By Phil Rogers
Tribune staff reporter
August 16, 2006, 10:15 PM CDT
HOUSTON -- Late Tuesday night, Ryan O'Malley got word that the Cubs might need to import a pitcher from Triple-A Iowa to start Wednesday afternoon's game in Houston.
"We knew they were having a long game, but we didn't have their game on the television at our hotel," O'Malley said. "Then late we heard they had used all their pitchers and that something might be going on.
"I never thought I'd be the one."
Why would he? O'Malley wasn't drafted after going to the University of Memphis as an outfielder and morphing into a pitcher slowly making his way through the Cubs' minor-league system for five seasons.
Yet he was the guy who received the early wakeup call with orders to make the 160-mile trip from Round Rock, Texas, outside Austin, to Houston, pronto.
Given a chance rarely seen outside of baseball fiction, O'Malley seized the moment with a fairly spectacular big-league debut.
The 26-year-old out of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield, a Ryne Sandberg fan as a kid, was fluster-proof on the mound. He handled the quirky rafters of Minute Maid Park and a potentially lethal line drive by Chris Burke as if he dealt with them all the time.
As a result his magical day ended with O'Malley wearing a face full of shaving-cream pie, courtesy of Carlos Zambrano, and being showered with beer by his hours-old teammates.
In his major-league debut, O'Malley used an underwhelming fastball and excellent changeup to team with Bob Howry for a five-hit shutout that gave the Cubs a 1-0 victory and a sweep of the Houston Astros.
"Oh, man," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "That was sweet."
Baker, managing as if the Cubs were in the last week of a playoff chase rather than the dog days of a losing season likely to lead to his ouster, should have been particularly gratified. He had created the need for O'Malley's emergency promotion when he used 10 pitchers in Tuesday night's 18-inning victory over the Astros.
Those 10 included left-handed rookie Rich Hill, who had been scheduled to start Wednesday's game. After that, their best options were big-league veteran Wade Miller, who was with Iowa at Round Rock to make a rehabilitation start Wednesday, or the anonymous O'Malley, who had started the season in the Triple-A bullpen.
O'Malley moved into the Iowa rotation in May and had won his last two starts to lift his record to 7-8 with a 4.08 earned-run average.
"It made sense to give O'Malley a call because it was his turn to pitch," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "But at the same time, he deserved it too. He has been pitching better than some of the guys on the roster. It's good when somebody like that gets a chance."
O'Malley might not even have been in pro ball if he had not caught the eye of scout Pat Portugal when Portugal went to watch Tulane's Nick Bourgeois pitch against Memphis before the 2002 draft. O'Malley gave up six runs in a 7-0 loss that day, but Portugal turned in a good report on him, which led to the Cubs signing him as a free agent after no team selected him in the 50-round draft.
"[Portugal] called me the day of the draft and said I was going to be picked," O'Malley recalled. "I wasn't, but after the draft he offered me an opportunity. I've been trying to make the most of it."
O'Malley held the punchless Astros scoreless for eight innings as the Cubs won their fourth in a row and finished the road trip 5-4. His top fastball hit 87 m.p.h. and he didn't have his usual control, walking six. But Houston left 11 runners on base and was 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.
O'Malley didn't work any 1-2-3 innings but limited Houston to five singles before Howry entered to earn his fourth save.
"He had good command with his fastball," said catcher Michael Barrett, whose homer off Andy Pettitte accounted for the game's lone run. "His changeup worked well with it. They hit some balls hard, but they were at people."
O'Malley included.
Burke blistered a liner back to the mound in the third inning. The ball struck O'Malley's glove so hard that the ball caromed almost all the way back to Barrett.
"That was scary," Barrett said. "I saw it hit his glove, but at the same time you're thinking, 'Was that the wrist?'"
O'Malley seemed almost embarrassed when pitching coach Larry Rothschild and a trainer visited the mound to check on him.But he kept his focus and continued throwing zeroes.
O'Malley struck out only two batters and was disappointed he fell behind in the count so often.
Since converting from outfielder to pitcher, O'Malley said he has tried to model himself after the White Sox's Mark Buehrle and "a left-handed Greg Maddux." He has no delusions of grandeur, however.
"Imitating those guys is pretty tough to do," he said.
He did it for a day, but now comes the really tough part—doing it for a career. O'Malley isn't guaranteed another start for the Cubs, who are overrun with rookie starters and other pitching applicants these days. But he was thrilled to be on the team plane to Chicago early Wednesday evening.
O'Malley hesitated a minute when he was asked if he had brought enough clothes with him for a stay in Chicago.
"Oh yes, definitely," he answered after the pause. "I'm not going to let my clothes get in the way of this."
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Originally Posted by redsrbetter
