Good Time, and Timing, for Wallace

For Derek Wallace, getting his first taste of the major leagues couldn’t have come at a better time.

His family and friends undoubtedly think the same.

More than 30 people were on his ticket list Friday night when Wallace came to town with the New York Mets to open a weekend series with the Dodgers.

Wallace, a right-handed reliever who played at Chatsworth High and Pepperdine, was summoned by the Mets on Aug. 13 from Norfolk of the International League, where he was 5-2 with a 1.72 earned-run average and a league-leading 26 saves.

“It kind of surprised me because [Norfolk] is in the playoff hunt,” said Wallace, who lives in Chatsworth. “I was really excited. It’s a lifelong dream that’s coming true now.”

Wallace made his debut with a scoreless ninth inning in a 3-2 loss to Chicago the night he was promoted but had a rough outing Aug. 16, allowing five earned runs in one inning as the Mets lost to San Diego, 15-10, in Monterrey, Mexico.

That was the first of three games in the major leagues’ great Mexican experiment and Wallace had a good time despite the shaky performance.

“I enjoyed it,” Wallace said. “The fans were great. The field was pretty nice and the mound was fine. The outfielders had some problems with the lights but that was it.”

In his last two appearances, Wallace has not given up a run in 2 2/3 innings. He yielded a hit and retired two batters in the eighth inning against the Dodgers on Friday night.

*

Trivia: Which former Taft High pitcher, who played several seasons in the major leagues, is a broadcaster with the Houston Astros?

*

He has been in pro baseball only two months but already Will Skett is a wise veteran about career moves.

A former outfielder at Reseda High, Valley College and Long Beach State, Skett is playing second base with the St. Catharines Blue Jays of the Class A New York-Penn League.

The idea to switch positions came from Skett, not Toronto, which drafted him in the 20th round last June. He pledged to return for his senior season in college unless the Blue Jays agreed to the idea.

“Coach [Dave] Snow told me that outfielders were a dime a dozen and I already had worked it out with him to play second base next year,” Skett said. “I wasn’t going to sign unless they were going to convert me.”

The Blue Jays went along and they can’t be too sorry. Skett is batting .279 and leads the league with 12 home runs. He is tied for fifth place in the circuit with 42 runs batted in.

Skett, who has 10 errors, said he is adjusting fairly well to his new position.

“I went to training [facility] down in Florida and took about a million ground balls,” he said. “I didn’t get to hit that much when I first got there.”

*

Remember Osvaldo Fernandez, the Cuban defector who spent, oh, about one week on the Mission College roster in 1994?

Some people might have him confused with that other defector with the same name who pitches for the San Francisco Giants.

There are actually few similarities between the two.

The Fernandez who played with the Free Spirit is left-handed and a prospect with the Seattle Mariners’ triple-A team in Tacoma, where he had no decisions and a 5.40 ERA before elbow tendinitis cut short his season. He lives--where else?--in Miami.

The Fernandez with the Giants is right-handed and having his own problems on the field, although not at the bank. He’s 5-13 with a 5.45 ERA going into a start today against Montreal. With a $3.9-million contract, that translates to $780,000 per victory.

*

Trivia answer: Larry Dierker, who won 139 major-league games, all but two with the Astros. He has been the principal color commentator on Houston’s television and radio broadcasts since 1979.

*

Hello, Earth to Bob Walk. Earth to Bob Walk.

The former Hart High and College of the Canyons pitcher who played 14 seasons in the majors is in his third year as a radio announcer with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

By now, he should be as smooth as glass in the booth, right?

Well. . . .

In a remark that made him sound like a graduate of the Jerry Coleman school of broadcasting, Walk recently came up with this dandy while praising Hall of Famer Steve Carlton:

“One of the all-time greatest pitchers of all-time in this game,” Walk said.

You can say that again, Bob.