Rough Draft : Stanford’s Carter Tries to Write New Ending to College Career

Stanford outfielder Cale Carter couldn’t hide his disappointment last June when he wasn’t picked in the major league draft.

After all, he was chosen in the 17th round by the Cleveland Indians at the end of his senior year at Mater Dei High in 1992.

Didn’t being a three-year starter with a .306 career batting average on a nationally prominent team mean anything? And as a junior last season, he hit .325 with 39 runs batted in and was chosen to the all-conference team. Didn’t that matter either?

“I guess my biggest fear was that I was going to be left behind when some of my other teammates signed and went on,” Carter said. “I certainly hoped I would at least have something to consider.”

Two teammates who had been in the starting lineup with Carter for three years were picked. All-American catcher A.J. Hinch was chosen in the third round by the Minnesota Twins and second baseman Brian Dallimore was taken in the 37th round by the Florida Marlins.

“I remember that draft day well,” said Carter’s father, Chuck, an Orange businessman. “We were at the College World Series, and when Cale came up to my room he had tears in his eyes. The other players had been getting calls, and he hadn’t heard from anyone. He was crushed.”

But as things turned out, Hinch and Dallimore each passed up pro offers to return to Stanford. They, along with Carter, are back to provide the leadership for a team regarded as a leading contender for the national championship. Stanford is ranked second in the preseason polls.

Stanford Coach Mark Marquess says he also was surprised when Carter wasn’t drafted.

“I still think he’ll have the opportunity to play pro ball after this season,” Marquess said. “But what happened to Cale happens, I think, to a lot of our kids with really good academic records who are juniors. I think the pros felt like they weren’t going to be able to offer him enough money to make him pass up his senior season anyway, so they just didn’t bother last year.”

Carter, a computer science major, has progressed so rapidly in the classroom that he needs only a few classes to graduate. He has a 3.24 grade-point average.

Marquess calls Carter one of Stanford’s most consistent players. “He was clutch for us all last season,” Marquess said. “He got a lot of big hits. We also switched him from center field to left field because he felt he could help us more there, and he made that adjustment well.”

Carter has been getting key hits since his freshman season. He led the team with six game-winning RBIs that first year.

After June’s draft disappointment, Carter decided to back off baseball a little last summer and took a summer internship with a computer company. “I had played in the Cape Cod League the previous two summers, and I just wanted to get some time off and see what the real world was like,” he said. “I had a very relaxing summer, and that probably was good for me after all those summers dominated by baseball.”

It doesn’t seem to have hurt his hitting. Carter hit a two-run home run Friday night in Stanford’s 5-0 victory over defending national champion Cal State Fullerton.

“One of the things we’ve been working on with Cale is trying to improve his power,” Marquess said. “We’ve been moving his feet around a little and it seems to have helped.”

Carter, who bats left-handed and throws right, hit only one home run last season, but had five as a sophomore. He is 5 feet 10, 185 pounds.

Carter says his thoughts about this season revolve mostly around the team doing well.

“Even though we made it to the World Series last year, we didn’t have the kind of year we hoped we would,” Carter said. “We were ranked No. 1 going into the season, and I think he were trying too hard at first to prove to everyone we deserved it. We did much better after we relaxed later on. I think that was a lot of it.”

Through much of last season, Stanford was hurt by injuries to a pitching staff that generally was regarded as the college game’s most talented. Right-hander Jason Middlebrook, rated by some scouts as a potential top-five draft choice because of his 97-m.p.h. fastball, was troubled by a sore elbow most of last year and finished 1-5 with a 4.78 earned-run average.

But Stanford won 18 of its last 25 games, including three in a row in the Midwest Regional at Wichita to advance to Omaha.

“We really came together as a team in the last month of the season,” Carter said. “And we have just about everyone back. Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off last season and get back to the World Series, and this time win it.”