Rejuvenated Byrd winds up in key slot

CLEVELAND - When Paul Byrd takes the mound tonight, the 36-year-old Cleveland righthander will come armed with a self-deprecating sense of humor, a fastball that barely breaks the speed limit, a deliberate double-pump windup, and a batterymate in Kelly Shoppach who this season has been more like a caddie than a personal catcher.

Byrd sized up his Game 4 counterpart, Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who also has a personal catcher in Doug Mirabelli, by saying, "Tim is a great pitcher, and he's got more playoff experience than me. I told him if he'll bring his personal catcher, I'll bring mine and we'll do a little battle."

In Wakefield, though, Byrd has a kindred spirit.

"I respect him because he's not a guy that throws 95 [miles per hour]," said Byrd, who will try to give the Indians a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Then, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Byrd added, "This may be the slowest-throwing righthanded matchup of all time in the postseason. It'll be fun to lock horns with Tim."

While Wakefield's knuckleball is his trademark, Byrd turned his windup into his own, developing it in 2002 partly out of necessity when he was in spring training with the Kansas City Royals. With an aching right shoulder that was two years removed from labrum surgery, Byrd said he "could see the writing on the wall" after he struggled to reach 81 miles per hour.

"I don't say this to convert anybody, but I'm a Christian and I just prayed," Byrd said. "I didn't throw the ball very hard, and so I went out when nobody was around and I just prayed and said, 'Hey, I'm not looking at you here for healing, or anything like that, but I'd love to stay in the game.'

"I didn't know how that was possible because I was throwing 81 and so I needed to do something to shake it up and be deceptive, so I started to swing my arms, kind of as a trial-and-error thing on the back mounds.

"The next day, I took that into batting practice and hitters said they didn't like it all and couldn't pick up the ball. I thought, 'Maybe I'm on to something here.' "

In his Game 4 start in the AL Division Series against the Yankees, Byrd's double-pump caused Hideki Matsui to do a double take, bail out of the batter's box, and ask for time.

"The umpire called timeout because [Matsui] didn't like my motion," Byrd said.

Byrd voiced his opposition.

"I said, 'We'll if that's the case, you can give him a timeout at any time, right before I get ready to deliver the ball, if he's uncomfortable,' " Byrd said.

Byrd's other trademark would be his working relationship with Shoppach, the former Sox farmhand who was dealt to the Indians Jan. 27, 2006, as part of the trade for Coco Crisp.

"I think it was a situation where [Indians manager Eric] Wedge needed to use somebody to give [catcher] Vic [Martinez] a day off; I was the logical pitcher for them to do so, just because I don't throw hard," Byrd said. "My delivery, I try to be quick, but there's some pitches I was learning, like a split, where I tried to stay back on the rubber and so I wasn't going to be super quick to home and that made Shoppach the logical choice.

"It was never the intention for him to be my catcher all the way through the season. So far it's worked and it's given Vic a little bit of rest."

When Wedge tapped Byrd to start in Yankee Stadium, Shoppach was penciled into the lineup, too.

"I was real happy with Shoppach catching me in the playoffs and Eric not changing anything," said Byrd.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.