MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK / JIM LINDGREN : Minor Leagues a Place for Tahan to Catch Up on Reading

Bus rides in the minor leagues can sometimes seem like an eternity, but Kevin Tahan has found an antidote to the boredom.

“I’m reading all the books I never read in college,” he said.

That is not to say Tahan did not read any books in college. He means he’s reading all the books he never got a chance to read in college. Or at least trying.

Tahan, you see, would be considered a genius by most of those who consider such things, having scored 145 on an IQ test in elementary school. Playing baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class-A affiliate in Springfield, Ill., has given him ample time to read.

“Faulkner, a book on oceanography, Richard Bach, my favorite is Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume,” said Tahan, a former two-sport standout at Patrick Henry High. “I’ll read anything.”

As proof, Tahan is currently reading a book about Zen.

“I took a class on Buddhism at Stanford and spent the semester doing crossword puzzles in the back of the room,” Tahan said. “I never read the book. But now that I am, it’s not bad.”

At one time, Tahan thought philosophy would be his major. Instead, he decided on economics and was graduated from Stanford in three years. Two years later, he earned a degree in international business from U.S. International University.

He did all this in addition to playing baseball and being active in a fraternity.

“I don’t know how he found time for everything,” George Tahan, Kevin’s father, said. “I guess some things just came easy for him. It was always that way with Kevin.”

When Tahan was a child, George and his wife, Mel, would need only to read a story to Kevin twice, maybe three times, before he could recite it back to them word for word.

At Forward Elementary in San Carlos, Tahan, appropriately, played the Wizard in the school’s production of the Wizard of Oz. At Pershing Junior High, he played the cello in the school band. At Patrick Henry, he received all A’s except for one B in typing.

“He is an all-together, got-it-together kid,” Patrick Henry baseball Coach Bob Imlay said in 1984, Tahan’s senior year. “The only problem is he’s an only child. I wish he had 12 brothers.”

At Patrick Henry, Tahan was an all-league performer as a tight end in football and an outfielder in baseball. In the latter, he set school records for home runs (seven) and batting average at .450 (later broken by Danny Martinez) and earned a partial scholarship to Stanford. The Cardinal won a College World Series during Tahan’s third year, but his playing time was scarce. He couldn’t wait to get out of Palo Alto.

“I was fortunate to get in and out of Stanford without it hurting my baseball career,” he said.

After graduating, and with two years of eligibility remaining, he enrolled at USIU. He set school records for home runs (16) and RBIs (68) in a season and a career record for batting average (.376).

In June 1989, he was drafted in the 43rd round by St. Louis.

“He’s a person we’d like to keep in the organization well beyond his playing days,” said John Vuch, an assistant in the Cardinals’ player development and scouting department. “A big part of what he’s done for us is to be a role model for the younger players.

“He’s almost in a player/coach role in that regard. He’s not management, and he’s not on the coaching staff, but he assumes some of those responsibilities because of the type of person he is.”

Vuch said Tahan, 26, still has value to the Cardinals as a player, but Tahan had his doubts earlier this season.

In three previous seasons, he had been bounced from the outfield to first base, catcher and designated hitter. Early this year, however, he mostly spent time on the bench, and he was not happy with the role.

An injury to Springfield first baseman, John O’Brien, in July finally gave him an opportunity to play every day. He has responded by hitting .280 with four home runs and 35 RBIs.

“Going from being an absolute non-factor out there to contributing every day, it’s been great,” Tahan said. “Having an every-day position, that’s what has me as upbeat as anything these days.”

As for the mental part of baseball, Tahan said: “More and more, every year, I’m realizing what everyone always meant about baseball being a mental game. When you get to pro ball, just about everyone has the skills to move up and make it. The ones who learn to play the game are the ones who are going to make it.

“Every day, there’s a chance to learn something else. And if you do, the next day will be that much better. Can we call baseball a microcosm of life? Don’t, but we could.”

In the Cards: The Cardinals have 12 San Diegans in their minor-league system, more than any other organization.

Mike Eicher (Mira Mesa High), Larry Meza (Sweetwater) and Kevin Nielsen (San Diego State) are teammates of Tahan’s at Springfield.

The others include Dave Richards (Grossmont College) and Paul Anderson (Morse) at double-A Arkansas in Little Rock; Rigo Beltran (Point Loma) and Jeremy McGarity (El Capitan) at Class-A St. Petersburg, Fla.; Andy Martin (Escondido) at Class-A Hamilton, Canada; Antoine Henry (Clairemont) and Jeff Matranga (Santana/USIU) at Class-A Johnson City, Tenn.; and Jorge Millan (Bonita Vista) at Arizona Instructional League Peoria, Ariz.

Most were signed by Marty Keough, the Cardinals’ scouting supervisor based in Irvine, or Cecil Espy, the Cardinals’ scout in San Diego.

Said Vuch, the player development and scouting assistant in St. Louis: “It’s not like we’re consciously trying to grab players from the San Diego area. But if we’re looking for players, (Marty and Cecil) know that area well. But I’d say it’s more coincidence than anything.”

Two of a kind: Of his teammate Mike Eicher, Tahan said: “We played in the same league in high school (City Eastern), played at the same university (Stanford), transferred out after three years and eventually got what we wanted out of lesser-known universities (Eicher at Wyoming). His hitting style is even similar to mine. In certain ways, he reminds me of myself.”

Small wonder, Eicher and Tahan are roommates in Springfield.

Ace in the hole: Rigo Beltran, the first minor-league pitcher to record 100 strikeouts this season, underwent surgery last week to remove bone chips in his left (pitching) elbow. He will miss the remainder of the season but is expected to make a full recovery.