Sunday, May 6, 2001

By STEVE NALBANDIAN
Norwich Bulletin

WEST HAVEN -- Dave Walling had seemingly turned the corner and overcome the mental roadblocks that dragged him down last season. Instead, they hit him again following the Navigators' recent road trip.

Walling, the Yankees' first-round pick in the 1999 draft, has been placed on the temporarily inactive list after he left the team Thursday night. It is not known when, or if, he will be back this season.

"I think he went home," Norwich manager Stump Merrill said before Saturday's game with the Ravens. "He had personal reasons and he had the club's consent."

Walling's departure comes on the heels of his 9-1 loss to Portland Wednesday, in which he allowed eight runs (all earned) on 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Of the 13 hits, two went for extra bases and both were doubles. The loss snapped Norwich's 10-game winning streak.

"I think there's more to it than meets the eye," said Merrill, who added that he didn't know the problem in its entirety.

In five starts this year, Walling has posted a 3-2 record with a 5.40 ERA. He has surrendered 44 hits in a team-high 31 2/3 innings, but has shown tremendous control with 24 strikeouts and four walks.

Walling could not be reached for comment.

Last season, Walling was always on edge. He asked reporters why autograph seekers would be hunting him down, considering the dismal season he was enduring (he went 3-9 with a 5.27 ERA in 14 starts). He blamed his pitching problems on injuries and didn't fit in with his teammates.

In his last start of the season, against Binghamton, Walling gave up four runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings and effectively stopped pitching until he was taken out of the game.

But from the first day of the 2001 season, Walling seemed different. He had a more happy-go-lucky attitude and got along better with his teammates, the media and himself. He was looser in the clubhouse and seemed to acknowledge that failure on the field was part of the game.

After beating Trenton in his first start of the season, Walling said: "If you have your best stuff, you can get hit around. If you have your worst stuff, you could throw a shutout. It's something that I'm starting to accept and understand."

Norwich first baseman Nick Leach said Walling's departure came as a complete shock.

"At spring training, you could tell that he was a lot more excited about this season," Norwich first baseman Nick Leach said. "He was looking at it like it was a new year. I thought he was enjoying himself."

During his start in Portland, Walling's body language said he didn't want to be out there. Leach said it was the same thing in the dugout.

"I heard him say if it kept up like this, he was out of there," Leach said. "He jokes around a lot so even though he said it, I don't think anyone thought he would do it. I heard he just didn't want to be out here.

"I know he's probably (mad) about that last start. I don't know if the mental part of the game got to him or if it was his love of the game. That's his decision and you can't fault him for it."

Jim Stoops, a right-handed reliever, was sent to Norwich from Class AAA Columbus to take Walling's spot on the roster. Stoops had no record and a 2.25 ERA in 12 appearances with the Clippers. Mike Jerzembeck is tentatively scheduled to take Walling's spot in the starting rotation and pitch against the Ravens Tuesday.

Walling relates to hitting wall

A compulsion to throw repeatedly to first base forced him to quit baseball in 2001.

Sunday, May 5, 2002

Columbus Dispatch

For lack of a better term, David Walling calls the monster inside his head "It.''
Sometimes "It'' comes as a sudden urge or gut feeling. Other times "It'' is an annoying whisper that just won't go away.
But what "It'' always insists is that Walling throw to first base when there is an opposing runner there.
Normally, a pitcher checks a wandering runner a time or two; sometimes more, if he's a speedster.
But Walling, a starting pitcher for the Columbus Clippers, sometimes feels compelled to throw repeatedly to first, even at the expense of focusing on the batter.
"The first time 'It' happened was in the middle of a game (two years ago) we were winning,'' said Walling, 23, who is doing better these days but still speaks of the problem in hushed tones. "All of a sudden, I had this overpowering urge to throw to first base. I'm in the middle of my stretch, and I'm like, 'What was that?' It happened again and again, whenever there was a runner on.''
Walling battled the maddening ailment throughout the 2000 season. It got so bad toward the end of the year that he lost his last three starts for double-A Norwalk, allowing 19 hits, 12 runs and seven walks.
Still, he hoped the problem was an aberration. He ignored it during the off-season, not even picking up a baseball.
Walling seemed fine in spring training -- no urge, no gut feeling, no weird whispers.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound right- hander, who had been a No. 1 draft pick (27th overall) in 1999 out of the University of Arkansas, appeared recovered. He was sent to double-A to start the 2001 season, and even made a spot start in Columbus in April.
But "It'' returned.
"What was so strange is that I'd be doing fine in a game,'' Walling said. "I'd breeze through the first six, seven innings, sometimes with a shutout going. Then, suddenly, 'It' was back. I'd try to come set but instead would have to throw to first.''
The problem eventually drove Walling off the field. He felt that he either had to walk away from baseball or go crazy.
So a year ago, he quit the game.
"I'd tried breathing techniques, different stances and stretches, all kinds of things,'' Walling said. "But 'It' wouldn't go away.
"On May 2, I left. By then, the progression had taken away my desire to play. After the game, I made a call and said I was done. I couldn't take it anymore.''
Walling is not the first, and certainly not the most celebrated, player to experience a mental block involving throwing. Former World Series hero Steve Blass (Pittsburgh), current prospects Rick Ankiel (St. Louis) and Nick Bierbrodt (Tampa Bay) and veteran Mark Wohlers (Atlanta, now Cleveland) all are pitchers who have suffered from some form of mental block.
Position players have not been immune. Two second basemen who had made All-Star teams, Chuck Knoblauch of the Yankees and Steve Sax of the Dodgers, went through periods in which they could not make the routine toss to first.
But Walling's urge to throw to first was a new twist.
Mark Newman, the Yankees' vice president of player personnel, knew Walling had a problem but didn't realize the extent.
"In some ways, I was surprised when he quit,'' Newman said. "But then we realized it must have been affecting David even more than we understood.''
Soon after he quit, Walling sought professional help. The San Diego native, who now lives in Norman, Okla., spent $5,000 to work with a California sports psychologist, spending hours talking and undergoing hypnosis.
"She thought maybe I'd lost my confidence, that I'd torn myself down too much,'' said Walling, who says he never failed in his baseball career until he reached double-A.
"I don't know if you can say it's ever going to be gone. But I do have much better grip on it now.''
Heading into his start last night against Ottawa, Walling had been one of the Clippers' most consistent pitchers. But after dominating in his first four starts, Walling (1-4, 3.99 ERA) hasn't pitched as well in his last two, walking two batters in each game.
Last night, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs and 11 hits.
"You hope all it is is just one of those things where a guy hits a rough patch after a good start to the season,'' Clippers manager Brian Butterfield said.
By avoiding walks, Walling limits the number of runners on base who could pose a distraction.
He simply can't afford to give "It'' an easy opening.
"What David's done is a complete about-face,'' Butterfield said. "I didn't realize the depth of his struggles until just this year.
"And to see how well he's handled such a troubling situation is really amazing. He is a living testament to strength and courage.''

Pitcher has left Clippers to seek professional help

Sunday, June 30, 2002

Stephanie Storm Dispatch Sports Reporter

Players love to tell the stories behind their injuries and are even proud of the scars. But ask a guy to talk about a mental problem? No way.
That's why it appeared David Walling had left behind a mysterious mental ailment that caused him to miss most of last season, when he spoke to The Dispatch about his condition in May.
The 23-year-old right-hander referred to his maddening urge to continuously throw to first base when a runner is stationed there as "It.''
"What was so strange is that I'd be doing fine in a game,'' Walling explained two months ago while sitting in the Cooper Stadium stands before a game. "I'd breeze through the first six, seven innings, sometimes with a shutout going. Then suddenly, 'It' was back. I'd try to come set but instead would have to throw to first.''
Walling felt comfortable enough to talk about the problem after a strong start this season. He did not walk a batter during his first four starts and had a 1.67 ERA. The Yankees' No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft even flirted with a perfect game in Buffalo the second week of May.
But slowly "It'' began to return.
Walling tried to pitch through it. But his record had dropped to 2-7. His ERA ballooned to 4.54.
And after getting knocked around June 2 in Cooper Stadium, Walling asked out of the game in the sixth inning.
He has not pitched since, leaving the team to go home to Oklahoma and seek professional help for the condition once again.
Through his agent, Jeff Riolo, Walling has declined to comment on how he is doing and whether he plans to return this season.
Initially, the Yankees asked Walling to report to their complex in Tampa, Fla., after he'd had a brief break. But Walling declined.
"He's working on it,'' Riolo said. "But right now, there's really no time frame. He thought he took care of the problem, but slowly it returned and started to erode.
"Maybe it was a cumulative effect of two months of the season, I don't know. But he just didn't want it to get to the point it did last year. And it doesn't do any good to rush him.''
It's probably a safe bet that Walling won't return to Columbus in the second half of the season. But even more troubling is the thought that a guy so talented might never pick up a baseball again.

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