Sunday, April 04, 1999
Tomko's start a personal triumph
Opening Day dreamer
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
That won't be just a pitcher's mound Brett Tomko stands on Monday at Cinergy Field.
It'll be a summit of triumph, where the right-hander can rise above skeptics who dismissed his talent.
It'll be a stepping stone, leading Tomko to even greater possibilities.
It'll be the center of hopes and dreams for thousands of people. All of which explains why Tomko particularly appreciates being the Reds' Opening Day starter against the San Francisco Giants.
“It's a special day,” Tomko said. “I think that's what every starting pitcher tries to do.”
Tomko officially received his assignment last Wednesday, when Reds manager Jack McKeon and his staff decided that Pete Harnisch needed more time to recapture the sharpness he had lost while recovering from back spasms. Harnisch's Opening Day competition was reduced early in spring training when left-hander Denny Neagle was diagnosed with weakened muscles in the back of his pitching shoulder. He'll begin the season on the disabled list.
But because every decent pitcher must believe he's the only man for the job when he's on the mound, Tomko is approaching the opener as if he were McKeon's first choice.
“I'm not thinking as if I have it by default,” Tomko said recently at the Reds' spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. “I've worked really hard. If I didn't think it was deserved, there's something wrong with me. I'm just happy I get to do it.”
Tomko's 24-19 career record gives him more victories than any other Reds pitcher in his first two seasons since left-hander Ross Grimsley went 24-15 in 1971-72. No Cincinnati right-hander has been so prolific since Junior Thompson was 29-14 in 1939-40.
Tomko, 13-12 last year, already has done more in baseball than some thought he would.
At El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif., a coach told him that with his ability, he'd be lucky to last two years at a junior college.
A year or so later, when Tomko contemplated transferring from the University of South Florida in Tampa to Mt. San Antonio College in California to get more pitching experience, another coach warned him that he might not return to a higher collegiate level if he left.
Such memories enhance Monday's sweetness for Tomko.
“Those things have kind of spurred me on a little bit,” he said. “It's like, all right, I'll show you punks. Seriously. It's been a big push. "One day you'll be sitting on your couch, and you'll look up at the TV and there I'll be pitching. And then you'll realize what (a jerk) you were.' That's kind of been a big thing for me, to show everybody. It's all kind of accumulated to this point. This is a nice little reward for all the hard work.”
But Tomko, who turns 26 on Wednesday, admitted pitching the opener won't end his labor.
“Once you do that, you look at the other milestones — 15 wins, 20 wins, Cy Youngs. There's all sorts of plateaus to try to reach,” he said. “And even when you win five Cy Youngs like (Roger) Clemens, there's always things to drive you. Even though this is the first time I get to do it, there's next year. There's the year after.”
Reds pitching coach Don Gullett, who started Opening Day twice, hopes Tomko can maintain a semblance of that perspective.
“He can't let the hype of the day take him out of what he needs to do best, and that's get the opponent out,” Gullett said. “He can't get caught up in trying to do more than he's capable of doing. I've seen guys do that. He has to be aggressive but disciplined.”
It's just one game, but Tomko knows what Opening Day means.
He understands that the heightened expectations surrounding the team's offseason acquisitions of Neagle, left fielder Greg Vaughn and others prompted the game's earliest sellout since 1993. On a personal level, he's pleased his mother, Donna, and a close family friend who has never seen him pitch will attend the game as part of a trip they had planned before Tomko was given the start.
Tomko also has a healthy sense of the game's significance to the city.
“I think you feel it. There's more excitement than there is most of the other days,” he said. “You realize what a spectacle it is ... (and that) it's a big day, especially in Cincinnati. There's more history — they were the first major league team, I know the whole story of that. So I realize it's different.”
It'll be different for Tomko, who couldn't recall pitching any other season openers, except for one year in junior college.
“I won't be able to take in all the pregame stuff,” he said with a laugh. “I'll be worried about getting people out.”
Reds Stories
Bengals' braintrust differs on favorite QB
Talent greets Miami's new football coach
Prentice's big number: 4.38
Bonner takes lead in UK quarterback derby
Buckeye QB race to go down to wire
HIGH SCHOOL INSIDER
Birth defect can't keep Batavia's Sutton from games he loves
CINCINNATI HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
CINCINNATI HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
N.KY. HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
N.KY. HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
HERSHEY 3, MIGHTY DUCKS 2
Reds page