Standing Tall at the Plate

Looking at Brian Barre may not cause a crick in the neck, but pitching to him can be a pain in one.

There have been more impressive hitters at USC, in appearance anyway. Mark McGwire leaps to mind, especially as one walks down Mark McGwire Way, leading to Dedeaux Field on the USC campus. Yet Barre travels that road nearly every day.

At only 5 feet 8, Barre leads the Trojans in nearly every offensive category, including home runs. OK, McGwire’s USC single-season record of 32 is safe; Barre has a mere 12 this season. Still, he has been the catalyst that has pushed USC to the top of the national rankings.

“The guys who are 6-3, those guys are given much more of a chance,” said Barre, a junior outfielder. “It’s about putting up numbers. If you put up numbers over and over again, they can’t say that you’re too small.”

Try to find anyone who doesn’t think Barre is measuring up.

His current 14-game hitting streak has improved his batting average to .337. He leads the Trojans with 46 runs batted in.

Barre has lightning to go with his thunder. He has 18 stolen bases and is so daring that he stole home in the ninth inning against San Diego on March 14, giving the Trojans a 4-3 victory.

All those numbers make it clear Barre isn’t in over his head.

“It’s still true that guys who don’t have the physical size face that whole issue . . . ‘Is he big enough?’ ” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “We didn’t think that was an issue.

“He does all the things you care about, as far as a position player. He always demonstrated he could field. He looked like he could steal bases. He was a tough out. The power is the only thing that surprised us.”

That’s because guys who are 5-8 don’t usually hit home runs.

“I guess it’s true,” Gillespie said. “Those guys who don’t have the physical size have to prove and reprove themselves.”

Barre , a graduate of Pacifica High, is getting a chance to do just that. While pro scouts line up to watch the pitching of USC’s Mark Prior, who has the tools and the size, they are also getting an eyeful of Barre.

Prior and Rik Currier provide an enviable 1-2 pitching punch, but Barre is just as important to USC, which is ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 2 by Baseball America.

During his current hitting streak, the Trojans are 11-3 and won two of three games from then-top-ranked Stanford to move into first place in the Pacific 10 standings. Barre scored the tying run in a 2-1 victory over the Cardinal on April 20, then had two hits, including a home run, and drove in two in a 7-0 victory the next day.

Whether Barre has grown as a ballplayer in the eyes of scouts will be seen during major league baseball’s amateur draft next month. But such things don’t leave him pacing at night.

“I don’t get much contact from scouts,” Barre said. “If you’re putting up home run and RBI numbers, stealing bags and doing the things people need, whether you’re 6-3 or 5-8, you’re going to keep getting chances.”

Those who haven’t seen Barre play might question his logic. Those who have faced him have no doubts.

“He reminds me of Lenny Dykstra a little,” said Coach Dave Demarest, whose La Quinta High teams battled Barre when he was at Pacifica and Dykstra when he played for Garden Grove.

“He does everything Lenny did,” Demarest said. “If Brian was 6-2 or 6-3, we would be talking about how long it would take him to get to the big leagues. He’s going to have to continuously prove himself.”

Barre had an impressive high school career. He drove in seven runs in a game against Bellflower, and was a first-team All-Southern Section Division III selection.

But all that got him were partial scholarship offers from UC Santa Barbara and Kansas and a chance to walk on at USC, where he could maybe earn a scholarship.

“Walking on here was an easy decision,” said Barre, who played little as a freshman and was a bit player most of last season, when he hit .274 with five home runs and 18 RBIs.

Yet, Barre made his mark near the end of the season. He hit .583 to help the Trojans sweep three games in the NCAA first-round regional at Cal State Fullerton. He was named to the all-regional first team.

Gillespie upped the ante following the season. He gave Barre scholarship money and made it clear what his player needed to do to show his gratitude.

“Brian should be very important to us,” Gillespie said before the start of this season.

And he has been. Barre hit a grand slam in the second game of the season against Louisville, and by midseason was firmly in place as the team’s leadoff hitter.

Barre’s improvement came from a summer and fall of preparation.

“What I worked on was going the other way,” Barre said. “Guys used to throw me outside last year and I’d roll out to second base. Now, they can’t throw me outside all the time. They have to come inside. When they come inside, they make mistakes. That’s where the home runs come from.”

Barre homered in three of the last four games, helping the Trojans extend their winning streak to eight games.

Not that McGwire should fear having his school record broken.

“I’ve been through the media guide a couple times and seen the names of the guys who have played here,” Barre said. “Sometimes I go, ‘Wow, I’m in the same program as those guys?’ But they all started in the same place I am now.”

Even if he doesn’t stand quite as tall.

Reasons Barre: “Size is overrated.”