Clark Is Hitting His Peak

The breakthrough year. It’s the season when athletic skills are reaching a peak. The kind of year that can get a minor league player noticed by his organization and desired by other clubs.

Kevin Clark, a 26-year-old catcher and infielder with the El Paso Diablos, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ double-A Texas League affiliate, believes he is having such a season.

His .312 batting average leads the team (among players with 20 games or more) and is among the league top 10.

“I am right where I need to be as far as my maturity as a player,” the former Cypress College player said last week from San Antonio, where the Diablos were playing.

“This is an important year because I can become a free agent after the season. But I like the Arizona organization, and as long as I can keep doing what I’m doing now I feel I will have the opportunity to move up.”

Playing in triple A or the major leagues next year is Clark’s goal. Now in his sixth professional season--and his first above Class A--Clark believes he has shown the Diamondbacks a lively bat and versatility in the field. In 90 games this season he has caught, played first and third base and been a designated hitter.

Clark said he is pleased he did not burden himself with trying to have a “great” year this season with free agency looming.

“I did not want to put too much pressure on myself,” Clark said. “Sometimes you try to impress people and want to do too much rather than just playing the way you are capable.”

Hitting has always been the easiest part of his game, Clark said. At Cypress in 1992 and 1993, he was a productive line drive-type hitter; he set school records for doubles in a game, season and career before being selected by Boston in the fifth round of the June 1993 draft.

“He was always a good hitter,” said Cypress Coach Scott Pickler. “He put up some big numbers for us.”

Pickler said Clark used an unusual batting stance at Cypress, holding his hands high and tight to his head. But when he left college, Clark had to change his style.

“In college you use the aluminum bat and you can use just about any [style] you want,” said Clark, a Las Vegas native. “But with the wooden bat . . . I had to lower my hands to a more universal position, more toward the shoulder, for the same bat speed.”

He hit just .204 and .254 in his first two pro seasons, and the Red Sox did not wait for him to complete the adjustment, releasing him early in the 1997 season. He played with the Rio Grande Valley Whitewings in the independent Texas-Louisiana League before the Diamondbacks signed him in August 1997.

Last year with Class-A High Desert, Clark had professional career highs in homers (20) and runs batted in (98) while hitting .265 in 127 games. This year the average is higher but the homers (seven) and RBIs (57) are down.

Nonetheless, El Paso Manager Don Wakamatsu said Clark is progressing.

“This is the second year I’ve had Kevin,” said Wakamatsu, who managed High Desert last season. “He’s put two solid years together offensively.”

HESSMAN HURT AGAIN

Former Mater Dei standout Mike Hessman, a third baseman for the Atlanta Braves’ Class-A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) team, has had a good season, hitting a career-high 23 home runs in 103 games and driving in 54 runs, 20 shy of his career high.

Even his batting average, a modest .247, is his best as a pro.

But for the second consecutive year, Hessman has had a productive season cut short by injury.

In 1998, playing for the Braves’ Danville (Va.) rookie-league team, Hessman tore cartilage and ligaments in his right wrist when he dove into a dugout for a foul ball. He finished with 20 homers and 63 RBIs in 118 games.

This year, Hessman broke a bone in his left hand on Aug. 7 after fouling off a pitch. He underwent surgery six days later to remove the bone, which is located below the ring and pinky fingers.

Even with the injury, Hessman is tied with Winston-Salem’s Aaron Rowand for the Carolina League lead in home runs.

“It’s frustrating,” Hessman said. “I want to have a 100% healthy season. This season was a progression. But I know I can do better.”