Galarraga’s Encore Is Full of Power : Baseball: Slugger for the Rockies is out to prove that last season was not a fluke.

The door to the visitors’ clubhouse at Shea Stadium swung open at 5:10 p.m. and in walked Colorado Rockies first baseman Andres Galarraga. The entrance did not go unnoticed.

Around the room were audible murmurs. “Gato.” “Gato.” “El gato.”

The Big Cat was in the house.

“He’s a great hitter,” Rockies right fielder Dante Bichette said. “He’s got to be one of the top two or three hitters in the league.”

Galarraga’s climb to the top -- he led the majors in batting last season with a .370 average -- has been long and slow. He didn’t get there until he had been discarded by two teams and salvaged by an expansion team.

There’s still some skepticism. He’s doing it with an expansion team. He’s capitalizing on the thin air in Denver. He’ll eventually revert to pre-Rockies form (.267 average).

Galarraga seemed to sense the lingering doubt after hitting his second grand slam of the season Monday in a 12-2 victory over the New York Mets.

“I want to prove last year was not a fluke,” he said.

There is mounting evidence it was not. Galarraga is batting .324, ninth in the National League. He’s second in home runs with 18 (one behind the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Williams before Friday’s games) and first in RBI with 49.

The numbers should be stimulating talk about a possible Triple Crown, not whether Galarraga, 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, is simply experiencing a hot streak.

“That’s what a lot of people are thinking, that it’s a lucky streak or something,” said Galarraga. “I don’t think some people think I’m a good player.”

Galarraga, who willturn 33 June 18, has always been good. He just wasn’t as good as some people thought he could be, including himself.

It began in Montreal, where Galarraga was hailed as a future superstar. He twice hit better than .300 and had four seasons where he drove in 85 runs or more. He also won Gold Gloves in 1989 and 1990.

But injuries and strikeouts -- Galarraga led the National League in strikeouts in 1988, 1989 and 1990 -- also marked his seven seasons in Montreal. After hitting .219 in 1991 and missing 36 games because of left knee surgery, the Expos traded Galarraga to the St. Louis Cardinals in November 1991 for pitcher Ken Hill.

The trade was a shock to Galarraga, a Venezuelan who knew only one major league organization.

“I knew I could hit,” Galarraga said. “I knew I could play first base. I knew I could play still play this game. When I got traded to St. Louis it kind of frustrated me a little.

“When you’re losing things happen -- they look for excuses. They wanted to platoon me at first base. I said, ‘No way, you better trade me.”’

Galarraga’s problems followed him to St. Louis. The second day of the 1992 season, he was hit by a pitch and broke his right wrist. He spent the next 44 games on the disabled list.

He wound up hitting .243 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI. The Cardinals declined to renew Galarraga’s contract, allowing him to sign with the Rockies as a free agent.

Don Baylor, the Rockies’ second-year manager, had served as the Cardinals hitting instructor.

“He called me right away to play in Colorado,” Galarraga said. “He has helped me a lot to come back and put everything together.”

Galarraga had a phenomenal first season with the Rockies:

--He was the first expansion player to lead the league in hitting.

--His .370 average tied Tony Gwynn’s 1987 mark as the highest in the National League since 1948, when Stan Musial batted .376 for the Cardinals. It also was the highest by a right-handed hitter since 1939, when Joe DiMaggio hit .381, and the highest in the National League by a righty since Joe “Ducky” Medwick (.374 in 1937).

--He led the league in multihit games (56) despite missing 41 games with hamstring and knee injuries.

--He was batting .400 as late as July 5.

This season, Galarraga picked up where he left off. He drove in a National League-record 30 runs in April.

Galarraga has been aided this season by hitting between Ellis Burks (out with a wrist injury) and Bichette. But mostly it is rekindled self-confidence, triggered by Baylor’s belief in him, that’s helped.

“I feel so comfortable at home plate,” he said. “Every time I go to home plate, I feel I can do something.”

Galarraga recognizes home runs are easier to come by at Mile High Stadium (National League-high 184 last season).

“The air probably helps a little bit,” he said. “A lot of people think you’re hitting fly balls to second base and it’s gone. It’s not like that.”

Galarraga said he is inspired by the Rockies fans, who have turned out in record numbers.

“The people don’t care about the score (or) if we’re losing or winning,” he said. “That helps me play 100 percent every day.”

Galarraga’s statistics are fairly consistent home and away. Through Tuesday, he was hitting .350 at home, .301 away; he has eight home runs at home, 10 away; he has 25 RBI at home, 24 away.

“It’s just amazing,” Bichette said. “It’s some kind of consistency with power. He’s the total package, there’s no doubt about it.”