Newfield Is a Major Hit in Minor Leagues : Baseball: Former Marina standout, playing for Mariners’ affiliate in San Bernardino, is No. 2 hitter in California League.

The voice at the other end of the line rang with the confidence of someone who is going places.

Marc Newfield, the former Marina High School standout now in his second season of professional baseball in the Seattle Mariner chain, didn’t hesitate to answer: Do you see yourself in a major league uniform?

“I feel I can do that,” Newfield said from Visalia, where the team he plays for, the San Bernardino Spirit of the Class-A California League, had just pulled in to take on the hometown Oaks. “But I don’t have a time frame. I just want to move up a step every year. If I do that, I could make it in two or three years.”

For most players, that would be wishful thinking. But not for Newfield. At least not in the estimation of some in the Mariner organization.

“At this rate of progress, he could be in a big league training-camp situation in a couple of years,” said Ken Compton, the Seattle scout who signed Newfield out of high school. “And the major leagues soon after that wouldn’t be out of line. The Mariners feel he could definitely be an impact right-handed batter in a few years.”

Said Spirit manager Tommy Jones: “I would consider him the top prospect in the California League right now . . . For an 18-year-old to come into what’s basically a collegiate-level league this year and be the No. 2 hitter in the league is outstanding.”

Steve Liddle Visalia’s manager, is not surprised to see Newfield so high among the leading hitters. “He has the quickest bat in the league,” Liddle said.

Newfield, 6 feet 4 and 205 pounds, hasn’t had much trouble adjusting to minor league pitching. With Tempe of the Arizona Rookie League last year, he was voted the league’s most valuable player after finishing seventh in batting with a .313 average, and third in hits (60), home runs (6) and runs batted in (38). He led the league in doubles with 13 and was second in total bases with 95.

At San Bernardino this season, Newfield is batting .324 with five home runs and 35 RBIs, and that’s despite playing mostly night games in generally poorly lit ballparks and learning a new position. After playing first base at Marina, the Mariners are converting Newfield to left field because they have a surplus of first basemen; Alvin Davis and Pete O’Brien are in Seattle and former Olympian Tino Martinez is at triple-A Calgary.

“They (Mariners) felt that he’d (Newfield) have a quicker path to the major leagues through the outfield,” Jones said. “He’s been our everyday left fielder and he’s done very well there . . . One of the top assets he has is his mental approach to the game. Through success or failure the previous night, he doesn’t get overly depressed or overly excited.”

Newfield said he wasn’t overly excited when the club suggested a move to the outfield. But he accepted the idea and the task once he sorted out the message behind it--a potential ticket to Seattle.

“The hardest part has been learning how to judge the ball coming at me, especially when it gets up in the lights,” Newfield said. “I didn’t like it at first, but after awhile I started seeing why they wanted me there.”

Compton knew why he wanted Newfield the moment he ran across him. The guy could hit for average and with power. Those are qualities that can be refined, but usually cannot be taught. You either have it or you don’t. Compton believed Newfield had plenty of it.

“The first time I saw him was as a junior in high school,” Compton said. “I went to see somebody else and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. So I followed him from then on. The thing that jumped at me was that he made hitting look easy. He did it naturally. He had the quickness, the strength and the body.”

And the numbers. In his junior season in 1989, Newfield batted .440 with 31 RBIs and led the county with 10 home runs. He led Marina to the Southern Section 5-A title last year with a .467 average, six home runs and 20 RBIs. The Mariners were impressed enough to make him their first-round selection and the sixth pick overall in the 1990 amateur draft. Their mood hasn’t changed.

“We are elated that he’s having such great success,” Compton said. “He’s definitely living up to what a first-round pick is.”

Newfield said he’s living it up at the plate because, for him, minor league life hasn’t been the nightmare experienced by so many others. Well, almost.

“I feel comfortable at the plate here even though it seems like the pitchers are throwing harder because of the lights,” Newfield said. “The motels can wear you out and the $12 a day (per diem) doesn’t carry too far. That’s about two fast-food meals.”

If he keeps hitting at his current clip, Newfield will be frequenting classier eateries in no time.