This Heat Is Hard To Beat -- Saberhagen Brings His Wicked Fastball To Mets' Rotation

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Somehow, the baseball feels small in the hand. That's the first tip-off for Bret Saberhagen, and a warning to hitters: When the ball shrinks, Saberhagen's fastball is a weapon.

At 95 mph, it'll break bats on the inside corner, as many as a half-dozen in a game. At 95 mph, the fastball will be impossible to pull on the outside corner. And at 95 mph, Saberhagen earns the crown as the New York Mets' hardest thrower.

"Explosive" is how Willie Randolph describes Saberhagen's velocity. "Attacks the hitter" is Dave Cone's scouting report. And even the modest Saberhagen admits there's something "special" about his heater, especially on good days.

"You can make a hitter look stupid with a changeup or a curveball, but there's a really special feeling of power you get from throwing the fastball by him," Saberhagen said. "It's definitely my best pitch."

He's been clocked as high as 97 mph on the Ra-Gun - which scouts call the "slow" gun. Nolan Ryan and Rob Dibble have broken the 100-mph barrier, but the baseball community recognizes Saberhagen, Roger Clemens - and until last year, Dwight Gooden - as the game's most consistent fastball deities.

On an average day, Saberhagen throws 92-94 mph. Even that is close to Gooden's maximum, and hitters find Saberhagen's control inhuman. And he has a curveball ("it's really a slurve," he said) and a changeup.

Cone, who played with Saberhagen in the Kansas City Royals' chain from 1983-87, said, "Bret is just devastating, especially low in the strike zone. Doc has that rising heater, and he can make the strike zone expand that way. But Bret will attack from the waist down. He's awesome."

How awesome? Cone recalls a telephone call from Ron Darling late last season after he had been traded to the Oakland A's. Only a few weeks into the American League, Darling said, "I've never seen anyone throw as hard as Bret Saberhagen." This, after 7 1/2 years with Gooden.

"The only pitcher I've seen throw as hard as Saberhagen is Clemens, but Bret has a much heavier ball," Randolph said. "You can see Clemens' fastball. Bret's bores in on you, a lot of movement to it."

Still, Saberhagen does not have a better strikeout ratio than Gooden. Over his eight-year career, he has averaged 5.93 Ks per nine innings, compared to Doc's 8.09. And Saberhagen has never struck out more than 200 in a season. Gooden has done it four times.

This can be explained by Saberhagen's periodic tendinitis. And baseball wisdom says not every hard thrower has to be a strikeout pitcher. Gooden happens to be both.

But no one disputes Saberhagen's velocity, certainly not Gooden, even though he admits, "I've never seen Bret pitch, except on TV. I'm interested to see what he's got. Not just velocity, but if he can dominate a game."

The praise flows easily from Doc - until he's asked if Saberhagen has truly become the Mets' radar king. To this, Gooden says, "Let me get healthy and we'll see."

That attitude pleases Saberhagen. "It's going to be fun, watching me and Doc pitch," he says.