MVP Tutor on Call : Wills Works on Hitting with Demoted Fonville at Albuquerque

After two seasons in the big leagues, Chad Fonville is back in the minors at Albuquerque. His tutor, Maury Wills, can relate.

On April 12, the Los Angeles Dodgers demoted Fonville to their Triple-A farm team in New Mexico. A few days later, they sent the 1962 National League MVP to help him work on reaching base.

“They got me out of the scrap pile,” the 64-year-old former All-Star shortstop said.

Wills said he sees Fonville as a base-running threat for opposing pitchers. He said he and Fonville have much in common: “We’re both small guys, leadoff hitters, line-drive hitters, switch hitters.”

Also, both were in the minors after their mid-20s. It was 7 1/2 years from the start of Wills’ professional career until his Dodgers debut in 1959, when he was 27.

Fonville, 26, has two seasons with the Dodgers, but struggled after his first Los Angeles summer in 1995. Wills said he encourages Fonville that a big return is possible.

“I try to come up with things he can identify with,” Wills said. “I stayed in the minors a long time, probably because I didn’t have the power to hit the long ball. I had to scrape and scrap to make it on base.”

The Dodgers want Fonville to rediscover the offense he showed after arriving in Los Angeles two years ago. He batted .348 in June 1995, became a starter in mid-July and had a 10-game hitting streak in August that year.

But after hitting .204 in his second season with the Dodgers, Fonville was sent to Albuquerque last August. His slump carried into 1997 as he went hitless in six L.A. at-bats this month.

Through eight games after joining the Albuquerque Dukes, Fonville was hitting .219 with two RBI, two stolen bases, one walk and two strikeouts. Last year, he hit .240 in Albuquerque.

Fonville said he hopes to rejoin the Dodgers soon, but he agreed he first needs Wills’ help.

“I’m working with the best, and it’s good for me to be working with him one-on-one,” Fonville said. “I’m just trying to get my work in. I’m not trying to stay down here too long.”

The assignment is indefinite.

“They’d like to take him back tomorrow, but it all depends on how quickly he gets back into a groove,” Wills said.

Fonville has a good mentor. In 1962, Wills’ 104 stolen bases broke Ty Cobb’s record of 96 in 1915. Rickey Henderson wiped out all subsequent records with 130 stolen bases in 1982.

Wills was a perennial base-running threat who led the majors in steals for six seasons. He said his secret of success also will cure Fonville’s woes.

“Work hard. You’ve got to work hard before you get any measure of success. From success comes confidence,” Wills said.

He added, “Baseball is all about hitting, and hitting didn’t come easy to me. I had to put in a lot of hours of practice, like Chad’s doing.”

During an afternoon workout, Wills shared his tips about bunting, leaving the batter’s box and switch-hitting. Wills and Fonville also have worked on base-stealing recently.

Both agree the time together is productive. Fonville said he was looking forward to spending time with Wills, who said the reverse was also true.

“It was a dream of mine to work with him,” Wills said.

Wills said he enjoys working with young players. He said he worked with Colorado’s Eric Young and Kansas City’s Tom Goodwin when both were members of the Albuquerque Dukes.

Like Young and Goodwin, Wills said he expects Fonville to excel when he returns to the majors.

“They really need him,” Wills said. “They’re losing those kinds of games a player like Fonville can win for them: one-run games, two-run games.”