Oswalt's focus on the here and now

Astros ace concentrating on rebounding from taxing '09

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By Brian McTaggart / MLB.com

03/14/10 1:45 PM ET

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- There are times when Roy Oswalt feels he doesn't want to do this anymore. He's got a growing family at home in Mississippi and sometimes believes he's had enough of the late-night flights, the hotel food and the toll the game takes on his body.

His contract with the Astros expires at the end of next season, and he's thought about walking away from it all. The timing would be perfect. He'd be in his mid-30s, have enough money to set up his family for life and enough free time to spend with his daughters or moving earth on his bulldozer.

Then there are times Oswalt can't imagine doing anything else. At 32, he's been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for nearly a decade and has accomplished enough to warrant a parade in his hometown of Weir, Miss. He has goals and dreams, and baseball isn't exactly easy to let go of.

"One more year and one more Spring Training, and we'll see how it goes," Oswalt said.

No matter when he hangs it up, Oswalt will be remembered as arguably the greatest pitcher to wear an Astros uniform, just as long-time teammate Lance Berkman will held in the same esteem as franchise icons Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.

"I love the game," Oswalt said. "Some of the stuff that goes with it ain't fun. I still have fun on the field."

After all, on the field there are no reporters or critics. He's in his element and in control, for the most part. He did have 16 no-decisions last year, something that he couldn't control and led just about everyone to assume he had one of the worst seasons of his career.

"Last year we were fighting tooth and nail to stay above .500," he said. "It seemed like every time I came out of a game and hoping I would get a win, something would happen and I'd get a no-decision. It doesn't matter if I pitched eight or nine innings, I got a no-decision."

The numbers (8-6, 4.12 ERA) were certainly well below his career averages, but this country boy has something left to prove to himself and the critics who say his best years are behind him.

"It wears on you for sure," he said. "The biggest thing in baseball is confidence, and you've got to keep your confidence up. I think last year it's easy to get down on yourself, especially when you read negative stuff all the time.

"You still have to have confidence in yourself when you go out on the field. I never took the field thinking I was going to lose, and I never took the fielding thinking someone was going to beat me as far as an opposing hitter. Sometimes it might not work out, but in the long run I'm going to get 'em."

Oswalt has gotten 'em more than he's been gotten.

Since he entered the Majors in 2001, no pitcher has won more games than the 137 career victories Oswalt has chalked up. In that time, he ranks third among big league starters in ERA (3.23) and is ninth in winning percentage (.662). He enters this year tied with Larry Dierker for second place on the club's all-time wins list, trailing Joe Niekro by only seven wins.

"That's big," Oswalt said. "Some of the names that go along with it that have pitched with [the Astros] as far as Nolan [Ryan] and [Mike] Scott and Niekro -- all those guys had tremendous careers, and Niekro is the last guy on the list to try to catch, and it would be great if I could catch him."

But Oswalt isn't out there for numbers. Sure, he wants to win as many games as we can. It's been five years since he posted the second of his consecutive 20-win seasons, leading the Astros to the National League Championship Series in 2004 and World Series in '05.

He's a three-time All-Star, won an Olympic gold medal in 2000, was named Most Valuable Player of the '05 NLCS and has been named Astros Pitcher of the Year three times. Those things are great early in a career, but as the years progress, the goals change.

"Some guys just want to play for the Hall of Fame," Oswalt said. "I want to win."

The Astros haven't made the playoffs since getting swept by the White Sox in that '05 World Series, and it eats at Oswalt. He's seen big-name stars come and go win rings elsewhere, including former rotation-mates Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Those were the glory days, and not just because of the results on the field.

When Clemens and Pettitte were around, they garnered much of the attention, which is how Oswalt prefers it. He'd rather not be noticed and not have to answer questions, especially like he's had to answer this spring.

Hey, Roy, what's wrong with the boys?

"It was a lot nicer when Pettitte and Clemens were here and they could answer these questions," Oswalt said. "I know that, Lance knows that. It all goes back on me and him every time. He's the third hitter in the lineup. If he don't hit, we don't win. I don't pitch, we don't win. We know that. That's what we get paid to do, and we try to do it. I wish I could tell you I could go out there and win 35, but that's hard to do. I'm going to sure try."

Oswalt has dealt with back issues the past three years, the result of 1,803 1/3 career innings on a Major League mound. He finished last season on the disabled list with a lower back strain after making 30 starts and has changed his offseason workout routine. But he brushes aside the notion that he's suddenly become an old pitcher.

"I'm trying to take it game by game now instead of looking down the road and just see how I feel physically more than anything," he said. "I think mentally I can still do it. If I'm not pitching at a high level, I won't do it. If I'm just a guy who's hit or miss when you throw him out there, I won't do it. I'm not one of those guys who hangs on just for my numbers. I'd rather be helping the team than just trying to achieve something that's just going to benefit me."

This spring has been much different for Oswalt. He's noticed a more energetic clubhouse with the hiring of manager Brad Mills, and he's already become close with new pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. The two have been spotted several times over the past few weeks talking like old friends.

Oswalt usually doesn't set goals, but he has this year. He wants to be healthy, start 35 games and see where that takes him.

"It's all about being out there," he said. "If you throw 200 innings, you're in every game pretty much. I try to preach to the young guys here that 200 innings should be your goal. It shouldn't be win-loss record. Sixteen times last year it could have went either way. You can't really predict that. If you can throw 200 innings, you're close in the game and kept the team in it, and that's pretty much all you can ask as a starting pitcher."

Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.