Borderline Prospect

Once upon a time in Mexico a young man held the hand of his dying mother and promised he would make her proud by playing in the major leagues.

Por ti voy a tratar de jugar un dia en las grandes ligas por que tu siempre quisiste eso.

Virginia Robles was unable to speak, but a single tear rolled down her cheek. Five minutes later she was dead.

Soon, though, the anguished son quit baseball, tugged home by family hardship. His trim body became flabby from inactivity and his keen mind sagged from depression.

Oscar Robles had not forgotten his pledge, yet it had receded amid the daily obligations of caring for two younger brothers and supporting a grieving father.

Then another woman entered his life. Elena became his wife and pushed him back to the baseball diamond the way his mother had when he was a child playing on the dirt fields of Tijuana.

When his team lost, Elena did not cry the way Virginia had done after her son fared poorly in Little League games. But like Virginia, she encouraged him every step of the way, even when the path took them places they never expected.

The Houston Astro farm team Robles had left a year earlier would not take him back, so the Mexican League was his only option. The couple went south to Oaxaca for three years, then to Mexico City for two, where Robles became an accomplished hitter and versatile fielder.

However, the distance from the major leagues grew with every passing year. Scouts overlooked him. Twice he was cut from teams during spring training.

The Dodgers invited him to Vero Beach, Fla., for spring training this year and he figured it was his last chance. He was approaching 30, he and Elena had a young daughter and his father and brothers still relied on him in Tijuana.

Again his hopes were dashed. Robles was cut the day before the season started despite leading the Dodgers with a .433 spring batting average. He rejoined the Mexico City Red Devils, the only team that would have him.

His bat stayed hot and each morning Robles would peek at Dodger box scores. He saw that the player who had made the team ahead of him, Japanese third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, was struggling. And he saw that infielder Jose Valentin had injured his knee.

Yet he didn’t allow himself to get excited because he was afraid of another letdown. Then came a call and the next thing he knew he was on a flight to St. Louis to join the Dodgers, who had purchased his contract.

The date was May 10 -- Mother’s Day in Mexico.

All Robles could think about was Virginia, his promise and her tear. He saw his name on the lineup card starting at third base and fought back a tear of his own.

Robles stood in his Dodger uniform during the playing of the national anthem and thought, “This is a miracle.”

After the game he called his father and asked him to visit the cemetery.

“Tell her this is my Mother’s Day gift,” Robles said.

*

It’s a sure sign the Dodger season isn’t going as expected when a 29-year-old rookie utility infielder is the shining light.

And shine Robles has, leading the team with a .347 batting average and taking over the leadoff spot with eight multihit games and a .408 on-base percentage.

Robles’ approach at the plate belies his inexperience. He works the count, hits well with two strikes and uses the entire field. Defensively he has been solid, filling in at shortstop when Cesar Izturis was injured and lately playing third base.

“He’s showing everybody he can play at this level,” said pitcher Elmer Dessens, the only other Mexican player on the Dodgers. “He’s a contact guy. You have to throw him a strike for him to swing. He makes it tough on pitchers.”

In two of Robles’ first three games, though, his defensive lapses made it tough on Dodger pitchers.

Five innings after he looked skyward to thank God for the fulfillment of his promise to his mother, he misjudged a foul pop-up, deferred to Izturis and left fielder Ricky Ledee, and watched the ball fall to the ground. Two pitches later, Cardinal outfielder Reggie Sanders hit a three-run home run that blew the game open.

“With a lineup like theirs, it’s tough to give extra outs,” pitcher Scott Erickson grumbled, and the contrite Robles kept his head buried in his locker.

Another embarrassing moment came two days later. Playing second base, Robles took a throw from Izturis that appeared to retire Larry Walker to end the third inning. But umpire Dana DeMuth called Walker safe and a run scored.

The Cardinals scored four more runs in the inning and won, 10-3. Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said DeMuth told him that Robles missed the base, although DeMuth said afterward that Robles touched the base with his heel but removed it before he secured control of the ball.

The Dodgers wondered aloud if DeMuth made the call only because Robles was a rookie.

All Robles felt was shame. He struggled at the plate, managing only two hits in his first 19 at-bats. He had long talks with Dodger Spanish-language broadcaster and longtime Tijuana resident Pepe Yniguez, his closest confidant.

Maybe he should have been more careful about his wish, Robles thought. How did he know that keeping his promise would become something dreadful? Another tear was shed at the thought of his major league debut, and this time it rolled down his cheek.

*

After the rough beginning, Tracy had Robles lay low through June, giving him only 12 more at-bats. But General Manager Paul DePodesta kept him on the team, even paying the owner of his Mexican League team an extra $200,000 to complete the deal.

Robles soon rewarded them for their faith.

He has hit in 14 of his last 16 games and is 25 for 61 in July. He had five hits on July 4 and remained in the leadoff spot even after Izturis came off the disabled list last week.

In Los Angeles, he is a pleasant surprise.

In Mexico, he is a national hero.

During the All-Star break he went home to Tijuana and was besieged by interview requests. A newspaper in Mexico City wrote that Robles’ success gave hope to Mexican League players who are continually passed over by major league scouts. Another article said Robles was bucking the widely held perception that only weak-hitting infielders and an occasional pitcher come out of Mexico.

Perhaps they forgot that Robles was drafted out of Chula Vista Montgomery High by Houston in 1994 after setting a San Diego Section record with 143 hits. He came to the U.S. at 15 on a student visa at the invitation of the Montgomery coach and lived with his uncle.

The Astros gave him $100,000, some of which he used to enlarge his parents’ Tijuana home. He was working his way through the Astro farm system when his father -- whose name is Oscar -- called in 1997 to say Virginia was dying of lung cancer. Robles rushed home.

“She died two or three days after I got back,” he said.

Robles reached triple A for two games in 1997 and played 70 games in lower leagues the next year. But his heart wasn’t in it and the Astros released him when he failed to report to camp in 1999.

“I wanted to help my brothers,” he said. “They were having a harder time than I was without our mom.”

Robles ballooned from 165 pounds to 200. He rarely left the house. Then his wife provided the nudge he needed. “She pushed me like my mom pushed me,” he said. “Elena just wanted me to play again.”

At first playing in the Mexican League was only a job to put food on the table. Eventually he allowed it to become more -- a crusade to fulfill a promise.

Because of you, I’m going to try to someday play in the major leagues because that is what you always wanted.

“Each day during the national anthem, I try to give her a message,” Robles said. “I tell her that because of her and God I’m here in the majors.”