Baseball: Notre Dame’s Stanton could be 18-year-old home run king

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It appears former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame standout Mike Stanton, pictured, is rewarding the Florida Marlins for not giving into ‘Manny mania.’

A little more than a week after the Marlins nixed a possible trade for Manny Ramirez by refusing to give Stanton to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stanton became the first 18-year-old professional ballplayer in 46 years to hit more than 30 home runs in a season.

Stanton, who is spending his summer alongside former Chatsworth star Matt Dominguez with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class-A South Atlantic League, hit four homers this week to push his league-leading total to 33.

It’s quite possible Stanton is the youngest pro player ever to eclipse the 30-homer plateau, but the record keepers don’t know for sure. What we do know is that the former second-round selection will be the first player with more than 30 home runs who is still 18 by the end of the season.

Former Angels outfielder Dick Simpson hit 42 home runs in 1962, but he turned 19 in late July of that year. It remains unclear how many homers he had prior to his b-day.

Of course, his 42-homer mark could be under threat if Stanton somehow manages to bang out 10 homers in the Grasshoppers’ final 17 regular-season games.

And don’t underestimate his chances -- since June 1, Stanton has 23 dingers.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Image by L.A. Times