PROMISING PROSPECT: Baseball preview: No. 1 player Dan Kapala. Once a wild unknown, Shrine's senior pitcher worked his way to a college scholarship and major league consideration

April 4, 2003

BY BILL ROOSE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The second the ball would leave Dan Kapala's hand, Royal Oak Shrine coach Matt Riggins would think of pitchers out of those funny baseball movies.

"Remember the movie 'Major League,' and the character Wild Thing?" Riggins said. "That was Danny.

"It was classic 'Bull Durham' when the guy hit the bull with a pitch."

Back then, the Knights' right-hander was more of a danger on the mound than a staff ace.

But Riggins can laugh now, because Kapala has much more control of his fastball as a senior than he did as a sophomore. And Kapala, who throws in the low 90-m.p.h. range, might be laughing his way to a major league contract.

Before last summer, Kapala, 6-feet-4 1/2 and 197 pounds, was virtually unheard of among pro scouts and college coaches.

But when Kapala traveled to play in summer camps, including ones in Arizona and Tennessee, he pitched well enough -- and threw hard enough -- to interest scouts and college coaches alike. Then his showing at Notre Dame's fall camp won Kapala a scholarship from the Irish.

What started last summer has continued this spring as scouts flock to see Kapala. Last Saturday, when Kapala pitched in a doubleheader against Allen Park Cabrini, at least five scouts were there to see him.

If the scouts are correct, come June and the amateur draft, Kapala will have to decide whether to honor his commitment to Notre Dame or sign a pro contract.

"I think Dan's grown into his arm," said Riggins, a first baseman at Michigan State in 1993-96. "He's put in his time and worked really hard to get to where he's at. When I first saw him as a sophomore he was probably throwing 85. His mechanics have gotten so much better. And his strength has gotten better and he's only 17 years old."

Hard work changed Kapala from a wild thing to a sure thing and made him what he is today, the Free Press' No. 1 prospect in the state.

The transformation began three years ago. After suffering two broken bones in his left arm when a runner slid into him as Kapala covered home plate, he spent the summer of 2000 throwing in his parents' backyard.

"When I broke my arm I would go out to this little bullpen that I had set up and just throw the balls as hard as I could," Kapala said.

"All the time I was growing up, people told me that I wasn't a pitcher and that I should forget about that. So I was having fun just throwing the baseball and it didn't bother me where it went.

"Then I got on the mound and I carried over the same attitude, where I was going to throw really hard. I just threw fastballs, and I've gone nine innings since against good teams using only a fastball. I just thought that I'll throw the ball as fast as I can, see what happens, and kids couldn't hit. Granted, back in my sophomore year I had some walks and whatnot, but nobody hit it.

"Then when I realized that I could be good at this pitching thing, I wanted to work at this."

Last season, Kapala, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, was 9-2 with an 0.41 ERA. He allowed only 19 hits in 68 2/3 innings and had 122 strikeouts and only 38 walks.

"The kid's got the liveliest arm I've ever seen," Riggins said. "It's the loosest and most explosive arm. He plays rightfield when he's not pitching and if the ball is hit sharply to him, he's going to throw you out at first. He did it several times last year."

Kapala's strength also impressed Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri.

"Dan stood out at our fall camp with his arm strength and deceptiveness," Mainieri said. "His low arm angle produces enormous movement and sink, making his fastball very difficult to hit."

But that unorthodox arm angle has baseball analysts split on Kapala's potential. Some coaches and scouts like his arm-whip motion and have compared it with those of Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers and former big leaguer Dennis Eckersley.

But other scouts think Kapala will flame out, because they say his delivery puts too much pressure on his shoulder and elbow. He has command of two pitches -- a fastball and a slider -- and is working on a change-up.

Last July, Kapala solicited the help of former Michigan State pitching coach Joe Fletcher, who operates a pitching academy near Kalamazoo. Kapala, who was an All-Catholic end as a junior, gave up football to concentrate on pitching.

"Dan was a mechanical disaster," Fletcher said. "With all of that leverage and the length of his arms and that body it looked like he was just going to tear. I started breaking his motion down and got him to use some simple laws of physics when he throws.

"If I were to put a number on him, I would say he's at an 8 out of 10. He still has some work ahead of him, but it's because he's so tall that it's hard for guys like him with all of that violence, to keep everything perfect. Still, he's improving every day."

Fletcher is a disciple of former major leaguer Tom House, who was Nolan Ryan's pitching coach with the Texas Rangers and has authored a number of books on conditioning, mechanics and psychology for pitchers.

Kapala has benefited from Fletcher and House's advice.

"Tom has worked with top surgeons in America on this and the conclusion they've arrived at is that so long as your arm angle is natural, and you take care of your arm and your mechanics are proper, you're not going to have any problems," Kapala said.

"Joe has done wonders with my delivery and cleaning it up and getting me to use my body more, which takes the stress off my arm, so now when I throw there is virtually no stress on my arm."

Now only opponents are potential sources of stress.

Last Saturday, Cabrini swept a season-opening doubleheader against Shrine, 9-0 and 5-1. Kapala took the loss in the second game.

Cabrini also was a source of disappointment for Kapala two seasons ago in the Catholic League championships at Comerica Park, beating the Knights, 7-0, in the C-D final. Kapala, who started in rightfield, threw three pitches in late relief.

"I'm not going to make any guarantees or anything," Kapala said, "but I have confidence that we're going to win in Comerica Park this year."

Contact BILL ROOSE at 313-223-4413 or roose@freepress.com.