Tekulve has ressurrection on his mind

The twentysomething escort pointed toward the pitching mound and said, "That's Kent right over there."

As if we couldn't tell.

Kent Tekulve is as distinctive now as he was 23 years ago, when his submarine pitching style captured the imagination of the city and helped the Pirates to a World Series championship.

He still wears the tinted glasses, still has the lanky frame and still has that distinctive low-pitched voice.

His Fam-a-lee has changed considerably, from the black-and-gold Bucs to the black-and-red Washington Wild Things, but his appearance — with the exception of a few gray hairs and some added padding around the midsection — and passion for the sport remain the same.

"Baseball is baseball," said Tekulve, the director of operations for the Wild Things, a first-year franchise that is set to compete in the Independent Frontier League. "I love it at all levels."

Most would assume that "Teke" accomplished everything possible in the game, after amassing 184 saves during a major-league career that spanned 16 years and three teams, yet he believes that he's failed to throw his best pitch, win his biggest game.

He is shooting for the mother of all saves, the one that would resurrect a young man's baseball career in Washington and put him on the path to the majors.

That's how Tekulve, 55, would truly spell R-E-L-I-E-F.

"Let's be honest, 99.9 percent of the guys playing here are never going to make it," said Tekulve, who also serves as pitching coach for the Wild Things. "But maybe one guy will make it out of this clubhouse and to the big leagues. If that happens, I'll be the happiest guy in the world."

That is Tekulve's ultimate mission with Wild Things, who open their 84-game season Wednesday at recently built Falconi Field in Washington. He took some time recently to talk about his new venture, his goals with the team, the state of the Pirates and his overall view of baseball.

As always, he pitched from the stretch —this time on a comfy chair in his Wild Things office.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

When Tekulve describes his path to the major leagues, the first thing you think of is former North Carolina basketball coach Jim Valvano's unforgettable speech — "Don't give up … Don't ever give up."

Tekulve was a castoff before getting his break, a guy who was seconds away from going home to Cincinnati and teaching high school math and physical education.

But, thanks to pure serendipity, Tekulve got a chance, which he hopes to see happen for a member or two — or three — of the Wild Things. If nothing else, his tale surely should heighten their spirits.

"You can't make promises to the guys, but you can assure them that they should never put their dream to rest," Tekulve said.

Back in 1969, Tekulve survived a near-nightmare at a tryout camp with the Pirates. Undrafted and unwanted out of Marietta College in Ohio, he was told by Pirates scouts that he could go home after working out during a morning session at the camp.

Tekulve, however, stuck around, because the man who invited him to the tryout, Dick Coury of Wheeling, had yet to arrive. Coury eventually got to Pittsburgh, then used his clout as a scout to get Tekulve a second look by the team.

That's when Tekulve's life took an unbelievable turn.

Pirates farm director Pete Peterson received a phone call from the team's Class A squad in Geneva, N.Y., while Tekulve was in the midst of his workout. Minutes later, Peterson told Tekulve to pack his bags.

"They lost three pitchers to injury and didn't have anybody to fill in," Tekulve said. "Turns out, I was the only guy left at the tryout. Pete said, 'Shoot, we have to get somebody,' so he sent me out there."

Tekulve, who figured he'd be gone by the end of the season, had a surprisingly good year as a starter, forcing the Pirates to take another look at him the next season. He continued to climb through the farm system thereafter, playing two years of Class A ball, two at AA and two at AAA.

Truth is, the Pirates just couldn't get rid of the skinny kid with the unorthodox delivery. They eventually signed him to the major-league roster in 1976 — when Tekulve was 28 years old — and the rest his history.

Tekulve set a team record with 158 career saves in 11 seasons and closed out three games of the 1979 World Series, including Game 7 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Pretty heady stuff for a guy who originally was nothing more than a short-term answer to a minor-league problem.

"If that phone would not have rung during my tryout, we probably wouldn't be talking about my career right now," Tekulve said. "There's a very good chance I would have never played professional baseball in my life. The '79 World Series would have never existed for me. The 1,050 games (I played in) would have never existed. None of this would have."

The moral of the story is: "Work hard. Focus. And you may end up in the right place at the right time. That's what these guys (at Washington) need to understand," Tekulve said.

TEKE'S INFLUENCE

Kevin Kuklis is well versed on the Kent Tekulve story. He also understands that it is a one-in-a-million scenario, a rarity.

Nonetheless, he is undaunted.

"There's always that hope, and that's what drives all of us," said Kuklis, a 24-year-old relief pitcher for the Wild Things. "The bottom line is, he did it. Others have done it. It can happen."

Most members of the Wild Things were either undrafted by major-league teams, injured at some point in their career or sent packing by a minor-league team before heading for the Frontier League. Their current situation is pretty much an all-or-nothing venture. They understand that only six players have gone on to the majors in the 10-year history of the Frontier League and that the odds are stacked high against them.

Their reaction• Give it a shot; see what happens.

"There aren't many stories like (Tekulve's) around, but the fact that they exist fuels the fire," said starting pitcher Matthew Baber, 23, of Nashville, Tenn. "We're motivated by him, but it's even more than that. He brings a big-league presence to this team, a guy who's been there.

"I'm learning about the game from Kent Tekulve. I've seen films of him, and I have baseball cards with his picture. He's accomplished so much in the sport and that's an advantage for all of us right there."

One advantage Baber and the Wild Things pitching staff won't have is the opportunity to mow batters down with Tekulve's trademark submarine style. Tekulve is not teaching the sidearm motion to his players, the style that distinguished him from other pitchers in the major leagues at that time.

"We haven't gotten to see it," Kuklis said. "We know about it, but he hasn't put it out there for us."

Tekulve explained why.

"If it's not natural, you can't pitch that way," he said. "I threw that way because that's how the ball came out of my hand when I was a 9-year-old throwing with my dad. We don't have a guy on this team that should use that style."

THE PAST, THE PRESENT

It is nearly impossible to talk to Tekulve without bringing up the '79 Pirates. Those were the days in this town, a time when the Steelers were winning Super Bowls and Pittsburgh was the "City of Champions."

Tekulve symbolized the city's work ethic, with his grind-it-out style and uncanny durability.

"The city embraced me, and I feel like I embraced it as well," said Tekulve, who's lived in the area since 1976, despite the fact that he played four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and one with the Cincinnati Reds after leaving the Pirates.

His time away from Pittsburgh made him appreciate the town more, which is why Tekulve will always be a Pirates player at heart. He still gets chills when Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" crosses the airwaves and when highlights of those old Pirates teams appear on TV.

"It's just an electric feeling," he said. "To think back to what we accomplished and what it meant to the city … wow, it was something. The nice thing is that it kept my legacy going in Pittsburgh for all these years. It probably made it possible for me to be doing what I'm doing now. It put me at a different level in people's perceptions, even though it's not the case, and I guess I'm still riding it today."

The ride is not so smooth for the modern-day Pirates, which is something Tekulve is keenly aware of. The team has failed miserably throughout the past decade and there is no telling when its fortunes will turn.

Tekulve does not blame the Pirates for all of their woes. He blames the current state of baseball, where the rich get richer and the poor turn into the Pirates.

"The problem is with the way revenue is shared," Tekulve said. "The owners don't need a player's agreement to straighten out any of their problems, all they have to do is share their revenues and make everybody equal partners, then things will even out."

That said, Tekulve feels the Pirates need to put a better product on the field.

"The franchise is handicapped right now, no doubt about it," he said. "But look at the Minnesota Twins last year. They overcame the small-market situation and represented themselves well. When we won in 1979, we surely weren't the highest salaried team in baseball. I don't know if the disparity is as big as it is now, but it was there.

"You play the hand that you're dealt with and play as well as you can."

PARTING SHOTS

Before Tekulve made his way out of the bullpen (his office) and looked to work on another save (teaching proper mechanics to his pitchers), he passed along his thoughts on a number of issues.