At a relatively early age, Kelly Downs, Utah's representative in the 86th World Series, knew two things: He was going to be a big league pitcher, and it wasn't going to be easy.
He was 11 years old in the early fall of 1972 when he visited Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia, home of the Phillies. That night the Phillies were playing the Chicago Cubs, which was a big deal for an 11-year-old. But the bigger deal was that starting on the mound for the Phillies was one David Downs, Kelly's big brother, role model, and aspiring heir apparent to Steve Carlton.David Downs had already pitched one game in the major leagues after being called up from the minors late in the season by the Phillies. That had been a three-hit shutout of the Braves. Not bad for starters. Downs, all 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds of him, was branded a phenom. He had a 95 mile-an-hour fastball, and a decent sinker, and he looked as menacing as Don Drysdale.
After the three-hitter against the Braves, David's father, Ralph Downs, was sitting in his home in Bountiful, Utah, when the thought struck him to round up his two youngest sons, Kelly and Richard (18 months younger than Kelly), entrust all household duties to his daughters, Janet and Peggy, and his wife, and get back to the East Coast in time for David's next start.
Ralph Downs and sons went to Veteran's Stadium by way of the Washington Monument and the Liberty Bell - a token effort at culture and patriotism. They did not tell David they were coming. A rookie's got enough on his mind.
Once in the stadium, they bought hot dogs and popcorn, and settled into their seats to watch Dave pitch against Ferguson Jenkins and the Cubs.
Alas, they saw him lose. But he pitched well enough. Billy Williams hit a late-inning home run for a 1-0 Cubs win. David Downs was still drawing comparisons to Drysdale.
It was sometime during that game that Kelly, by now suitably overwhelmed, announced that one day he would also pitch in Veteran's Stadium.
Ironically, that was the last decision David Downs would ever be involved in as a major league pitcher. You can look it up. In the Baseball Encyclopedia, downs' career is summed up with a 1-1 record in late 1972.
His downfall was a stretched tendon in his right shoulder. He had extended it early in the '72 season, while working daily in the chilly weather in the Eastern League. Surgery was performed in primitive operation in the early '70s, and was done at the expense of his velocity.
He rattled around the minor leagues for another four seasons but never got the heat back. He retired for good in 1977, about the time his little brother, Kelly, was turning himself into David Downs' second coming.
David had helped Viewmont High School to the 1969 state championship. Now, after sufficient development in the Bountiful area's Little League program, Kelly was doing likewise. Well, almost. Playing for Wade Bender in his junior and senior seasons of 1978 and 1979, Downs and the Viewmont Vikings finished second in the state tournament. As the pitching rotations fell, Kelly never pitched a state championship game. His final game at Viewmont was when he was a senior, in the semifinals against Cottonwood. Viewmont won, 6-0.
David had been selected in the sixth round of the 1969 baseball draft by the Phillies. Kelly, although smaller, at about 6-1 and 170 pounds coming out of high school, was projected to be taken equally as high, or higher.
But he hurt his back playing basketball prior to his senior season of baseball at Viewmont, and the multitude of scouts that attended the Vikings' games backed off, concerned about his physical condition.
In the meantime, he was highly recruited by a variety of college programs, including Arizona State, Nebraska and virtually every school in California. BYU offered him a full-ride scholarship, and he actually signed a letter-of-intent with the Cougars.
But when he was finally drafted in the 26th round of the 1979 draft - by the Phillies, no less - and they then waved a $10,000 signing bonus in front of him, he decided against higher education, at least for the immediate future. The night in Veteran's Stadium hadn't been soon forgotten.
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Inspired, or at least forewarned, by Dave's physical problems, Kelly was prepared for a long, tough battle on his way to the big leagues. And that's precisely what he got.
The Phillies liked his potential but didn't exactly grease the chute for him to Veteran's Stadium. He pitched at Spartanburg in 1980, Peninsula (in the Carolina League) in 1981, at Oklahoma City (in the American Association) in 1982, and at Portland (in the Pacific Coast League) in 1983. He did not record a winning record any of those seasons, although he kept showing signs of promise.
Finally, they split, he and the Phillies. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants' organization in 1984.
He has been a better-than-.500 pitcher ever since. He was 17-15 for Phoenix in '85 and '86 before being called up to the Giants in the fall of 1986, when he went 4-4 with a 2.75 ERA - and pitched against the Phillies, in Veteran's Stadium.
In 1987, his first full year in the big leagues, he was 12-9 with San Francisco. In 1988 he was 13-9. This World Series season, ironically, has been his most trying as a Giant. Plagued by shoulder problems, he went 4-8 during the 1989 regular season, when he wasn't on the disabled list.
But he is back to full strength for the World Series, as was obvious in Game 2 Sunday night, when he was called to do middle relief duty and responded by striking out Jose Canseco and Dave Parker of the Oakland A's, defusing an A's uprising in the process.
"Getting to the World Series cancels out all the bad stuff that happened this season," says Downs. "This is a dream come true. I'm lucky to be here. I'm lucky to be playing."
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With good fortune, Downs might see extended duty later on in this Series. For one thing, he says he's feeling as strong as he ever has, that the shoulder problems that plagued him in May have been eased by a different throwing motion and by plenty of rest (if only Dave had gone through similar therapy in his Eastern League days).
And for another thing, Giants' manager Roger Craig has hinted to Downs that he should be ready for anything - including a possible start in Game 5 if Scott Garrelts isn't feeling as strong as he'd like.
"You never know," says Downs. "I just have to be ready. This isn't the time to be feeling sorry for yourself if you're in the bullpen, so I'll do what I'm asked. But if I get the call (to start), that's great too."
He says baseball is "still a game, and you have to treat it that way. You've got to have a kid's attitude. You can't get caught up in all the hype and pressure."
He says it was Dave who first taught him that.
"He used to always be on me to be in control," he says. "He said the game was almost all mental. He warned me against showing emotion, against giving my opponent any kind of an edge, against getting caught up in myself. I didn't understand much of it in high school. Now, I watch kids in high school, acting crazy, and I want to throw up. This game really is almost 100 percent mental.
"You've got to have the talent, sure. I think I always had that talent. I believe the reason I can pitch a baseball is because I was blessed. That's what talents are - something you're given. You can't teach somebody how to have a good arm. It's just talent.
"But after that, it's what you do with it. A lot of guys have talent and never make it. That's the challenge."
Says Dave, "I sensed Kelly had what it took, from early on I sensed it. I tried to help him by telling him about the mental part of it. Because that's where you can lose it. As for the injuries, well, you can't control that.
"He has a smooth natural delivery, more than I did."
For the past couple of weeks, while the Giants have been busy in the postseason, first against Chicago in the National League Championship Series and now in the Bay Bridge World Series against the crosstown A's, Kelly's family has been in San Francisco. They've watched every game.
Most prominent are his dad, Ralph, his younger brother Richard (who played college baseball at Utah, as well as dabbling in college basketball at Utah State and tennis at Utah - "he's the best athlete of all of us, by far," says Kelly), and, of course, his older brother David.
When a Downs is pitching in a big league park, he can count on his family as company.