave either.