Doug Drabek letting son Kyle make his own way

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The guy who looked like Jimmy Buffett's bassist clearly didn't want to be obtrusive.

This was Doug Drabek, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 1990, leading the Pirates to the National League Championship Series. So, why was this former All-Star hiding?

His 19-year-old son, Kyle, was throwing live batting practice. Drabek declined offers to sit on a chair on the field; instead, he sat on a rolled-up garden hose 20 feet behind the fence.

"I'd rather stay in the background," Doug Drabek said. "This is his doing."

The Phillies took Kyle in the first round of last year's draft. This is his first major league camp; Doug Drabek's first one was 21 years ago. Doug's advice to Kyle when he left the family home in The Woodlands, Texas, near Houston, was the same that Dave Righetti gave him in 1986:

"Be seen and not heard," Kyle said.

Doug added: "I also told him, 'Don't go in there like you're somebody. Right now, you're nobody.' "

That's true - to an extent.

Drabek is a first-round pick who signed for $1.55 million. Hence, his presence in camp after only six shaky professional starts in the Gulf Coast League.

He also has impeccable bloodlines. Doug Drabek was 0-3 in seven starts in the Pirates' three postseason runs from 1990-92, but had a splendid 2.05 postseason earned run average.

None of that meant much to Kyle, a righthander with 95-mph stuff . . . that got hammered in the Gulf Coast League last year.

"He was calling me up and saying, 'What's going on?' " Doug said. "I told him, 'Look, this isn't like high school. You don't have to worry about just two guys in a lineup. You've got to worry about everybody.' "

The Phillies sent him to the Florida Instructional League, where he validated their pick.

"Like anything else, he had the pressure of being a first-round draft choice," said Steve Noworyta, the club's minor league director. "He had a great instructional league, and we love what we're seeing here."

If Kyle continues to have a good spring, he will start at Class A Lakewood. It seems as if everyone is helping him.

Starter Jamie Moyer, 44, who has a son less than 4 years younger than Kyle, made sure Kyle felt welcome in spring training. He asked Kyle to play catch on the first day. Kyle's daily calls home have suddenly gone from dead air to constant chattering, letting Doug know what Moyer said that day.

"Think about it," Moyer said. "He's 19 years old. It's big-league camp. And his father was a major league pitcher. He probably feels a little pressure."

So, Moyer assumed the role of mentor . . . at least. "It's almost like having a dad out there," Doug said.

Drabek's other son, 20-year-old Justin, is a second baseman who hopes to make a favorable impression at a Phillies tryout camp this weekend. That gave Doug an excuse to visit the camp.

Not that he wanted anyone to make a big deal out of it.

Phillies infielders, pitchers and catchers endured a seemingly endless, 90-minute, full-squad instructional seminar on fielding bunts as part of practice yesterday. Bench coach Jimy Williams ran the drills. Meanwhile, outfielders practiced baserunning and sliding.

About 2 hours later, after the players hit, infielders took a strong round of drills. First basemen Ryan Howard and Randall Simon then stayed late to practice flips to pitchers covering first base.

The club struggled at time with such fundamentals last season. Fundamental drills will be incorporated into preseason and regular-season schedules.

Infielder Danny Sandoval attended workouts for the first time after being delayed in Venezuela since Sunday with visa problems . . . Soft-throwing lefty Jamie Moyer took satisfaction from breaking the bats of outfield prospects Michael Bourn and Greg Golson on consecutive pitches during live batting practice . . . Florida State rethought its choice to use wooden bats against the Phillies in the exhibition game Wednesday. FSU will use metal bats. *