Experience is the best teacher — in life and in baseball — and Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf could be a poster boy in an advertising campaign to convey that message.
Four years ago, the Phils brought up the then-22-year-old, and the little lefty won his first five decisions in the major leagues. You could see the stars in his eyes as the pitcher with the boy-next-door looks eagerly talked with reporters as his dream unfolded.
But Wolf woke up. He went 1-9 during the rest of that campaign as National League batters seemed to be telling him, "Welcome to the big leagues, kid."
A lot has transpired since then. Wolf had his good and bad streaks during the next two seasons, but he has finally developed into a good pitcher. The left-hander threw so well on Sunday that radio announcer Larry Andersen and manager Larry Bowa compared him favorably with some of the best hurlers in the National League.
"The way that he's pitching right now, to me, Randy Wolf is right up there with Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Matt Morris — the guys that you would consider to be the top pitchers in the league," Andersen said after Sunday's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh in 10 innings. "He's been phenomenal in the second half. When you look at his numbers, he doesn't take a back seat to anybody in the second half."
Since the All-Star break, Wolf is 7-2.
"I don't look at it as having a strong second half," Wolf said. "My elbow wasn't one-hundred percent at the beginning of the year. In my first four or five starts, I was dealing with my elbow and trying to get healthy. Ever since then, I've been healthy and everything has gone well. I've felt extremely comfortable since May."
"I'm running out of superlatives for Randy," said Bowa. "He's thrown some great games. He's not overpowering, but his off-speed stuff sets up his fastball. He has complete command of every pitch, and he's pitching with confidence. He's established himself as one of the top pitchers in this league."
Wolf has pitched in some tough-luck games this year in which he was tagged for a loss after a good outing. Bowa implied that under better circumstances, the southpaw, who is 11-8 for the season, could be a 20-game winner.
The way that he handles the adversity illustrates his maturity. The pitcher has always been polite and cooperative, but his postgame sessions with reporters these days are different than they were in 1999. That bright-eyed kid has learned some lessons over the years, and it shows. Andersen noted one thing that has made a difference.
"He was stubborn in his first couple of years," said Andersen. "I don't want to say that he didn't want to listen, but he wanted to do things his way. Whether he's listening more to (pitching coach) Vern Ruhle or whether he's figured things out himself, he's definitely learned how to pitch."
"I feel that I have a pretty good idea of how to pitch — how to mix up my pitches," said Wolf. "If I stay healthy, I see no reason that I can't keep pitching the same way."
And while a few more wins would be nice, Wolf has other priorities.
"If my teammates see my name on the lineup card and think that we have a good chance to win, that's a good feeling for me," the pitcher said. "The most important thing is that the guys in the clubhouse have that much confidence in me."
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