Schmidt says Phils' foursome not fearsome

WHEN I'M KING of the World . . .

Pat Jordan's provocative view of the Phillies' Four Aces, which ran in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, will be required reading for every Phillies fan . . . It is not only a detailed breakdown of the Dubee Brothers' deliveries, "stuff," mind-sets and unique preparations, it is a compressed journey through the evolution of pitching from the iron men of yore to today's crop of pitch-count-restricted and less-accountable starters.

Despite being one of the most acclaimed baseball authors of his generation, Jordan, 69, might have been as anonymous during his Clearwater visit as he was during his three-plus seasons as a Class D and C righthander in Midwestern minor leagues. That journey through grim summers in dusty burgs named McCook, Davenport, Palatka, Eau Claire and finally, with an independent team in Waterbury, Conn., led to a 12-22 record and 4.96 ERA. It also planted the seeds for "A False Spring," Jordan's critically acclaimed chronicle of times that typify the high expectations and shattered dreams of so many thousands of kids who have marched bravely into organized baseball for their "Shot" and ended up with a bus ticket and unconditional release.

Getting a one-on-one with the Dubees is like scoring a sitdown with Greta Garbo, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, Joe DiMaggio or any of the populist recluses fame has produced. Only Cole Hamels, an affable young man still comfortable in the spotlight, gave Jordan an interview without an appointment.

Look, read the piece. You'll come away knowing a lot more about pitching and pitchers than you did when you sat down with it. It would not have been a typical spring-training week in Clearwater without Jordan coming away with some vintage Mike Schmidt.

Schmidt told Jordan, "Ryan, Gibson, Seaver, they made you defensive. Does that make sense? You were afraid of the ball. There's no fear of the ball today with cutters, splitters and changeups."

Jordan asked Michael Jack, "What about the Phillies' four pitchers?"

"They're not scary," he said. "Even if they all win 20 games, the Phillies don't have a pitcher who strikes fear in a hitter."

Long drive . . . And that Schmittyism is way outta here . . .

When I'm King of the World . . .

Phillies fans who couldn't get enough sun, fun and baseball during the best March I can remember in the Clearwater area will be welcome at Extended Spring Training . . . That's a fate worse than a fastball upside the batting helmet for 69 minor leaguers deemed unworthy of spots on the rosters of the Phils' four full season affiliates. After 5 weeks of spring training, they now face another 10 weeks of workouts, drills, squad games and five exhibitions a week against three other Extended groups in the area. The short-season Rookie Gulf Coast League and New York-Penn League don't start until the third week in June.

But if you got shut out of the sold-out Bright House or were turned off by high airfares and hotel rates during peak season and want to see the mid- and long-range future of the Phillies, this is opportunity at a discount as the weather warms to hot and the snowbirds head north. The Clearwater Threshers open at home Friday, their roster jammed with high-profile prospects optimistically projected to be the club's nucleus by the middle of the decade. No. 2 prospect Jonathan Singleton will be learning leftfield, top-rated catcher Sebastian Valle will be calling pitches for a quartet of tall, hard-throwing righthanders, headed by future rotation studs Brody Colvin and Jarred Cosart. Trevor May and Julio Rodriguez are other power arms to follow. Jiwan James, another of on-the-fence High Ceiling Flyers Project, will be in centerfield. Budding power stick Leandro Castro will start in rightfield.

I make 19-year-old second baseman Cesar Hernandez the most likely of this group to play as a regular in The Bank. The kid was signed out of Venezuela so young, he's already on the Phils' 40-man. Cesar switch-hits, runs like a deer and has Chase Utley Replacement stamped on his forehead.

One disclaimer: Many of these ranked prospects were the core of Lakewood's Sally League champions last season. But Sally to Florida State League is one of the longest jumps in baseball. Big spring-training ballparks . . . More mature pitchers . . . Oppressive heat by late June . . . Frequent rainouts and delays. The FIL provides a guaranteed grind-it-out season.

The Indentured Servants impressed into Extended ST are split into two squads. One is usually home, one on the road. All weekday games are at 1 p.m. Saturday games are at 10 a.m., and Sunday is a rest day. Admission to the Carpenter Complex fields is free. You could pass the hat like it's an American Legion game and give the money to the star of the game. Players are not paid in spring training, which might be something for the world's best-paid union to address in negotiations for its new basic agreement. After all, the Phils will have raked in about $7 million from their Florida operation. That's a lot of flocking snowbirds.

Trouble is, it's not even enough to pay Joe Blanton. *

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