MINOR LEAGUES / SEAN WATERS : He Learned That Baseball Is Only a Game

Although he is only beginning his professional career, right-handed reliever Joe Caruso received a major league lesson when he was a sophomore at Loyola Marymount.

He learned to overcome the pain of a dramatic loss.

On the day of a crucial series against Pepperdine in May 1990, Caruso learned his mother died in New York after a long illness. Regina Davis, 38, died of heart and lung complications, according to her son.

Caruso, who had scheduled to take a plane to New York, decided to join the Lions in Malibu before going home.

“I remember (Coach) Chris Smith asking if there was any way possible I can pitch,” Caruso said. “ ‘If not, just say so.’ ”

Caught unprepared, the Lions didn’t have a uniform for Caruso and he had to borrow a teammate’s jersey.

Entering the game in the fourth inning, Caruso said he pitched one of the best games of his college career. He pitched four shutout innings and the Lions overcome a one-run deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth.

The Waves, however, spoiled Caruso’s performance. Chris Martin hit a run-scoring single to tie the score in the ninth and Caruso left without a decision. The Waves scored again in the 11th to win, 4-3.

“Nothing that day really mattered,” Caruso said. “I wanted to pitch to forget about my mother, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

This season, Caruso, 20, led the West Coast Conference with nine saves and was tied for the team-lead with 100 strikeouts in 108 innings.

Drafted in the third round in the June amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, Caruso now pitches for the Elmira Pioneers, a Class-A team in the New York-Penn League. Entering this week’s games, he has no record with two saves and 3.38 earned-run average.

On Thursday, Caruso was tested by St. Catharines. Elmira held a 4-1 lead, but the Pioneers failed to execute two potential game-ending double plays. On the first one, Caruso picked up a three-hopper hit back to the mound and overthrew the shortstop covering second.

With two outs and runners in scoring position, Caruso threw a fastball and four consecutive curveballs to get the batter on a ground ball to short. The Pioneers won 4-2.

“Since the day my mother died, a lot of things have happened,” he said. “I still get excited on the mound, but I don’t get upset if I don’t pitch well. You can’t compare anything to something like (losing your mother).”

Caruso has lived with his uncle and aunt in Petaluma, Calif., since his mother first got sick. He doesn’t see much of his father since his parents were divorced when he was 12.

“I have a lot of good memories of her,” Caruso said. “She was sick for a long time, but she never gave up.

“She always wanted me to play baseball. I know she’s up there somewhere and she’s proud of me.”

Nothing but stars--The National League managed to win an all-star game, but it was at the triple-A level. The NL team scored a 6-5 victory over the AL on Wednesday at Louisville, Ky.

Chris Donnels (South High, Loyola Marymount) started at third for the Nationals and was hitless in two at-bats. Donnels has split time between Tidewater, Va., and the New York Mets.

In the first double-A all-star game, the AL won, 8-2, Wednesday in Huntsville, Ala.

Shortstop Royce Clayton (St. Bernard High) led off and went one for four.

Clayton is waiting--San Francisco Giant President Al Rosen continues to be pressured to promote Clayton from the organization’s double-A team in Shreveport, La. Even opposing general managers are expressing their views.

“I’ve had general managers from other clubs tell me to just put him out there and forget about him, but I don’t want to take a chance that he’ll lose his confidence,” Rosen said.

Going independent--You knew him as Hernan Cortes at Leuzinger High and El Camino College. But now Cortes is going by his nickname Rico and also has changed his address.

After being released for the third time in his four-year professional career, Cortes has started back in Class A.

Answering a plea for help, Cortes recently signed a free-agent contract with the Reno Silver Sox, an independent team in the California League.

The Silver Sox have been desperate for players, having already used 52, four short of the league record set by the San Jose Bees in 1987. Reno either has lost players to injuries or had their contracts bought by major-league affiliated teams.

Enter Cortes. Nicknamed Rico because he was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Cortes was released by the New York Mets double-A affiliate in Williamsport, Penn. Cortes had a .214 batting average in 21 games with the Bills.

Cortes, a left-handed hitting first baseman, originally signed with Detroit after his junior year at San Francisco State, but had his contract voided because the Tigers claimed he had a pre-existing hand injury.

The Yankees signed him the following winter and Cortes played three years in the organization. Last season he batted .303 for Fort Lauderdale in the Florida State League, but was released by the Yankees.