Streak of hard knocks

OAKLAND

Brad Ziegler is getting used to the pregame routine. He talks to one reporter after another. A’s public relations people shuttle him between various radio and television interviews.

Everyone wants a piece of the man who broke a 101-year-old record.

“I’m kind of shocked at how big of a deal this whole thing is,” Ziegler said. “It’s a record you never even heard about, maybe because it’s so old and buried in the record books. As I approached it, I didn’t realize it would draw this much attention.”

Ziegler is only half right, though.

The record itself — most consecutive scoreless innings to start a career — is rather obscure. It’s the new record-holder who is so intriguing.

Ziegler is a guy who reached the majors only after five years and three significant career crossroads.

One of which nearly killed him.

In between the time the Phillies released him six innings into his career and the time the A’s told him he had to change his entire delivery to have a shot at the majors, a line drive to the head sent Ziegler to an intensive care unit for six days in 2004.

He endured another freak head injury while playing catch this past January. Although it was not life-threatening, it caused temporary memory loss and some painful headaches.

All of which has given him a unique perspective on being in the majors.

“There’s a chance I would have never walked out of that hospital in 2004,” said Ziegler, 28. “I’m just trying to soak up every moment of this. It’s what I worked so hard for for a long time. Now that I have this chance, I’m trying to take advantage of every day and every opportunity I get.”

Since the A’s granted Ziegler’s wish by bringing him to the majors on May 30, he worked his way up from bullpen mop-up man. Now he’s the team’s most consistent reliever.

Can’t get more consistent than a 0.00 earned-run average.

“It’s beyond words what he’s done,” manager Bob Geren said. “He’s pitched so well.”

Using a side-arm delivery and a nasty sinker that induces one ground ball after another, the right-hander pitched his way into the record book. With 30 consecutive scoreless innings to start his career, Ziegler broke the major league record set by Philadelphia right-hander George McQuillan in 1907.

Coincidentally, it was the Phillies who set Ziegler on the winding road to this record by releasing him in the spring of 2004. They had drafted him in the 20th round in 2003, despite a shoulder injury that cost him most of his first pro season.

He pitched only six innings at the end of ’03, and at the end of the following spring, the Phillies sent him packing.

Ziegler said he was told he wasn’t good enough to pitch at low Class-A, but was too old to go back to the short-season team.

“At that point I didn’t want to give up my career,” he said. “I felt I hadn’t gotten a fair shot.”

So Ziegler signed with Schaumburg (Ill.) of the independent Northern League. Ziegler made four starts there before the A’s, and several other teams, discovered him. He signed with the A’s because they offered him a chance to start at high-A Modesto.

Ziegler was 9-2 with a 3.90 ERA at Modesto, pitching the team into the California League playoffs. He was on the mound for the deciding game of a playoff series, although for only two pitches.

His second pitch to San Jose’s Fred Lewis — now the Giants left fielder — came screaming back at his head, hitting him squarely on the right temple and fracturing his skull.

“I was conscious the entire time,” he said. “When I got hit, I wanted to finish the game. I didn’t realize how serious it was. ... The moment I stood up, I was real dizzy.”

Ziegler was hospitalized with what he thought was simply a bad concussion. He spent nearly a week in the ICU before doctors told him that the injury was life-threatening. They had kept him in the dark because they didn’t want his heart rate to rise or his blood pressure to spike.

“You’ve cheated death here,” they told him.

“The thing that probably saved my life was having a hat on,” Ziegler said. “That little extra cushion might have made the difference.”

Ziegler worried that his career might be over, but eventually doctors assured him that the fracture had healed and he was at no more risk than he was before the injury. He returned to pitch in 2005.

By the end of 2006, the heroic survivor story had faded. He was just another minor leaguer whose career had stalled. That’s when the A’s intervened and told him he needed to scrap his traditional over-the-top delivery and become a side-arm pitcher.

And a reliever.

Ziegler was reluctant to change, but he finally agreed.

“What I didn’t want is to go through the rest of my career and not make it and then wonder, ‘If I would have switched, would I have made it?’” he said.

A’s bullpen coach Ron Romanick, then the club’s roving minor league pitching instructor, worked with Ziegler every day for a month in the fall of ’06, rebuilding his delivery.

Last season it seemed to finally be coming together for Ziegler. He was 12-3 with a 2.41 ERA at Double A and Triple A. As he prepared for spring training in January, he was hit in the head again. While Ziegler was playing catch with former A’s farmhand John Rheinecker, a young boy leapt in front of Ziegler to try to grab the ball. It ticked off the boy’s glove and straight into Ziegler’s forehead, fracturing his skull again.

Although only the outer layer of his skull was fractured, the concussion was more severe than the first time. For a few days after the injury, Ziegler said he would be “telling someone a story and then two minutes later telling the same story again, with no recollection.” He also suffered from “excruciating headaches for a while.”

Still, Ziegler was back at spring training a month later.

“I definitely thought after the first one it would never happen again, and when it happened the second time I’m like, ‘What are the odds of a third time?’” he said. “Hopefully that never happens. The second was kind of a fluke deal, being a little lax and not paying attention.”

Ziegler said he’s not worried about getting hit again. He doesn’t even wear the protective guard inside his cap that he wore immediately after the second fracture.

Ziegler started this season at Triple A Sacramento, and after a solid two months, he finally earned his first big-league promotion. He said he’s been amazed at how well it’s gone so far.

“This record is 100 percent attributed to my team,” he said. “I’m not a strikeout pitcher, so the guys are making great plays behind me. You’ve got to have great luck to have a streak like this, and I’ve caught everything so far.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jeff Fletcher at 521-5489 or jeff.fletcher@pressdemocrat.com.