BASEBALL / GARY KLEIN : Proper Nutrition Improves Zaun’s Stamina Behind the Plate

Gregg Zaun has learned much about baseball during his three seasons as a professional.

And the major lesson of his minor league career is as basic as the four food groups.

Zaun, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound catcher in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization, preaches the value of a good meal.

“When everybody else is going off to McDonalds or Taco Bell, you have to sit down in a restaurant and get a good sandwich and a salad--something substantial,” said Zaun, who lives in Glendale and was drafted in 1989 out of St. Francis High. “Catchers that don’t eat right wear down.”

Zaun, who is playing for Kane County (Ill.) in the Class-A Midwest League, is batting .280 and clearly carrying his weight.

On June 24th, he played in the Midwest League All-Star game at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and singled, scored a run and picked a runner off first base.

Zaun, 20, batted .130 in 37 games at Wausau (Wis.) during the first half of the Midwest League schedule last year.

He was sent to Bluefield (W.Va.) in the Appalachian Rookie League for the second half and batted .310 in 61 games.

Zaun, who had back problems last year, said he’s stronger this season and better able to deal with the humidity and 90-degree weather because of weight training and proper eating habits during the off-season.

“I did a lot of work on my biceps, triceps, forearms and the front and back of my shoulder,” said Zaun, the nephew of veteran major league catcher Rick Dempsey. “It’s paying off this year.”

Waiting game: That’s what Glen Raasch is playing these days as he mulls over his baseball future.

Raasch, a catcher who played at North Hollywood High and Mt. San Antonio College, is awaiting a second opinion on the condition of his right elbow, which has been in almost constant pain since he came back from shoulder reconstruction surgery two years ago.

Shortly after the Seattle Mariners moved him from Peninsula in the Carolina League to San Bernardino in the California League two months ago, Raasch, 22, left the team for three days--without telling anyone where he was--to ponder his future.

“I’d started taking more and more aspirin until I was taking five a game just so my elbow wouldn’t hurt,” Raasch said. “I thought, ‘This isn’t right.’ I had to get away and think about what I wanted to do. It was the wrong thing to do, I know that now.”

Raasch was suspended for three days. He has been examined by doctors in Los Angeles who said he could be facing surgery and rehabilitation that could last from four months to a year.

“Right now, we’re trying to evaluate whether he needs surgery, and I think he’s evaluating whether he wants to go through rehabilitation again if he does need surgery,” said Jim Beattie, the Mariners’ director of player development.

Disabled list: Tim Nedin, a former pitcher at Calabasas High, College of the Canyons and Florida State, was sent home by the Minnesota Twins last week with a sore shoulder.

Nedin, a left-hander, was 1-5 with a 3.98 earned-run average for Visalia in the California League.

Good catch: Former Westlake catcher Mike Lieberthal had a 25-game errorless streak end July 8 after fielding 206 chances for Spartanburg (S.C.), the Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliate in the Class-A South Atlantic League.

It’s a performance that doesn’t surprise the Phillie brass.

“Defensively, this kid could catch in the big leagues right now,” roving catching instructor Glenn Brummer told Baseball America magazine. “He could probably sit in the bullpen as a third catcher right now, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to develop him as the No. 1 catcher for Philadelphia.”

Recommended reading: Reference books rarely make for light reading--especially when they weigh about six pounds.

But “The Ballplayers” (William Morrow & Company, $39.95), a 1,124-page volume that includes biographical entries on everyone from Hank Aaron to Dutch Zwilling, is an easy book to enjoy.

Unlike the “Baseball Encyclopedia,” which lists every major league player in history and a year-by-year accounting of his statistics, editor Mike Shatzkin instead gives a “factual snapshot” of more than 5,700 players and managers along with biographical data that is far from run-of-the-mill. There are also club and league histories and entries about Japan, Negro and Mexican Leaguers, executives, umpires and journalists.