MIRACLE IN MIAMI : Longo Garcia Makes His Last-Chance Pitch in Minors

In Miami, there are miracles and then there are the Miracles. Longo Garcia pitches for the latter and hopes for the former.

Garcia was a washout with the Class-A Clinton Giants last summer. These days, he spends his time pitching for the Miami Miracles, a Class-A team in the Florida State League, trying to catch someone’s eye . . . maybe that of a scout. Or even a friend of a scout.

“Baseball is the most important thing in my life,” Garcia said. “I have to look at it that way if I’m going to make it. And I really want to make it.”

Miami might be the last chance for Garcia, who played at Cal State Fullerton, and the Miracles are not quite the center of the baseball world. They are not affiliated with a major league team and about half the team is made up of free agents no one else wanted.

They do have a couple of high-profile owners in comedian Bill Murray and singer Jimmy Buffett, neither of whom have ever been known for their baseball skills. But, then, neither are the Miracles.

Miami is in last place in the Eastern Division with a 14-48 record. The team also ranks last in hitting and pitching, not the best of combinations.

But, it’s a nice gig for a guy who’s trying to prove his worth or show that an organization sold him short. Or both.

So far, it’s working for Garcia, who was released by the San Francisco Giants on March 20, but has pitched well since joining the Miracles. His record is only 2-3, but he has a 2.96 earned-run average and has struck out 56 batters in 70 innings.

But is anybody watching?

“I’ve heard that some teams are looking at me,” Garcia said. “I’m trying not to pay attention to that. I’m just happy to be here.”

The Miami organization, in its first year, isn’t exactly organized. At times, anything goes.

--For starters, there’s Murray and Buffett, who are part of an investment group that owns the team. Both made appearances at the team’s season opener and Murray even threw a party in the left-field corner after the game.

--Miracle Manager Jim Gattis recently missed a trip so he could fly to California to take care of his floral business. He returned Wednesday after two weeks of arrangements.

--During a recent trip, office personnel thought the team was staying in Tampa while playing in Port Charlotte, a mere 80 miles away. The team actually was staying in Port Charlotte.

“They didn’t get started until really late,” said Keith Kaub, a first baseman in the Montreal Expos organization who spent two weeks playing for the Miracles. “They only had about four or five weeks to get ready. They’re doing it on a whim.”

The territorial rights for Miami were bought by a group of investors--which included Murray and Buffett--in late February. Gattis, who spent four years as an assistant at Pepperdine, was hired in early March.

“I resigned at Pepperdine last year and was seeking a head coaching job,” Gattis said. “I was one of the finalists for the (Cal State) Northridge position. When I didn’t get it, I figured I would concentrate on my floral business. When the Miami people called, I was surprised, but I accepted.”

So, the Miracles had a manager, but not a team.

The franchise reached agreements with the Expos, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers for a number of players, who are still under contract with those clubs.

Kaub, for instance, was 20 pounds overweight and officials in Montreal believed he would shed it quicker in the Miami heat.

The rest of the team is made up of free agents who were released. Those players were of unknown quality. They had been released , after all.

That worked to Garcia’s benefit.

Gattis had no idea what talent, if any, he had to work with. He was especially concerned about his pitchers.

“I hadn’t seen any of them throw,” Gattis said. “The season was starting in five weeks and I had no one I felt really comfortable with to start the opener.”

About the same time, Garcia was handed his walking papers by the Giants. When Gattis heard “through the baseball grapevine” that the scrawny, junk-ball pitcher was available, he called a Fullerton-based scout for Garcia’s number.

Gattis had seen the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Garcia pitch before. In fact, Gattis remembered him all too well. Garcia had shut out Pepperdine, 2-0, in 1988.

“I remembered he had great command of all his pitches,” Gattis said. “I also remembered he was a fierce competitor and that really impressed me.”

Garcia already had received an offer from the Reno Silver Sox, a Class-A independent team in the California League. The Silver Sox wanted him to fly to Reno for a tryout. Gattis’ offer was a little more substantial. He wanted Garcia to come to Miami and be the Miracles’ opening-day pitcher.

It wasn’t a tough decision.

Longo was long gone for Miami.

“I was going to fly to Reno the day Coach Gattis called,” Garcia said. “I immediately changed my plans and flew to Miami. Playing for someone who has seen you pitch is important. You don’t have to prove yourself and you don’t have to worry about every bad outing.”

Warming up in the bullpen for his opening-day start, Garcia was nervous. Nothing new about that, though. It’s part of his pregame routine.

“Longo is just weird, he always gets nervous before he pitches,” said Kaub, who played with Garcia at Fullerton last season. “I think it’s almost a ritual for him. Like, whenever he was pitching, he would have to catch one fly ball during batting practice. He would show up early, catch a fly in the outfield, then go sit down in the dugout. It’s just Longo.”

However, Gattis had never experienced Garcia’s unusual pregame mood. What he saw was a pitcher on verge of a nervous breakdown.

“The guy was so hyped up, I thought he was going to get sick,” Gattis said. “I needed something that would take the edge off him a little.”

So Gattis sent for professional help.

Since Murray was in attendance for the opening-day ceremonies, Gattis decided to put the part-owner to work. He ask him to go talk to Garcia in the bullpen.

“My stomach was hurting and I couldn’t get the ball over for strikes,” Garcia said. “Bill Murray came over and started talking to me. He was telling me jokes and complaining about all the photographers. He was really funny. I started laughing and it helped calm me down.”

Garcia pitched a three-hitter and struck out 11 in a 5-0 victory over Fort Lauderdale.

“The only people who knew Longo was Coach Gattis and myself,” Kaub said. “Longo is not very big and he doesn’t throw very hard. So when he was warming up, some of our guys were worried. A couple of them were saying, ‘Oh my God, that’s our pitcher?’

“Once he got into the game, everyone was more impressed. I think he shocked the Ft. Lauderdale players. I remember one guy that Longo struck out three times. The last time up, it seemed like the guy didn’t even want to hit. He just looked at three strikes and walked back to the dugout.”

In his second start, Garcia allowed only one run in nine innings in a no-decision against Vero Beach.

“The guy has really good stuff,” pitching coach Dave Taylor said. “I have no idea why the Giants gave up on him.”

Garcia also wonders why San Francisco sent him packing. However, he didn’t wait for an answer when he was informed by the Giants that he was released.

“I kind of blew up at the guy who told me,” Garcia said. “I didn’t give him a chance to give me an excuse. I couldn’t believe it, they didn’t even give me chance to pitch a full season.”

Garcia was drafted by the Giants in the 25th round after a strong senior season at Fullerton. He was 8-5 during the regular season and won two postseason games, including a 9-3 victory over Miami of Florida in the first round of the College World Series.

But, Garcia didn’t sign with the Giants until a month after the World Series.

“Longo thought he could hold out for big money, but we didn’t feel he was worth a big investment,” said Dave Nahabedian, assistant director of minor league operations for the Giants.

Said Garcia: “What the originally offered me was a slap in the face. We were about $4,000 apart. They also wanted to send me to rookie ball, but I felt I should play on a higher level.”

It took a nearly month for a compromise to be hammered out. Garcia signed and was sent to Clinton, Iowa.

The long layoff took its toll. Garcia had trouble throwing strikes, walking 19 in 29 2/3 innings. And when he did manage to get the ball over the plate, he didn’t fool anybody.

Garcia pitched well in his first outing, but was hit hard in the next three starts. He was banished to the bullpen and finished with a 1-2 record and a 5.49 ERA.

During spring training, the Giants had seen enough to know Garcia didn’t fit in.

“We’re pitching strong all through the organization and Longo just didn’t have the ability,” Nahabedian said. “We thought he would be a good pitcher, especially on one of our lower levels. But he struggled at Clinton.”

Garcia said that part of the problem was Clinton itself. He wasn’t too fond of the the place.

Located in central Iowa, Clinton was different than anything Garcia experienced growing up in Southern California.

“I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either,” Garcia said. “It’s a dead town. The only good-looking girl I saw in the whole town was at a fast food place. And I think she was passing through with her father. It was boring, all we did was play baseball and watch MTV.”

Things have been a little more exciting in Miami.

“We standing around on the field before the opener and all sudden Bill Murray walks up to us,” Kaub said. “He looks around and then says, ‘So, are we any good?’ Then he starts rattling off one-liners. He was just like he is on television.”

Murray’s postgame party was a catered affair, with champagne and a live band. Besides the team, the guest list included Buffett, Ahmad Rashad and Murray’s brother, Brian-Doyle Murray. At one point, Murray went on stage to sing with the band.

“He did ‘Wild Thing’ and it was hilarious,” Garcia said. “I couldn’t stop laughing.”

Said Kaub: “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen. It was like ‘Saturday Night Live,’ only better. Murray was telling jokes that they wouldn’t let you do on TV. I wish I had a video camera with me.”

The following week, the Miracles played a three-game series in Key West, where Buffett lives, and drew sellout crowds.

“I don’t think we were the attraction, they were there to see Jimmy,” said Kaub, who currently plays for Rockford in the Midwest League. “But it was a lot of fun playing for that organization. There were a lot of exciting things happening while I was there. I miss it.”

Garcia also has enjoyed the fun and games. But his goal from the start was to catch on with a major league organization and get one more chance.

“I’m not blind, I know the team isn’t all that great,” Garcia said. “But I’m holding my own on the mound. Maybe some scout will see that and say, ‘This guy can play.’ I came here for a purpose. I’ve already proved that the Giants were wrong. I can still pitch.”

And, to Garcia, that’s no miracle.