The Associated Press

LAKELAND, Fla. - After becoming the first pitcher to lose 20 games in a season in more than two decades, Mike Maroth often woke up in the middle of the night during the offseason.

Nightmares? Not even close. The Detroit Tigers' left-hander had to change his new baby's diapers.

"It would've been easy to think about the season and everything I went through," he said.

But after his baby was born, he didn't have time.

"It was nice to get away from baseball," he said. "It was something I needed."

Nolan Maroth - named after a neighbor's dad, not legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan - was born Oct. 29, about a month after his father's miserable season ended.

Maroth became the name and the face of the Tigers last year when they lost an American League-record 119 games. He was 9-21 with a 5.73 ERA and became the first 20-game loser since Oakland's Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.

When Maroth returned to his home in Orlando, Fla., he was relieved to talk about fatherhood, not baseball.

"I thought there was going to be a lot of people bringing it up, but nobody really brought it up," he said. "There was a lot of other things going on because I was going to be a dad, then I was a dad, and that's what people wanted to talk about."

Maroth drew a lot of unwanted attention last season, but he gained a lot of respect - he answered every question and he didn't hide from reporters after any of his losses.

"I pull for all of my teammates, but I probably root for Mike more than anybody because of what he went through and the way he handled it," Eric Munson said.

Perhaps the only subject Maroth doesn't like to talk about is Kingman, who wanted to remain baseball's last 20-game loser.

Kingman attended the game in Toronto on Sept. 5 when Maroth matched his infamous mark, and brought a voodoo doll with him. It's the same doll Kingman took to four other starts in which a major-league pitcher could have lost his 20th game but didn't.

Could Maroth imagine himself following the next pitcher who approaches 20 losses? "No, that will never happen," he said.

Has he ever talked to Kingman?

"No, and I don't want to," Maroth said.