Foster aims for return to majors

Kevin Foster gave up 27 home runs while compiling a 10-7 record with the Chicago Cubs in 1997, but there is one in particular he will never forget.

Actually, it wasn't so much Mark Sweeney's game-tying pinch-hit homer on Aug. 16 at San Diego that was as memorable as what happened to Foster a few moments later.

"I've given up a lot of home runs in my career," Foster said. "But that is one I'll remember a long, long time. It taught me to control my temper."

What happened after Sweeney's homer is the reason Kevin Foster is pitching for the Iowa Cubs this season instead of the Chicago Cubs.

Upset over his home-run pitch, Foster badly strained muscles in his right shoulder when he reached up to yank a cooler of Gatorade off a shelf in the Qualcomm Stadium dugout.

"When you try and pull a cooler that's full of Gatorade, it probably weighs 80, 90 or 100 pounds," Foster said. "And that puts a lot of pressure on your shoulder muscles."

As Foster found out the hard way.

After a two-week stint on the disabled list, he pitched just one more time the remainder of the season, allowing three runs in just two innings.

And things didn't get any better in the off-season. The sore shoulder continued to cause him pain and problems in spring training this year. His fastball, routinely clocked in the low 90s before the injury, was in the 75 to 80 mph range in the spring.

"I can't remember the last time I threw that low," Foster said. "Maybe high school.

"When I left spring training, I didn't think I'd be able to throw a baseball this year. I had two MRIs and they didn't show any muscle tears. But I had to retrain those muscles in my shoulder."

Foster stayed behind in Mesa, Ariz., for extended spring training and thanks to a strict exercise schedule slowly began to build his shoulder back up. He has worked his way up the Cubs' minor league system to triple-A Iowa where he has started five games and compiled a 1-3 record and 7.82 ERA.

Still, Foster, whose scheduled start against the Stars tonight was pushed back a day, believes he's only two or three more starts away from regaining his major league form.

"The shoulder is getting real good again," Foster said after throwing on the sidelines before the Stars' 5-4 win over the Cubs on Thursday night at Cashman Field.

"I'm probably at about 90 to 95 percent now. My fastball is around 88 to 91 miles per hour again. But I think it will take a few more outings before I'm close to 100 percent. I've only thrown 25 innings here. It still feels like spring training to me."

The 29-year-old right-hander, who has compiled a 32-29 major league record with the Cubs, would love nothing better than to return to Wrigley Field in August in the thick of the NL Central pennant race.

"Hopefully I'll get called up and hopefully it will be as a starting pitcher," Foster said. "I've been a starter all through my career, so it would be hard to switch to a middle-relief role now. But the main thing is to get back to being 100 percent and get back to the big leagues."

And to control his temper.

"I had never been injured before this," Foster said. "Then to have something freaky like this happen. I've learned you definitely need to control your emotions out there."

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