Newfield Weathers Storm of Injuries

Marc Newfield endured an eight-month layoff from baseball, overcame a toe injury that required season-ending surgery in 1992 and was just starting to regain his batting stroke 10 games into this season when, boom , he pulled his left hamstring.

A week later, the former Marina High School standout who was the sixth pick overall in the 1990 draft, pulled his right hamstring, an injury that sidelined him two more weeks.

Newfield’s ascent toward the major leagues had been going smoothly to this point. He batted .467 with six homers and 20 runs batted in to lead Marina to the Southern Section 5-A championship in 1990.

He hit a 500-foot home run in his first professional game and .313 in his first pro season. He hit .300 and was named “Best Batting Prospect” in a poll of California League managers in 1991 and had reached the double-A level at age 19 in 1992.

But this past year, adversity bore down on Newfield like an 89-m.p.h. slider.

And Newfield, a 20-year-old first baseman now playing for the Seattle Mariners’ double-A team at Jacksonville, Fla., handled it like a waste-high fastball down the middle of the plate.

He crushed it.

Newfield is batting .327 for Jacksonville and, despite missing three weeks because of his leg injuries, has nine home runs and 29 RBIs. Though he sat out most of last season because of the toe surgery, his career still appears to be progressing at a rapid rate.

“Considering I hadn’t played in eight months, I’m happy with my performance,” said Newfield, a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder. “Last year was the first time I had been hurt in my whole life--things had gone pretty easily until then. But I’ll probably have to go through (injuries) sometime in my career, and now I’ll know how to handle it.”

He hopes he never has to handle another one like last season’s. Newfield had suffered minor pain from a bunion since he was 13, but the pain was excruciating last spring. Doctors surgically broke the bone in his big toe, then reset it so there would be no irritation or inflammation in the joint.

“It was real painful, real bad,” Newfield said. “I couldn’t even walk for two months, and I went to a physical therapist four times a week after that. But it feels great now.”

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Brother acts: Two sets of Orange County brothers will square off against each other in Class-A all-star games this week, Tom and J.J. Thobe in the South Atlantic League game tonight at Columbus, Ga., and Scott and Greg Shockey in the California League game Tuesday night in Stockton.

Tom Thobe, a former Ocean View High and Golden West College pitcher who returned to pro baseball this season after a three-year absence, is 5-1 with a 1.73 earned run average and three saves for the Atlanta Braves’ team at Macon, Ga. He’ll represent the National League in tonight’s game.

Thobe, 23, played rookie league ball for the Chicago Cubs in 1989 but quit to pursue his first loves, surfing and skateboarding. Team officials had said skateboard riding was prohibited by a no-high-risk-sports clause in his contract, so Thobe took his board and went home.

J.J. Thobe, 22, has been the ace of the Columbus (Ga.) Redstixx staff this season. The former Ocean View and Rancho Santiago College pitcher has an 8-2 record, 1.96 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 101 innings and will play for the American League team tonight.

Scott Shockey, who played at El Toro High and Pepperdine, probably isn’t overly enthused about playing in the California League game. The 25-year-old first baseman reached the triple-A level in the Oakland Athletics’ organization in 1990 but sat out last season after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.

Shockey, who played at double-A Huntsville in 1991, has been on a rehabilitation assignment this season at Modesto, where he is batting .300. with 11 home runs and 57 RBIs. He’ll play for the North Division team Tuesday.

Greg Shockey, who played at Mater Dei and Cal State Northridge, is batting .309 with 39 RBIs for the Seattle Mariners’ team in Riverside. The 23-year-old outfielder, who will play for the South Division team Tuesday, is in his second professional season after signing with the Mariners as a free agent.

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Chilling out: After playing outfield at Magnolia High, Rancho Santiago College and Oklahoma, Marty Neff has made a drastic switch this season, moving to third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class-A team at Salem, Va.

But Neff didn’t bring his hot head to the hot corner.

“I didn’t think any pitcher could beat me, and when they did, I’d be a little upset,” said Neff, 23, in his third professional season. “No one likes making outs, and I used to come back to the dugout and throw a helmet or something. But nothing like that has happened this year.”

It has been a major adjustment, but Neff’s defense at third base has been solid, and his bat continues to provide power. Neff, a 6-2, 195-pounder, is batting .240 with 14 homers and 34 RBIs.

“They told me they want my bat in the big leagues and they don’t have any prospects at third base,” Neff said. “They want me to be an average or above-average third baseman. It took a while to get used to balls coming at you that fast, but things are going well.”

Playing third base may have actually improved Neff’s overall approach to the game, too. Neff no longer has time to stew in the outfield after a bad at-bat. At third, he has to be on his toes and focusing on defense every pitch.

“Before, (the organization) was interested in my hitting, but they worried about my mental outlook,” Neff said. “Now that things have changed and I’m growing up a bit, this could be a good move for me to get to the major leagues quicker.”