Minor League Notebook / Elliott Teaford : Chance Meeting Buoys Friedman

One day not long ago, Jason Friedman was walking home from the ballpark at Winter Haven, Fla., where he plays for the Boston Red Sox Class-A team.

An “old guy,” as Friedman put it, pulled alongside in his rental car and said, “Jason, do you need a ride?”

Friedman hopped in. The two started talking and, from their conversation, Friedman learned that the man worked in the Red Sox front office.

He told Friedman, a first baseman from Cypress College, that his play reminded him of Fred Lynn. The man dropped Friedman off at his apartment and drove away without telling him his name. Friedman couldn’t wait to get inside and call his father about the compliment.

A few weeks later, Friedman saw the man again. This time, he man was wearing a gray Red Sox shirt that said “Pesky” on the back.

The name rang a bell and Friedman asked a teammate who the man was. He’s the assistant to the general manager, he was told.

Friedman had been reading “The Summer of ‘49”, a book about the 1949 pennant race between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. He remembered Pesky’s name from the book.

“Hey, that’s Johnny Pesky,” Friedman told teammates.

“Who?” they said.

“The guy hit .300 (actually .306) in 1949,” Friedman said.

Pesky, 69, who hit .307 in a 10-year career, is a special assistant to Lou Gorman, Boston’s general manager. In addition to his community-relations duties, Pesky does a lot of coaching in the club’s minor league system.

And once Friedman found out the man’s identity, he rushed home to tell his father.

“I thought he was just a nice guy who took me home,” Friedman said. “I had (Pesky) autograph that book for me.”

Add Friedman: It might be a Winter Haven to some, but it’s also brutally hot in central Florida in the summer.

“We play all our games at noon,” Friedman said. “It’s so hot.

“The other day we were playing and it was a three-two count, so I stepped out of the box. I heard the catcher say, ‘Uh-oh.’ The pitcher was lying on the ground. He had heat exhaustion. Later, the home plate umpire had heat exhaustion, too.”

Brent Mayne’s back was hurting, but he wanted to play. The Baseball City (Fla.) Royals also knew Mayne was ailing, but had to go to great lengths to keep Mayne from playing.

According to a club official, the team had to take away Mayne’s uniform to keep him off the field.

Mayne, a catcher who was the Kansas City Royals’ No. 1 draft pick from Cal State Fullerton this past June, has been out of action for about three weeks.

“He took one bad swing,” said Luis Silverio, the Baseball City manager. “He felt something bothering him and it hasn’t gotten any better.”

Mayne is scheduled to see a back specialist in Kansas City today. He has seen a number of doctors in Florida, but the pain has persisted.

Until his injury, Mayne, who is in his first season in the minors, had been impressing the Royals.

“He’s been doing great,” Silverio said. “We’re pretty happy with him here. He showed why he’s the No. 1 pick.”

In seven games, Mayne had 13 hits for a .542 average. He had three doubles, one triple and eight RBIs.

The Royals, who have a shortage of catchers, have also been pleased with Mayne’s catching abilities.

“There’s no question that he’s a good receiver,” Silverio said. “He’s got a good, quick release. He needs to work on his mechanics a little, but we’re pretty happy with him.”

Silverio hopes Mayne’s injury will heal soon and the catcher will be back in the lineup.

“It’s a shame it happened to the kid,” Silverio said. “The kid can be something. Who knows? We hope the problem in his back is only temporary.”

Angel to watch: Chris Cron, a first baseman with the Angels’ double-A affiliate at Midland, Tex., is having a strong season in West Texas.

Cron, who played at El Dorado High and Rancho Santiago College, leads the Texas League in RBIs with 83 and is second in home runs with 19. He also has a .294 average.

This is Cron’s first season at the double-A level. Last season, he hit .251 with 14 homers and 84 RBIs at Palm Springs, the Angels’ Class-A affiliate.

Until now, the most noteworthy fact in Robb Nen’s biography in the Texas Rangers’ media guide was, well, hardly worth noting.

Sandwiched between his date of graduation from Los Alamitos High, 1987, and the fact that his dad, Dick Nen, was a former Dodger, is this dubious tidbit:

Tied for the club high with five losses at Butte in 1988.

But since going 4-5 with a 8.75 earned-run average at Butte, Mont., the Rangers’ Class-A affiliate, Nen has rebounded.

In 20 starts with Class-A Gastonia, N.C., Nen has improved his record to 7-4, and his ERA is down to 2.50.

His rapid development hasn’t gone unnoticed. Baseball America magazine recently rated the best prospects in each minor league. According to the magazine, Nen, a 19-year-old right-hander, has the best fastball in the South Atlantic League.

Add top prospects: Baseball America also named former Esperanza star Tom Redington to its list of up-and-coming stars.

Redington, now with the Atlanta Braves’ Class-A affiliate in Burlington, Iowa, was named the best batting prospect and hitter with the best power in the Midwest League. He also was called the best defensive third baseman.

Making his mark: Julio Vargas, only months after graduating from Santa Ana High, is making quite a debut with the Philadelphia Phillies’ rookie league affiliate in Martinsville, Va.

Vargas, a catcher, is hitting .321 in 20 games. As a senior at Santa Ana, Vargas batted .474, fifth best in the county.