Hilltop’s Pratt Trying to Hit His Way Into Major Leagues

As ball left bat, it appeared headed toward the right-center field gap. A sure double, maybe more. But it kept rising, seemingly picking up speed, too, as it sailed over the 12-foot fence, bounced off the top of the message board and came to rest on the side of a rock cliff.

That, at least, is how teammates described to Todd Pratt his 460-foot home run Tuesday night. Local reporters and broadcasters called it the longest homer in the four-year history of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Lackawanna County (Pa.) Stadium.

“One of the top three, for sure,” Mike Cummings, SWB’s public relations director, said. “I would say it was the longest, though we don’t officially measure them all.”

That was news to Pratt.

“I didn’t know that,” said Pratt, a 1985 Hilltop High graduate now playing for SWB, a Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. “I didn’t ever see it go out. It was like a line drive, but it kept going up. Guys in the bullpen told me they thought it was going in the gap, but then it took a sudden burst and shot out of the park.”

Impressive?

Pratt, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound, right-handed hitting catcher/first baseman, was more pleased that it was to the opposite field.

Then again, Pratt is going the other way a lot more often these days. He’s also walking more, striking out less, and might be in the major leagues right now if not for catcher Darren Daulton and first baseman John Kruk, who are having all-star seasons with the Phillies.

Pratt’s home run came in the first game of a doubleheader sweep by SWB. In the seven-inning second game, the Red Barons rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the bottom of the seventh, and Pratt’s two-run, pinch-hit single ended the game.

With those hits, Pratt raised his average to .333 (23 for 69) in 24 games for SWB with seven homers and 23 RBIs. His .635 slugging percentage and .462 on-base percentage lead the Red Barons. He also had 18 walks and only six strikeouts--marking the first time in his eight-year career he has more walks than strikeouts.

Earlier this year, in 41 games at Double-A Reading (Pa.), he hit .333 with six homers and 26 RBIs.

Combined, his 13 home runs are tied with Daulton for the organization lead. Pratt’s highest output before this season was 12.

“I think the power was always there,” Pratt said. “It’s now just a matter of being consistent. The big thing is I’ve cut my strikeouts way down, and I’m using the whole park now.”

The Boston Red Sox’s sixth-round draft pick out of Hilltop in 1985, Pratt was signed by San Diegan Ray Boone and spent seven seasons in the Red Sox chain.

After a year of rookie ball, two seasons in Class A and three in Double-A, Pratt was enjoying his finest season last year for triple-A Pawtucket (R.I.) when he broke his wrist swinging at a pitch on July 29. He was hitting .292 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs in 68 games but was out the rest of the year.

In the off season, Pratt signed with the Baltimore Orioles as a minor-league free agent, but then Philadelphia selected him in the December’s Rule V major league draft.

A non-roster player, Pratt (two for 13, one home run) played for the Phillies in spring training but was sent to Reading to begin the season.

“The word in Boston (last year) before I got hurt was that I was a for-sure call-up,” Pratt said. “That’s why being sent to double-A this year was a shock. I kept my head up, though. A lot of players would have gotten down being sent back. But I didn’t look at it that way.

“Guys like Butch Hobson and Lee Elia were telling me to just keep playing my game and everything would work out fine.

“Right now, my stats are the best in the organization and some of the best in the nation. We’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of scouts out there, and there will be a few more jobs next year with expansion.”

Triple-A Stars: Third baseman Jim Tatum (Santana High) and catcher Bob Natal (UC San Diego) have been selected as starters for the Triple-A all-star game to be played July 15 at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.

The two managers are also from San Diego.

Tony Muser, who played at Mesa College in the 1960s, will guide the American League squad. He is the manager of the Denver Zephyrs, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Over in the National League dugout will be Chris Chambliss, a former standout at Oceanside High. Chambliss manages the Atlanta Braves’ top farm team in Richmond.

Tatum, who plays for Muser at Denver, is hitting .339 with 25 doubles, 10 home runs and 56 RBIs in 78 games. Incidentally, he did not make the double-A all-star team last year when he was hitting .341 with eight triples, 12 home runs and 90 RBIs in 79 games.

Natal, a prospect of the Montreal Expos, is hitting .330 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs in 66 games at Indianapolis.

Tatum and Muser have a score to settle with Natal. On June 25, Natal’s game-winning, ninth-inning single gave Indianapolis a 13-12 victory over Denver. The Zephyrs, through seven innings, had been leading, 12-0.

Home Sweet Home: Former Mira Mesa High outfielder Mike Eicher, now playing for Class-A Springfield (Ill.) in the St. Louis Cardinals’ system, is hitting .295 in 48 games overall. His average at home is .432. On Monday, he hit his first home run this season (third career). It came at Madison, Wis.

The Great Grigsby: Benji Grigsby, Oakland’s No. 1 draft choice in June, the 20th pick overall, signed with the A’s on July 1 but has not been assigned to a team. While the A’s decide which of their four single-A teams he will play for, Grigsby is working out in Scottsdale (Ariz.), site of their rookie-league team.

Grigsby, a right-handed pitcher from San Diego State, was fourth in the final NCAA rankings in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.2.