October  22, 1991, Metro Edition

SECTION: Sports; Pg. 4C
LENGTH: 730 words
HEADLINE: Erickson facing a mirror image in Braves' Avery
BYLINE: Dennis Brackin; Staff Writer
DATELINE: Atlanta, Ga.

 BODY:
   For the first three months of the 1991 season Scott Erickson was the phenom, his darting sinker carrying him to 12 straight victories, 30 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and an ERA closer to 1.00 than any other whole number.

Tonight at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, Erickson will see firsthand just how fleeting phenom status can be.  The glimpse will come courtesy of Atlanta's Steve Avery, Erickson's pitching opponent in Game 3 of the World Series.

    Avery is the newest rage of the major leagues, winning consecutive 1-0 shutouts over Pittsburgh in the National League playoffs.  At the age of 21, Avery became the youngest player ever selected a playoff MVP.

    Erickson? At the age of 23, he is looking to answer the question marks prompted by a 5.54 ERA over his final 17 regular-season starts and a disappointing playoff debut last week against Toronto. The juxtaposition from phenom to opponent of the phenom is not lost on Erickson.  But he appears angered over attempts to typecast the Game 3 starters.

    "So what?" Erickson said Monday in the Twins clubhouse when asked about Avery's phenom status and his own fall from the ranks.  "Big deal.  Why should I even think about it?"

    A far more pressing concern to those in the Twins clubhouse is how Erickson will respond to the pressure of his first Series start. His first playoff start was a forgettable effort Oct. 11 in which he lasted
four innings, allowing three hits and five walks in four innings.  Erickson was removed from the game with a 1-and-2 count on Joe Carter with a runner on first and no one out in the fourth inning when manager Tom Kelly felt the righthander had lost his focus.

    "He was not pitching in that game, he was throwing," said catcher Junior Ortiz. "I think he was a little bit hyper, a little bit too pumped up.  He was dropping his arm and opening up too much, and that was not him.  He changed everything.  That was not the Erickson that pitched the last few games of the season."

    Erickson's sinking fastball was clocked consistently in the vicinity of 90 miles per hour during his early-season success.  But a tender elbow landed him on the disabled list in early July.

    Since then, Twins officials have tried to stress to Erickson the need to spot his hard fastball between off-speed deliveries.  In other words, become more of a pitcher.

    Erickson showed promise in this regard when he won two of his final three regular-season starts, allowing just 10 hits and four earned runs in 21 innings (1.71 ERA).

    But he abandoned pitching in favor of a flurry of 90-mph fastballs in the playoffs.

    "Basically, I've got to control my emotions a little bit," Erickson said. "I felt very good and I was cutting it loose.  I'm going to try to tone it down a little bit, and keep an even keel throughout the whole game."

    As has often been the case this year, Erickson and Kelly were not in complete agreement on the root of Erickson's playoff problems.

    Kelly suggested nerves as a probable cause, a notion Erickson quickly refuted.

    "No, I wasn't nervous at all, actually," Erickson said.  "I felt very comfortable out there and very confident. My arm felt great.  I was just cutting it loose.  If you want to call that nervousness, you can.  But I don't feel that way at all."

    The one point on which all agree is the need for better emotional control, whether the cause be nerves or excitement. Pitching coach Dick Such believes Erickson will benefit from having 10 days of rest between starts.  Erickson has worked on mechanics, specifically slowing down his motion, during his idle time.

    "I hope he has a little more self-control," Such said.  "He was trying to get everybody out by himself at Toronto, and you've got to let the players play. There's not a whole lot of talking you can do at this point.  You've just got to send him out there and let him learn."

    The lessons of tonight will come from a matchup of the top two pitching phenoms of 1991.  The billing may not be to Erickson's liking, but even he is aware of Avery's accomplishments.

    "I've watched him on TV, and I like the way he pitches," Erickson said.  "He goes right at guys and likes to challenge them with his fastball, and I consider myself pretty much the same way.  It's going to be a battle."