By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SARASOTA, Fla. - Scott Williamson felt no pain - only fear. Fear that the tendon in his elbow would explode again.

"People kept saying my pitches were off," he said of his first-half performance last season, "that I was protecting the elbow. The whole time I didn't want to go back under the knife. I was nervous about hurting my arm."

Williamson knew he was being conservative, but he couldn't stop himself.

Finally, it was decided to have Williamson undergo an MRI. Not so much to examine his elbow, which had been repaired with Tommy John surgery on April 12, 2001, but to ease his mind.

The MRI and subsequent talks with Dr. Tim Kremchek, pitching coach Don Gullett and bullpen coach Tom Hume convinced Williamson he could let his pitches fly.

The change was remarkable. Just look at the numbers:

• Williamson had a 4.86 ERA and allowed 24 hits in 331/3 innings before the All-Star break.

• He had a 1.33 ERA and allowed 22 hits in 40 2/3 innings after the break.

Williamson's dominance helped convince the Reds they could afford to move closer Danny Graves to the starting rotation and leave the closer's role to Williamson.

Williamson converted eight of 10 save chances after taking over the role in mid-September.

Williamson, a 27-year-old right-hander, has always been dominant when healthy.

In three-plus seasons with the Reds - he missed all but two games in 2001 with the elbow injury - Williamson is 20-19 with a 2.89 ERA. He's allowed only 193 hits and has struck out 327 in 280 innings.

This year, he came into spring training knowing the closer's job was his.

Williamson pitched a perfect inning Monday in the Reds' 12-4 victory over Tampa Bay in the "B" game. It was his third outing of the spring. He's yet to allow a run.

"He's on schedule," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "He doesn't have any health issues. He'll be ready on April 1. He's making the normal progress. It's a matter of him working into shape."

That's considerably different than last year, when the Reds were cautious with Williamson.

"I came into spring training this year and really got to do what everyone else was doing," he said. "Last year, I was basically going through the motions with them. I couldn't really do that much. This year, I came in, threw all the bullpen sessions and went right into the games."

Last year, Williamson was held out of games until the last two weeks of spring training.

After the season started, he was available only every other day. He struggled to find consistency.

"I didn't have the velocity," he said. "The first half I was trying to find my pitches and arm strength again. I was basically trying to live with the fastball. I didn't have the slider. I didn't have a feel for it."

The lingering doubts from the surgery caused his problems.

"The mental part is the toughest," Williamson said. "You think: 'Am I going to feel like I did before the surgery? Am I going to be able to compete at this level again?' "

The MRI and three months of spectacular results have Williamson confident and aggressive.

"I feel stronger than I ever did," he said. "I'm throwing breaking balls already."

"He knows he can close," Boone said. "We know his command is better. He's learned how to pitch. He's become a better player."

Among the best

Scott Williamson has the sixth-lowest ERA of any active pitcher with more than 20 decisions: The list:

Pitcher	Team	Record	ERA
M. Rivera	NYY	38-27	2.60
B. Wagner	Hou.	25-25	2.69
J. Franco	NYM	88-76	2.75
T. Hoffman	S.D.	45-44	2.79
G. Maddux	Atl.	273-152	2.83
Williamson	Reds	20-19	2.89