Cleanup Hitter : Woodland Hills West’s Bobby Kim Can Dust Off the Plate and the Opposition

Bobby Kim will be busy cleaning again this weekend at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium, polishing his brash attitude and sweeping doubts about his cockiness under home plate.

Kim, Woodland Hills West’s charismatic catcher, thrives on opportunities to exhibit his cleanliness. And he will have plenty of opportunities to do so when West (23-4) puts its 20-game American Legion winning streak on the line in a 6th Area tournament game against Culver City today at 4 p.m.

Kim orchestrates a tedious parade of rituals during each at-bat. It’s a nerve-testing performance that has frustrated and amused his teammates and perturbed opponents.

* He enters the batter’s box and takes as long as 20 seconds to “clean” it, moving dirt around with his feet.

* He looks at the catcher and umpire. “I don’t talk to catchers, because I hate them,” he said. “But if the umpire is a nice guy, and I know him, I’ll smile.”

* He leaves the box, grabs a handful of dirt and wipes it on his bat handle. More cleaning, he says.

* He looks for signs from Coach Don Hornback and again cleans his bat--this time wiping it between his left arm and body. “I really don’t know how I started that,” he said.

* He enters the box. If the umpire asks him to hurry, which is usually the case, he leaves the box again.

* He re-enters the box, takes two abbreviated swings, and holds his bat toward the pitching mound until the pitcher begins his windup.

Kim isn’t a human rain delay. He’s a monsoon.

“Man, he jerks around, digs in, wipes his bat, calls time,” teammate Sean Boldt said. “The first time I saw it, I was looking around the field because I thought something was wrong, like somebody had wandered onto the field or something.”

North Hollywood Coach Marty Biegel, frustrated because of a five-run deficit, screamed at Kim to hurry up.

“You’re worse than Lenny Dykstra!” Biegel yelled.

That’s vintage Kim. A 6-foot-1, 190-pound catcher whose family emigrated from Korea in 1984, Kim has had no problem assimilating into West’s squad, which contains more characters than a Saturday morning cartoon show.

There’s Pat Treend, a 6-4, red-haired Eagle Scout who throws 85 m.p.h and is nicknamed “Farm Boy.” And Jason Cohen, the talkative first baseman who has as many opinions as curls and refers to his teammates as “kids.”

It’s a perfect setting for the player teammates have nicknamed “The Samurai.” Kim, an All-West Valley League linebacker at El Camino Real High last fall, earned his title with antics that almost exceed his pain threshold.

“The kid’s crazy,” Cohen said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Cohen has the honorable task of taping Kim’s ailments. Cohen earned the job during West’s run at the American Legion World Series title last summer, when Kim played with torn ligaments in the thumb of his catching hand.

Although Kim could barely swing a bat, he continued to play as West reached the championship game in Millington, Tenn. During the team’s victory over Guaynabo of Puerto Rico, Kim winced each time Treend stung him with a fastball.

“That had to be one of the most courageous things ever,” Treend said. “I could see his eyes water through the mask. He was just deflecting the ball and picking it up in front of him.”

Kim’s hand has since healed, so he satisfies his need for pain with collisions at home plate.

“The first time I tried football, guys ran over me and I loved it,” he said. “Coach (Mike) Maio said the same thing will happen to me as a catcher, and I liked that idea.”

Thus home plate became home sweet home for Kim, who had played left field for El Camino Real’s varsity as a sophomore.

“Left field was just too boring,” he said. “As a catcher, I get to catch the ball all the time. Especially during a play at the plate, when someone tries to run over me.”

Kim’s teammates enjoy the collisions almost as much as Kim does.

“He’s flat-out hurt a couple of guys who have tried to score,” Boldt said. “I’m sure other teams see this 6-1 Korean when they’re rounding third and wonder if it’s worth it to try and score.”

Former Kennedy player Gino Tagliaferri, a 5-11, 190-pound shortstop, felt he could match tonnage with Kim. The result was a collision that might have registered on the Richter scale.

“Neither one gave an inch,” Cohen said. “Bobby came up and got in his face, then realized who it was and immediately said, ‘Sorry.’ With a guy Gino’s size, Bobby wasn’t about to start any trouble.”

That was one of the few times Kim conceded he wasn’t king of the diamond.

“When I get on the field, I think I’m the best catcher and best hitter out there,” Kim said. “If I didn’t think that, there’s no way I could compete with the rest.”

Kim, batting .386 (17 for 44) with three home runs and 19 runs batted in, is one of the players Hornback likes to have at bat during a close game.

“He’s a big-game player,” Hornback said. “He’s very competitive and a good team man. You can count on him to be there in the big ones.”

Kim also can be reliable if you need an extra minute or two to grab a hot dog at the concession stand. He can be relied on to enter and re-enter the batter’s box.

“Oh, you can count on it,” he said with a grin. “It’s playoff time.”