Baseball : Urman Enjoying Comforts of Home

Mike Urman pays $80 a month to share a modest two-bedroom mobile home with three of his Pulaski Braves teammates in Pulaski, Va.

The ballplayers, members of the Atlanta Braves’ affiliate in the Appalachian Rookie League, opted for the relative luxury rather than joining 15 other teammates who live in a three-bedroom complex known as the Big House.

“They have no furniture and they sleep on inflatable rafts,” said Urman, a catcher from Canoga Park High who was the Braves’ second-round draft pick in 1987. “Our place is a little more comfortable.”

Urman is just beginning to feel comfortable behind the plate after missing all of spring training and half of extended-spring workouts because of a back injury.

In February, six days before he was supposed to leave for Bradenton, Fla., the 6-foot, 3-inch, 205-pound Urman returned from a trip to Arizona with his father, got out of the car and collapsed in the family’s driveway. He injured his back when he fell and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

“I guess I’d been sick and I got dizzy and blacked out,” said Urman, who missed the final three weeks last season because of a back injury. “I couldn’t move my left leg at all. I was in the hospital for a week.”

After a battery of tests, doctors concluded that, except for his back, Urman was healthy. He rehabilitated with a walker and eventually gained enough strength to report to Florida for the latter half of extended-spring training.

Urman went 2 for 3 in the league opener at Pulaski, but it is taking him some time to regain the strength and coordination needed to hit consistently.

“My catching is coming along real well, I just have to get my hitting going,” said Urman, who is batting .136 with four runs batted in. “I’m not hitting them where they ain’t.”

“Last year in Bradenton, I went 5 for 5 in one game. I need that to happen soon.”

At a crossroads: John Barry made the California League all-star team for the second year in a row, but the 24-year old shortstop is not resting on his laurels.

“It’s a make-or-break year, but that’s good for me, too, because I want to see where I stand,” Barry said. “If the Giants don’t have a future for me, hopefully another team can pick me up and put me in double A.”

Barry, who played at Crespi High, Oxnard College and UCLA, is the property of the San Francisco Giants. The 6-3, 185-pound shortstop is batting .248 with a team-leading 42 RBIs for the co-op Fresno Suns.

Thus far, it has been an uneven season for Fresno. The Suns finished third in the Northern Division in the first half but began the second half by losing 17 of their first 21 games.

On June 3, the team dropped a 26-0 decision to Stockton.

“It was the longest game ever, because we didn’t hit much,” Barry said. “We just stayed out on the field the whole time.”

If Barry can stay healthy, he might have a good chance of staying with the Giants and moving to double-A Shreveport in the Texas League next season.

“Right now, he looks like he might be a good utility man because he has the ability to play all four infield positions,” Carlos Alfonso, the Giants’ minor league director, said . “He’s at Fresno because we wanted to give him a chance to play every day. He knows how to play better than most.”

Giant praise: Alfonso is also happy with the progress of former Grant High pitcher Rodney Beck, who was traded to the Giants from the Athletics for triple-A player Charlie Corbell.

Beck, a right-hander, is 9-3 for Clinton in the Class-A Midwest League.

“We had good reports out of high school on Beck by our scout, George Genovese,” Alfonso said. “When he was one of the players offered for Corbell, we jumped at it.

“You can’t teach a guy a fastball or a feel for pitching, he has to develop that on his own. Rodney is ahead of the game at this point. He knows how to pitch.”

Rapid ascent: Last summer, Torey Lovullo was in Class-A ball after signing with the Detroit Tigers out of UCLA. Today, the former Montclair Prep standout is one step from the major leagues.

Lovullo said he was surprised when he was promoted from double-A Glen Falls to triple-A Toledo on July 5.

Lovullo, who plays second and third base, was batting .275 with 9 home runs and 50 runs batted in at Glen Falls.

“In some ways, I’m a bit overwhelmed by some of the things in triple A,” Lovullo said. “The treatment of the ballplayer is much better. All you have to worry about is getting your glove, your hat and getting dressed and out onto the field. They provide everything you need.

“The rapid progression has been pretty awkward. I’m so close to fulfilling the dream, but I can’t think about the next step until I’ve completed this step. It’s hard to believe a year ago I was in low single A.”

Home remedy: Doug Simons feels he has an advantage over many of the batters he faces in the California League. The former Calabasas High left-hander, who was drafted out of Pepperdine in June by the Minnesota Twins, is 2-1 for Visalia.

“They’re a step above college hitters in this league,” Simons said, “but facing guys using wood instead of aluminum is a big advantage. I’m getting more strikeouts because guys seem more susceptible to changeups.”

Simons’ wins include a two-hit, 15-strikeout performance against Bakersfield and a 12-strikeout performance against San Bernardino.

“Playing in the Cal League, close to home, helps a lot,” Simons said. “I think my mom has seen every game I’ve pitched and my girlfriend comes out, too.

“I played summer ball in college and sometimes I got homesick. This kind of helps because I get to see everyone. It makes it easier when it’s not eat, drink and sleep baseball for three months.”

Hot-hitting Higgins: The San Fernando Valley Dodgers, who continue their National Baseball Congress schedule with three games this week, hope that Ted Higgins can repeat the offensive prowess he demonstrated last week in the Southern California tournament.

Higgins, an outfielder who played at Saugus High, College of the Canyons and Nevada Reno, played four years in the New York Yankees organization. In six tournament games, Higgins batted .538 (14 for 26) and had 16 RBIs. The Dodgers (24-8 overall, 13-1 in the Golden State League) came in second, behind San Diego, in the tournament.