Manager Puts Healthy Amount of Responsibility on Hill

Ken Hill leaned back in his chair and chuckled. He heard this often during spring training.

The key link in the Angels’ starting rotation? Ken Hill, of course.

Angel Manager Terry Collins made that clear at every opportunity. Now, Hill was being reminded once again.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Hill said. “I’m healthy, that’s going to help. I’m looking forward to the challenge. If I’m healthy, I know I can get the job done.”

He couldn’t leave it there.

“You think if I was healthy last year, the way I started, it wouldn’t have been a big year for me?” Hill said. “Think about that. We were three games out, and with me healthy, we could have won the division. This year, with me healthy and with Tim Belcher and Chuck Finley, that’s 600-650 innings. That’s a lot of innings. I feel confident, if healthy, we can put it together and do some good things.”

In case you missed it, the word “healthy” seems to dominate Hills’ thoughts much like his forkball can dominate hitters . . . when he’s healthy.

It was painfully obvious he wasn’t last year.

Things seemed fine at first. Hill was among the league leaders in victories and earned-run average the first two months. But that creaking in his right elbow got progressively worse and, finally, he could grin and bear it no longer. He missed 2 1/2 months after June surgery to remove bone chips and spurs.

Now, Hill is being singled out as the linchpin.

“Chuck will be OK, I know what Belcher can do and I know what Steve Sparks can do,” Collins said. “What I don’t know is what Ken will give us. If he pitches like I know Ken Hill is capable of pitching, then our staff will be fine.”

Said Hill, “It’s going to take the five of us.”

Of course, that group would be Hill (33), Finley (36), Belcher (37), Sparks (33) and, tentatively, Omar Olivares (31). What’s that old saying about never trusting people over 30?

“You want a young guy out there who’s not tested?” Hill said. “Then you would be saying, ‘He’s too young. He’s not ready.’ If you’re getting it done, age is not an issue.

“Look at Rickey Henderson, he’s 40 years old and no one is saying anything about him. Age is just a number. If you’re consistently hurt, then age is a factor.”

Hill hasn’t topped 200 innings since 1996. He missed a month in 1997 because of a strained right shoulder. He was out from June 11 through Aug. 27 last season.

The time had come to do a little fine tuning. Hill has modified his delivery, making it more compact to take some strain off his elbow.

“God didn’t make us to throw a ball overhand,” Hill said. “It’s surprising you don’t have more injuries.”

Around the Angel clubhouse, there are plenty. Finley has been slowed by neck spasms. Gary DiSarcina has a broken bone in his left hand. Jason Dickson underwent shoulder surgery. So it goes with the Angels, year in and out.

Hill, though, is not among the walking wounded this time.

“His fastball has a lot more life to it right now,” catcher Matt Walbeck said. “You could tell he was hurting last year from the beginning of the season. There was no zip on his pitches.”

Angel bullpen coach Joe Coleman, a pitching coach in St. Louis when Hill was with the Cardinals, sees a little more of the old stuff too.

“He couldn’t throw his forkball last season,” Coleman said. “If your arm is bothering you, you are not going to get the arm speed. When I saw him throwing forkballs this spring, I knew he was OK.”

There is no denying his ability when healthy.

Hill has won 16 games three times in a career that has taken him from St. Louis to Montreal, Cleveland, Texas and the Angels.

It wasn’t for lack of talent that Hill bounced around. On the contrary. He was just about everyone’s favorite July trade rumor.

Cleveland acquired Hill midway through the 1995 season and he helped the Indians reach the World Series.

Texas signed him in 1996 and he helped the Rangers win the Western Division.

The Angels traded for Hill in 1997 to help them down the stretch and . . . well, some things are beyond mere mortals. Still, Hill gave up only 10 earned runs in his last seven starts.

The Angels offered security with a four-year, $22-million contract. The deal caused more than a few raised eyebrows among general managers. It seemed like a bundle to give to a pitcher coming off a 9-12 season.

Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi had an easy defense at the time.

“When was the last time you saw a quality starting pitcher sign and you said, ‘Man, they got him real cheap?’ ”

Of course, when was the last time the Angels gave a pitcher big-time money only to have him come up lame? The names Bruce Kison, Bill Travers, John D’Acquisto and Joe Magrane will roll off the tongue of any long-time Angel fan.

Hill seemed to break that pattern, going 5-1 last April. The grinding in his elbow caught up with him on June 10, when he gave up six runs in three innings against Arizona.

“If I’m hurting, there is nothing I can do,” Hill said. “It would have been a different story if I was healthy and I was pitching poor. I was hurting and I still had eight wins when I went down. In terms of my contract, it was not a big deal. But I want to give them their money’s worth.

“I battled some injuries the last two years. I never complained about it and I’m not going to complain about it now. If I go out there and pitch, I have no excuses. This is the healthiest I’ve been in two years.”

And if Hill is healthy . . .