Aussie Blackley rounding back into form

PEORIA, Ariz. -- When Travis Blackley made his Major League debut against the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field on July 1, 2004, he was a wide-eyed, fuzzy-faced kid from Australia, full of confidence.

Two months later, he was shell-shocked, injured and wondering if he would ever throw another pitch in the big leagues. He still hasn't made it all the way back, but he's getting closer and feels good about his chances of resuming a rudely interrupted career.

"I feel like I am, playing-wise, in better shape now than at any time in my career," he said. "Everything is coming along good."

A lot has changed since that sun-splashed afternoon at Safeco, where he held the Rangers to one run over five innings and was the winning pitcher in the Mariners' 8-4 victory in front of 35,966 fans who welcomed him to The Show.

Blackley now has a wife and son, a short haircut, and the wildest-looking tattoo on his left leg that you'd ever want to see. But he still has just one Major League victory.

The tattoo required three six-hour sessions which hurt quite a bit. But that's nothing compared to what he's gone through the past three years trying to get back to where he was as a 21-year-old big leaguer.

Sitting in front of his locker at the Peoria Sports Complex, the 24-year-old talked about his past, the future and points in between. He realizes now that he probably was promoted to the big-leagues before he was ready, and still remembers the exact date of a game he calls, "Hand Out Bombs Day".

That would be July 16, 2004, when the Cleveland Indians rocked him for three home runs and seven runs in two innings at Safeco en route to an 18-6 victory.

That brief outing proved something to Blackley.

"I really thought I was ready when I was called up," he said, "But looking back, I don't think I was."

In retrospect, Blackley believes he didn't experience enough adversity in the Minor Leagues to prepare him for rough outings in the Majors. He just didn't know how to handle it, and the fact his arm gave out was the final blow.

"I had always won and had a great team behind me," he said, referring to his 17-3 record for San Antonio in 2003 and seven consecutive wins with Triple-A Tacoma prior to being promoted to the Majors the following summer.

"The second game I pitched [with the Mariners] was OK, and then I got smashed pretty good," he said. "That brought me down. The Cleveland game was the worst."

In his next start, Blackley walked nine batters during a four-inning stint on July 26 and was sent back to Tacoma on Aug. 1st.

As it turned out, the debut game was to become the highlight of his '04 season, which ended with him being placed on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis.

Further examination revealed two small tears in the labrum of his left shoulder and he spent the entire 2005 season recuperating from surgery. Blackley returned in '06, starting the season with Double-A San Antonio (8-11, 4.06 ERA) and ending it with two starts for Triple-A Tacoma (1-1, 4.09).

His final start of the season was a dandy -- six one-hit shutout innings against Salt Lake.

Blackley thought he would be among the Mariners' September callups and initially was disappointed that the call never came.

But he realized that pitching 156 innings one year after surgery was plenty, and didn't take the non-promotion personally.

"There was no need for me to throw 10 to 20 more innings," he said. "It would have been a risk, you know. I don't want to be spending my life in Triple-A. I don't mind being there at the moment, but I don't want to stay there."