Stars’ Sullivan on submarine mission

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, April 27, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

Brendan Sullivan turns over his Las Vegas Stars cap and points to a small notation made on the upper right bill.

It's the letter "Q" with the number 29 printed inside of it. It's in honor of the late Kansas City Royals star Dan Quisenberry, who died last year from brain cancer.

The connection is a natural. Sullivan, a 24-year-old public policy graduate of Stanford who once played first base in front of Jonathan Ogden at St. Albans High School in Washington, D.C., throws with the same rare submarine-style motion made popular by pitchers such as Quisenberry, Kent Tekulve and Ted Abernathy.

But Sullivan also has another bond with "Quis," who ranks second to Jeff Montgomery in career saves for the Royals with 238.

"It was in 1996 at Idaho Falls in rookie ball," Sullivan said. "Rick Sutcliffe was my pitching coach. He was a great coach but, like most pitching coaches, he really didn't know much about the submarine style of pitching. But he did know Dan Quisenberry.

"One day out of the clear blue he called Quis and we talked for about 45 minutes. It was great. We talked a little about mechanics but mostly it was, 'Hey, you know what? You're doing everything right now that I did. It's just a matter of learning to control it.' It was a very inspirational conversation."

Sullivan, a 26th-round pick in the 1996 June free agent draft, has used his unique style and Quisenberry's pep talk to make an unexpectedly steady climb up through the Padres' farm system.

He split the 1998 season between single-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he had a 3-2 record and eight saves and 1.08 ERA in 35 appearances, and double-A Mobile, where his 1.95 ERA and 13 saves played a key role in the Bay Bears winning the Southern League title.

Now Sullivan, who took the loss in relief in the Stars' 10-6 loss to Edmonton on Monday night at Cashman Field, finds himself trying to conquer triple-A.

"He's a real heady, smart kid who doesn't get ruffled," Stars' manager Mike Ramsey said. "I like having him out there in tough situations.

"He's earned what he's gotten," Ramsey continued. "He wasn't highly touted, but he just kept getting people out. He's had a chance to succeed at every level and so far he has. Now he's knocking on the door, sort of. He could end up being in the big leagues one day."

Not bad for a guy who wondered if he'd even make it on his college team.

"In the span of about two weeks I went from probably being the 15th or 16th pitcher on the staff to in the top seven and traveling," Sullivan said.

The main reason for his big rise was the change from a standard overhand delivery to the unconventional submarine style.

"I always goofed around with a side-arm delivery," Sullivan said. "One day I was in the outfield playing catch. I took it to the bullpen. I went from the bullpen to an intersquad game. And then two weeks later, I made my first road trip to Las Vegas (to play UNLV).

"When I threw overhand, I had a fastball in the 82 to 85 miles per hour range. I had four pitches but nothing outstanding. I was a good high school pitcher. But I didn't have the stuff to get to this level. If I hadn't have dropped down, there's a good chance I would not have gotten a chance to pitch at Stanford. There were like seven right-handed pitchers there and five of them threw 90 or better or had a good split-finger, something to set them apart."

"It's a different angle," Ramsey said. "It's an angle hitters aren't used to seeing."

Now Sullivan wants to throw slow. He said his pitches sink better when his arm is tired and his pitches clock between 78 and 80 miles per hour.

"He's got a real good idea about what he's trying to do," Ramsey said. "He needs to work on getting left-handed hitters out, but he's done a real good job for me in the past. He saved us last year. He was darn near perfect in save opportunities."

* DARR GOES ON DL: The Stars placed rightfielder Mike Darr on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to Sunday with a pulled left rib-cage muscle.

Darr, who was hitting .300 with no homers and three RBIs, suffered the injury while making a spectacular diving catch in the sixth inning of a 9-3 win at Iowa on April 18. The catch helped save a no-hitter at the time for Las Vegas pitcher Buddy Carlyle. It was the second game of a doubleheader, so Carlyle was only an inning away from the no-no because it was only a seven-inning game.

"If it wasn't for the no-hitter, I probably wouldn't have gone after it," Darr said. "When it was first hit, I didn't think I had a chance for it. But I told myself, 'You've got to keep this thing alive.' "

Darr said the play "kind of knocked the wind out of me. When I got up I was sore. Then I played the next day and I couldn't move. It hurt to sneeze or breathe."

The injury, similar to one that kept Stars catcher Jimmy Gonzales sidelined for over a month, has nagged Darr ever since. And fearful that the star prospect might do even more damage by rushing back into the lineup, the Stars decided to put him on the disabled list.

"His desire to play is so great that he wanted to play through it," Ramsey said. "We decided to just shut him down until he gets ready. We're hoping it's only for seven to 10 days. If it takes longer, it does. It's one of those gray areas that we'll have to play by ear."

* HELP IS COMING: With Darr and shortstop Greg LaRocca both going on the disabled list recently, the Stars had two roster spots to fill.

The Stars announced prior to Monday's game the signing of veteran infielder Rico Rossy and the promotion of right-handed pitcher Brandon Kolb from double-A Mobile.

The 35-year-old Rossy, who spent the 1995 and 1996 seasons with Las Vegas, has spent time in the majors with Atlanta, Kansas City and Seattle. He was released by the Kansas City Royals at the end of spring training in March and was signed to a minor-league free-agent contract by the Padres. He will play both shortstop and third base for the Stars.

Kolb, a 1995 fourth round draft pick out of Texas Tech, appeared in seven games at Mobile this year and posted an 0-2 record with 0.79 ERA. He had two saves and 14 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings pitched.

"He has a good fastball and slider," Ramsey, who managed him last year in Mobile, said. "Both of those pitches are major league quality. He needs to develop a third pitch. He was a good setup man for us last year."

* UP NEXT: The Stars open a four-game series tonight at Cashman Field against the Calgary Cannons. Right-hander Jose Mercedes (0-1, 3.38) will start for Las Vegas. Calgary, which played a doubleheader at Albuquerque on Monday, has yet to announce its starter.