Faster than a Speeding Bullet

Author: Tim Kurkjian

Source: Sports Illustrated, May 20, 1991

The Orioles' Ben McDonald and the Blue Jays' John Olerud, the first two 1989 draftees to reach the majors, have recieved a lot of attention, and deservedly so. But the third player to make it, pitcher Scott Erickson, is playing better than either of them. Less than two years after leaving the University of Arizona, Erickson, 23, has become the Twins' ace. On May 7 he threw eight shutout innings before giving up three runs in the ninth against the Red Sox to run his scoreless-innings streak to 30 and tie Frank Viola's club record. That performance also left Erickson on inning short of becoming the first pitcher since the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser in 1988 to throw three straight shutouts. Then on Sunday, Erickson worked seven more scoreless innings in an 8-3 defeat of the Tigers, raising his record to 5-1 and lowering his ERA to 1.45.

After jumping from Double-A Orlando to Minnesota in June 1990, Erickson had the lowest ERA (2.87) for a Twins' rookie since Doug corbett in '80. As of Sunday, his record since Sept. 1 was 10-2, and Minnesota failed to score a run for him in the two defeats. erickson, who is 6 ft. 4 in., 225 pounds, has a nasty slider and a fastball that either sinks or bores in on righthanded hitters. Twins catch Junior Ortiz calls Erickson "the hardest pitcher I've ever caught" because his ball moves so much.

Despite his heroics, Erickson doesn't look good on the mound. His stirrup socks extend down so close to his shoes that one cannot see a trace of his white sanitary hose. He looks as if he were earing black dress socks. "I keep my socks down; it helps me keep my ball down," says Erickson. "It looks like I'm wearing hightops. I've always done it this way. I'm not changing now."

Outfielder Kirby Puckett, who calls Erickson "Superman" because of his resemblance to actor Christopher Reeve, says Erickson's socks look "ugly, but I'm not telling him. He's bigger than me. He's bigger than Superman." Lately, he's been pitching like a man of steel.