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Brew-ing Stardom

SHANNON McCARTHY , Alligator Staff Writer

When the Milwaukee Brewers took former UF slugger Matt LaPorta with the seventh overall pick of last year's draft, the move was described as "shocking" and "stunning" by many draft analysts.

One year later, LaPorta is making Jack Zduriencik, Milwaukee's director of scouting, look like a genius.

The Port Charlotte native has moved rapidly through the minor-league ranks and is rated the organization's top prospect by Baseball America. He is currently playing for Double-A Huntsville in the Southern League, where he has been named the player of the week twice so far this season, and he leads the league with 19 home runs and is second to teammate Mat Gamel in RBIs with 58.

LaPorta returned to Florida for the first time since his playing days with the Orange and Blue last week when his Huntsville Stars visited the Jacksonville Suns at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville for a five-game series.

It was a homestand for the Suns, but you wouldn't have known it every time LaPorta and Gamel, a Jacksonville native and Bishop Kenny High alum, came to the plate or made a play in the field. The LaPorta supporters were vocal and made themselves known.

"It's been a great feeling," LaPorta said. "To see all of my friends and family come into town, just to know that I have that kind of support, it's nice to know."

Friends and family weren't the only ones who made the trip to see the former Gators star. UF fans flocked to the games as well, serenading LaPorta with the same chant of his last name that used to ring out through McKethan Stadium, as well as a few Gator cheers.

"I heard them (Saturday) night," LaPorta said with a grin. "It was good to hear that again."

When he came to the plate in the ninth inning on Saturday and belted a two-run shot into the right-field bleachers, he heard the cheers again, echoing those from the past.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

The records, awards and achievements read like a veritable laundry list.

Two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (and the only UF player to ever receive the honor).

Two-time First-Team All-American.

Two-time First-Team All-SEC selection.

Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award finalist.

Dick Howser Trophy finalist.

USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalist.

And the list goes on.

He left UF as the school's career home run leader with 74, third in SEC history and ninth in NCAA history. He also has the school record for single-season homers (26) and rates in the top ten in nearly every offensive category.

LaPorta was also the first UF player to be drafted in the first round since the Montreal Expos took Brad Wilkerson with the 33rd pick in 1998.

It took three tries for him to get there, though.

Drafted by the Chicago Cubs, his favorite childhood team, in the 14th round out of high school, LaPorta opted to become a Gator and put his major-league dreams on hold. He broke out with a sensational sophomore season and led the 2005 squad to the College World Series, where he ended his season as the nation's home run leader.

Big things were expected of LaPorta and the rest of the Gators in 2006, but injuries cut those expectations short. The slugger missed most of his junior season after straining his oblique, and his numbers suffered once he returned to the lineup. As a result, he plummeted to the Boston Red Sox in the 14th round - as many expected him to be a first-rounder - of the 2006 draft. When Boston could not meet his bonus demands, he returned to UF for one more season.

As LaPorta put it, "The third time, I guess, was a charm."

A GOOD GOODBYE

Returning to school and proving that his sophomore year was no fluke paid off tremendously.

LaPorta enjoyed a remarkable senior campaign, belting 20 home runs, driving in 52 runs and finishing the year with a .402 batting average, only the ninth player in UF history to finish over the .400 mark. The former UF standout did all of this while battling ankle and quadriceps injuries, and he was intentionally walked an astounding 30 times. He also served as the leader for a young team filled with freshmen.

"It was a good goodbye, I think," LaPorta said. "I just know that I went back to school, and I accomplished the things that I wanted to accomplish."

After signing with the Brewers and rehabbing his right quadriceps, LaPorta was sent to Milwaukee's rookie club in Helena for a brief stop before moving on to low Class-A West Virginia. The hot hitting carried over from the end of his college career to the start of his minor-league career, and he finished the season batting .304 with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs in his 115-at-bat debut.

That earned LaPorta a trip to the Arizona Fall League, a league where teams send their best prospects to get some extra work in after the minor-league season. LaPorta was then invited to big-league camp for spring training.

"That was a great learning experience," he said. "I got to meet a lot of the guys in the big-league club and just interact with them. They taught me a lot. It was a great time. It's kind of like a big family up there."

OUT IN RIGHT FIELD

The main reason some scratched their heads when Milwaukee took LaPorta last year was because of his defensive position. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound slugger came in as a catcher at UF but manned first base for the majority of his career.

The only problem? One Prince Fielder, who currently holds that position for Milwaukee.

So the Brewers drafted LaPorta as an outfielder, which drew skepticism from scouts and analysts, who regarded his defense as suspect and even something of a liability.

While that perception is puzzling to many coaches and players who watched LaPorta for four years at UF, he doesn't mind hearing the criticism.

"Everybody's got their own opinion," he said. "It doesn't bother me, it just makes me want to work harder and prove to people that I'm not just a hitter, I'm also a good defender, and I can play the game of baseball."

He paused, then slowly grinned. "Anyway, I enjoy hearing negative things about myself."

If the negative comments only serve as motivation for their star prospect, the Brewers might want to keep telling LaPorta that his outfield defense needs some major improvement.

While the organization first had him playing left field, he has now been shifted to right field after Ryan Braun took over the opposite-corner outfield position for the major-league club this season.

Though he knows he still has much to learn, LaPorta is having fun with his new role.

"I'm pretty athletic," he said, "and I think I'm turning into a pretty good outfielder."

He certainly looked the part on Friday night against the Suns when he made a spectacular diving catch to save an extra-base hit. Though he didn't have many chances throughout the series, LaPorta played like he belonged in right field.

"There's still a lot of things I need to work on to get better, because it's fairly new to me," he said. "But I know with time and the way the Brewers' organization works, they're going to help me and show me how to do the right things."

CURRENT AND FUTURE STAR

A lot can happen in one year, and the past 12 months for LaPorta have been about as eventful as they could be.

"It's been kind of a whirlwind since I got drafted," he said. "There are a lot of new things in my life which are very exciting."

One of those exciting new things is a fiancee. LaPorta and Dara Altman, a former pole vaulter on the UF track and field team, were engaged in April and will be married in December.

LaPorta has taken another new role as a blog writer for Baseball Digest Daily and MiLB.com (Minor League baseball's official Web site) and said he loves giving insight into the life of a professional baseball player.

As for what lies ahead in LaPorta's baseball future, there is much speculation that he will almost certainly be called up to Milwaukee in September for a taste of the big leagues, but LaPorta is taking all of the talk with a grain of salt.

"There's nothing ever for sure in this game," he said. "If that happens, it's great, but if it doesn't, I'm not really concerned about it."

Nor is he concerned about when he will make the jump to Triple A.

"It's whatever the organization feels is best for me," LaPorta said. "I just have to go out there every day and get better and produce every game, do my job, and things are going to happen."

If he continues producing the way he has, it's only a matter of time before LaPorta just happens to be in Milwaukee's lineup for good.

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Father figures heavily in life of Stars' Brantley
Outfielder learns plenty from watching big-league dad
By BRAD SHEPARD
For The Huntsville Times

As a teenager, Michael Brantley sat in the stands watching his dad's minor league baseball teams play, dissecting every aspect of the game.

From a botched sacrifice attempt here to a missed cutoff man there, the future Huntsville Stars center fielder recited the mistakes - one-by-one - to his "Pops" postgame.

"It was amazing to me how much he knew the game then," said Mickey Brantley, a former major league player and hitting coach. "Afterward, he'd come up and tell me what the other players did wrong and where they messed up."

Brantley's baseball savvy has endured - he doesn't make those same mistakes as a professional. At 21 years old, he is the most fundamental player on the Stars roster, as well as one of the best.

For a team that boasts five of Milwaukee's top 10 prospects, Brantley - the Brewers' No. 24-ranked minor leaguer, according to Baseball America - receives lofty praise from his coaches.

"Best player we have on the team," Stars hitting coach Sandy Guerrero said. "He's extremely fundamentally sound defensively and offensively. He's a great base runner, he bunts well, moves runners over, gets hits when he has to, always knows the situation.

"With guys like him, all you have to do is maintain it."

From his toddler days asking dad's Seattle Mariners teammates for candy, to shagging balls at Shea Stadium during Mickey's tenure as roving hitting coordinator for the New York Mets, Brantley has lived between the white lines.

Now, he's thriving there. Entering Saturday, the Stars' leadoff hitter was in the top 10 in the Southern League in batting average, runs, hits, steals and on-base percentage.

"I always have something to prove no matter what," Brantley said. "There's only one place to play, and that's the big leagues. Hopefully, you open somebody's eyes enough, and you go out there and play every day and somebody likes you."

Thus far, Brantley has done nothing but impress. Until last season, he'd never hit below .300 at any of his three minor league stops.

But he struggled last year after being promoted to Huntsville, hitting .251 in 59 games. This season, he's comfortable and back to the player of old.

"I think I'm progressively getting better," Brantley said. "The last half of last year, I was just feeling the waters. I struggled a little bit, but that's what I needed."

To overcome the first extended slump of a career, Brantley spent the offseason doing what he always has: Working in the cage with his dad.

Mickey had a good stroke of his own, hitting .302 with 14 homers for Seattle in 1987 before injuries cut his career short. He served as the Toronto Blue Jays' first base and hitting coach from 2005-07.

During the Stars' last homestand, Brantley called his dad, who was in Memphis working as the Chinese Taipei National team's hitting consultant. Dad drove to Huntsville to look at Michael's swing, and after one night, he helped his son iron out some mechanics.

"I'm lucky enough to have that where I can call my father," Brantley said. "He's been working with me 21 years and knows my swing. He can almost fix it over the phone."

From the time he was 13, Brantley knew he wanted to play baseball. When he told his dad, he got a smile and then a piece of advice.

"If you want to do it, this is what we've got to do: We've got to work every day," Mickey Brantley told his son. "You've got to set some goals and play the game."

After taking a job with Toronto in 2005, Mickey Brantley didn't see his son play as much as he would have liked.

After being fired last season, though, he has more time to watch Michael and run his baseball academy in Florida. Mickey Brantley already has seen six games this year, five more than he did the rest of Michael's professional career.

"This year was the first time I actually got to really see him play, and he surprised me," Mickey Brantley said. "For me, he's always been quick. Now, I see what they see as scouts and coaches."

Brantley has been showing the improving power and speed to his teammates at every minor league stop.

"I think he's underrated," Stars third baseman Mat Gamel said. "He's definitely a baby - still wet behind the ears - but he carries himself in a better manner than most other 21-year-olds I know. He acts older than he is."

He's also known as a mature player. He said that's his favorite compliment.

"I pride myself in that," Brantley said. "It's a dream come true to come out and play the game, and I'm making people see me in that light, so that's all you can ask for."