Clear Head Helps Talanoa Clear Fences in Class A

The winter workouts with Toronto Blue Jay hitting instructor Gene Tenace certainly had something to do with Scott Talanoa turning this season into a Midwest League monster mash--the first baseman is batting .294 with 18 home runs and 44 runs batted in for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Class-A team at Beloit, Wis.

But Talanoa, a former Orange Coast College and Cal State Long Beach standout, probably wouldn’t be clearing fences with such regularity if he hadn’t entered the season with a clear head.

Talanoa, a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder, was a troubled young man during his first two professional seasons.

Two years ago at a luau to celebrate the signing of his pro contract, Talanoa’s father and No. 1 fan, Aiulu, suffered a brain aneurysm and died. He was 44.

Talanoa, who had helped Long Beach reach the College World Series in 1991, reported late to the Brewers’ rookie league team in Helena, Mont., returned home to Lawndale before the season ended and played in only 37 games.

“That year was a disaster,” Talanoa said. “When I got to Helena, I hadn’t swung a bat in three weeks. My mom was a mess. I went home trying to get my family situation back together.”

Last summer, Talanoa’s grandfather died, and Talanoa missed several games when he returned home for the funeral. He went back to Beloit but found his mind wandering. He hit only .230 with 13 homers in 106 games.

“It was very hard to concentrate--I knew what my job was, but my heart was at home,” Talanoa said. “The Brewers were really supportive during the whole situation. They helped me out a lot.”

And now their patience is being rewarded. Talanoa, minus the emotional baggage he has carried for two years, is having an MVP-type season.

He leads the Midwest League in home runs and is second in RBIs. He was named Midwest League player of the week for two consecutive weeks in May and was named starting Northern Division first baseman for the upcoming Midwest League all-star game.

“Everything has quieted down (back home) and my family situation is a lot better,” Talanoa said. “I was better prepared mentally and physically this season. Having a clear head has helped.”

So has a compact swing. In addition to working on the mental aspects of hitting--pitch counts, what to look for in certain situations--Tenace helped Talanoa cut down his swing. Talanoa has become a better two-strike hitter, and he certainly hasn’t lost any power.

In fact, during one stretch, from May 9-26, Talanoa had 13 home runs and 31 RBIs. He had one eight-RBI game and one six-RBI game and has five multiple home run games this season.

“It was incredible, for three solid weeks I got good pitches to hit and didn’t miss them,” Talanoa said. “It was like a slide show--everything seemed to happen so slowly. I could see the ball out of the pitcher’s hand, track it all the way from the mound to the box, wait until the last possible minute and swing.”

Talanoa’s father isn’t here to see it, but he’s with his son in some respects. Talanoa keeps a picture of Aiulu in his baseball cap, but instead of being a source of grief, his father is now a source of inspiration.

“There are still times when I sit and think about what happened,” Talanoa said. “I don’t think it was fair, but life isn’t fair. You have to adapt to it.”

Talanoa is coping, but he can’t help but think how much his father would have enjoyed watching him this season.

“I was real close to my dad, and we did a lot together,” he said. “He started playing ball with me when I was 5, he’d videotape games and do things to try to help make me a better player.

“He was very quiet, he’d sit in the stands, take everything in, and as soon as the game was over he’d break it down--you did this right, you did this wrong. My last year at Long Beach we had a great season that was the climax to all that hard work. It’s just too bad he never got to see me play pro ball.”

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Swing and bear it: It may pain Dave Staton to toss a baseball, but swinging a bat hasn’t been a major problem for the former Tustin High School and Cal State Fullerton standout, who is rehabilitating from major shoulder surgery.

Staton, who was on the verge of reaching the major leagues in 1991 and ’92 before injuries cut short both seasons, has 10 home runs and 31 RBIs in only 21 games for the San Diego Padres’ Class-A team at Rancho Cucamonga.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound first baseman/outfielder is playing at Rancho Cucamonga because it’s the highest level in the organization that uses a full-time designated hitter. Staton doesn’t expect to return to the field until August.

“I play catch during batting practice, but that’s as far as it goes,” said Staton, who hit 41 home runs for triple-A Las Vegas in 1991 and ’92. “Slowly but surely it’s improving, with an emphasis on slowly.”

The Padres had hoped to expedite Staton’s ascent to the major leagues last season by moving him from first base, where Fred McGriff is entrenched at San Diego, to the outfield.

But Staton, 25, tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder making an off-balance throw, and now his future with the Padres is in doubt. If he doesn’t fully recover, San Diego might have to trade him to an American League team, where he could play DH.

“You can read the writing on the wall,” Staton said. “All I’m able to do now is hit. I’d rather not comment (on the possibility of a trade), but it’s nothing I have control over. It doesn’t do any good to think about it.”

This isn’t the first time injuries have stunted Staton’s progress. He was batting .267 with 22 homers and 74 RBIs at Las Vegas in 1991 before a cracked vertebrae in his back ended his season.

“It’s your childhood dream to play in the major leagues, and I was right there,” Staton said. “To have it taken away because of injury is extremely frustrating. I think I’d be more at ease if I wasn’t producing or playing well, but I feel I’ve done everything asked of me at every level. I just have to be real patient.”