Ex-Angel Prospect Shows He’s Cut Above

The last thing Greg Shockey figured he would have to do this baseball season was look for a job.

Regardless of where he had played--be it Mater Dei, Cal State Northridge or the five years in the pros--Shockey, 27, had the kind of hitting stroke that made scouts pay attention.

It had been particularly effective the past two seasons in the Angels’ organization. In 1995, Shockey batted .327 at Class-A Lake Elsinore, and last year averaged .317 at double-A Midland. He was a free agent after last season but signed again with the Angel organization under the impression he was in their future plans.

So imagine Shockey’s surprise when he was released this spring.

“They released me the last day of spring training, which makes it hard to get a job,” Shockey said. “They said they did not have room for me. I do know I was asked to come back and sign with them. To release me after giving them two solid years . . . well I know I’m better than their evaluation.”

The Huntington Beach resident waited 30 days before getting an offer from the Padres to play with their Class-A team in Rancho Cucamonga.

Shockey is making the decision look good. Even though he did not touch a bat during his forced hiatus, he homered his first time up for Rancho Cucamonga. He had three home runs in his first five at-bats. Overall, the left-handed hitting outfielder is batting .326, with eight home runs and 45 runs batted in.

Shockey has been careful this season to keep frustration from affecting his play. In June he considered an offer to play with the Union Laguna Cotton Pickers of the Mexican League. “That would be like triple A,” Shockey said. But he decided to stay with Rancho Cucamonga.

“The Padres are a great organization, the best I’ve played for,” Shockey said. “They are big on camaraderie; the instructors are helpful and the front-office [personnel] are straight shooters.”

Shockey, who also spent time in the Seattle organization, hastens to add that he did have good experiences with the Angels. “I got to work with [hitting instructor] Rod Carew and Tony Muser [now managing the Kansas City Royals]. They’re quality baseball men.

“Ken Compton [the Mariner scout who signed him] is another man I have great respect for. He took a risk on me because he said I would hit. No one else would do that. He’s told me that every year since.”

It’s been a good year for Shockey in other ways. He and his wife, Julia, became parents of a son, Brent Taylor, six weeks ago. He said the birth has helped put things in proper perspective.

“To have played baseball for a third of your life, as I have, is a privilege,” Shockey said. “My wife and son are my future. When I’m gone the game will still be played.

“When I look at my son, I realize he is a great thing. He is something that is very special.”

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If this had been another year, Ryan Brannan might not be in the minors.

When you’re as pitching-starved as the last-place Phillies are, and you have a guy in your system who can throw 94 mph, you might want to see what he can do against the big boys.

But if the Phillies promote Brannan--3-1 with a 2.64 earned-run average and 13 saves in 27 appearances with double-A Reading (Pa.)--they would have to make him one of their 15 protected players in the first round of this fall’s expansion draft to stock the majors’ two new teams, Arizona and Tampa Bay.

Brannan, who was taken by Philadelphia out of Long Beach in the fourth round of last year’s draft, doesn’t have three years of professional experience, and for now is untouchable. If the Phillies brought him up, they would have to purchase his contract, put him on their 40-man roster, and expose him to the upcoming draft.

That’s all right with Brannan, 22, who knows he can afford to be patient.

“I think personally it’s not a smart move for them either,” said Brannan, when asked if he should be in the major leagues now. “If they had to protect me, it would cost them another player they’d want to hold onto.

“They’ve made it clear I would have been called up except for that. [The Phillies management] thinks I have a chance next year to make the team out of spring training. That’s exciting.”

At Huntington Beach High, Brannan started as an outfielder before being converted to a pitcher in 1993, his senior year.

Coaches at the University of Miami thought enough of his potential to offer Brannan a scholarship, but he struggled his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Brannan transferred to Long Beach State for his junior year, and credits Coach Dave Snow for reviving his career.

“Coach Snow had seen me at Huntington Beach, and told me to go back to my old way,” Brannan said. “I was at the point I was ready to listen to anything. And things started clicking. I got my speed back, I felt comfortable, and my control came with it.”

Brannan began this year in Class-A Clearwater, Fla., but after getting 10 saves there, he was moved up to Reading, in late May.

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Last Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers recalled pitcher Mike Misuraca to replace injured reliever Doug Jones. Misuraca had compiled an 8-7 record with a 5.24 ERA in 31 games for triple-A Tucson. He was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last three starts.

Misuraca, who played at Orange Coast College from 1987-88 and was signed by the Brewers in January as a six-year minor league free agent, appeared in Sunday’s 11-7 Brewer victory over Detroit. He pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up a home run to Bobby Higginson and striking out one.

Misuraca is the third player from the 1987 OCC team to make the majors. Dave Staton (San Diego 1993-94) and Brent Mayne (currently with Oakland) were the others.

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This week in minor league baseball history:

July 29, 1908--Helena pitcher John McFarland lost a chance for a perfect game when Pine Bluff’s 27th batter refused to face him, causing the Arkansas State League game to be forfeited, 9-0.

July 30, 1970--Waterbury (Conn.) right-hander Bruce Kison hit seven Pittsfield batters before being removed in the sixth inning of an Eastern League game. Kison pitched in the majors from 1971-1985 with the Pirates, Angels and Red Sox.

July 30, 1905--The Oakland Oaks and the host Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League played a doubleheader in record time: The first game lasted 47 minutes 30 seconds, the second 51 minutes.

Aug. 1, 1943--Lawrence “Yogi” Berra drove in 23 runs in two days for Norfolk, Va., in the Piedmont League. On the first day, Berra had two singles, two doubles and two homers and knocked in 13 runs. The next day, he had 10 RBIs with a single, two doubles and a home run.