Say goodbye to the stereotype of the second baseman as the pesky, gritty, hustling little guy valued mostly for his glove and his ability to put down a sacrifice bunt.
And ditch the metaphor of the second baseman as an annoying mosquito. In the Alaska Baseball League this summer, second basemen constituted the metaphorical 800-pound gorilla.
Isaac Omura of the Anchorage Bucs merely ripped 19 extra-base hits with a slugging percentage of .513. Nick Kliebert of the Peninsula Oilers delighted in banging doubles. Josh Satin of the Mat-Su Miners was as smooth as his surname and hit for power. And Matt Baty of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots was no slouch either.
But the second baseman with the most flair was Cameron Blair.
The Fairbanks Goldpanner who cranked a league-high 11 home runs, including four in a doubleheader, has been voted the All-Alaska Player of the Year in balloting by state media who regularly cover the league.
Blair stands just 5-foot-10 and only weighs about 170 pounds, but he was a virtual tower of power. Against the visiting Mat-Su Miners on July 10, Blair blasted three home runs in the opener and added another in the second game to drive in eight runs, key Fairbanks' sweep and leave Athletes in Action outfielder Israel Victor, who was at Growden Memorial Field that day, drop-jawed.
"He just amazed me with how powerful he is with his size,'' said Victor, who also was named to the 16-player All-Alaska Baseball Team. "He put on a hitting display. He has a real consistent swing. Not much derails him.''
Blair was among four players who were unanimous selections by a panel of 12 sportswriters and broadcasters. Also making every ballot was dominating Bucs left-hander Garrett Olson, Miners right-hander Chris Mason and Goldpanners designated hitter Paul Keck.
The Goldpanners and Bucs each landed four players on the All-Alaska team. The Oilers merited three selections, the Miners and AIA placed two players on the team, and the Anchorage Glacier Pilots had one player selected.
Peninsula Oilers first-year skipper Aric Thomas, a former Oilers player, was unanimously selected manager of the year.
The depth of talent throughout the league was evident in the voting. At stake were 16 positions, and those slots yielded votes for 41 different players.
Blair's power was so impressive that if you took away his four-homer day, he still would have led the league in bombs.
Pitchers who tried to bust Blair inside fell victim to his quick hands, which whip the bat through the hitting zone. Pitchers who tried to nibble the outside corner also suffered because Blair crowds the plate and can easily reach that pitch.
"I value my hands, and I think they're quick enough,'' Blair said. "Even if a guy's throwing 96 (mph), I feel like I can get my hands through the zone and hit him.''
Blair, an 18th-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals last month, picked up in Alaska where he left off in college. At Texas Tech, Blair hit .371 with 14 homers and 81 RBIs in 58 games and was a third-team All-American. His transition from the aluminum bats used in college to the wood and wood-composite bats used in the ABL was seemless.
And his four-homer day stands as one of his career highlights.
"It was extraordinary,'' Blair said. "I couldn't even tell you how good it felt.''
ABL second basemen were so extraordinary that voters actually named four of them to the All-Alaska team by slotting three of them either in spots they played occasionally or in the utility position. Omura was slotted at third base, which he recently began playing. Kliebert made the grade at first base and Baty was selected at the utility position.
"Second base was the deepest position on the field, bar none,'' said Anchorage Bucs manager Matt Priess.
Olson, the Bucs' undefeated (7-0) left-hander, arrived unheralded but leaves the state as a star. And he can only hope his career path tracks that of another Bucs southpaw, Jeff Francis, who arrived here in anonymity in 2001, earned the All-Alaska player of the year honor with a 7-1 record and 1.20 earned run average, and became a millionaire less than one year later. After the Colorado Rockies drafted Francis in the first round in 2002, they signed him to a contract that included a $1.85 million bonus.
Olson was undrafted out of high school in Fresno, Calif., and by his own admission was nothing special. Nor did he have an eye-popping sophomore season in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
"I was, I'd say, an average lefty,'' he said. "I was not very great -- short outings, couldn't find the strike zone. Not great at all.''
But Olson, a 6-1, 198-pounder who will be a junior this fall, told himself that facing batters wielding wood bats in Alaska, he would challenge them, improve his change-up, incorporate a sinker and most of all, throw strikes. Mission accomplished -- he handcuffed opponents for a ridiculous 0.88 ERA. Olson walked just eight batters in 51 innings, struck out 53, allowed just 34 hits and did not surrender a home run.
Suddenly, scouts have taken notice of Olson, and he is a vastly more confident pitcher after his remarkable season.
"I think it's important because I feel, coming up here, I discovered myself as a pitcher and a person,'' Olson said.
Victor said all four of Olson's pitches -- fastball, change-up, sinker and a curve that occasionally acts more like a slider -- feature late movement that flummox hitters.
"It's real deceiving,'' Victor said.
Besides Olson and the Miners' Chris Mason, the six-man All-Alaska pitching staff also includes Miners right-hander Chris Malone, who fired an 18-strikeout no-hitter against the Panners last week; Oilers closer Tim Robertson, who led the league with 10 saves; Oilers middle reliever Eric Butkiewicz, who was a consummate setup man; and the apparently ageless Goldpanners right-hander Sean Timmons, who turns 30 next week and was the All-Alaska player of the year in 2003.
The All-Alaska outfield consists of Victor, a center fielder; Anchorage Bucs speedster Brandon Roberts, who primarily plays left field; and Bucs right fielder Travis Becktel, who not only is an RBI machine but possesses a cannon of an arm. Becktel twice has thrown out runners at first base after they lined hits to right and Priess estimates Becktel has reached double digits in assists.
"It's the most accurate arm I've seen in a long time from an amateur,'' Priess said. "People don't score from second on base hits to right anymore. They don't even try unless it's for the tying or winning run late in the game.''
Fairbanks' Brian Jeroloman, who hits for average and handles pitchers well, was selected the All-Alaska catcher.
All-Alaska notes
Life isn't fair, and deserving standout players sometimes fall on hard luck when it comes to all-star balloting.
Among the ABL players who enjoyed excellent seasons, yet were not selected to the All-Alaska squad, several stand out.
Bucs closer Jon Wilson merely went 4-1 with nine saves and a 1.04 ERA, struck out 26 and walked just three in 26 innings.
All Oilers shortstop Chris Minaker managed was to hit .320 with 23 runs and 23 RBIs in 33 games.
A pair of Miners shined. Satin was the odd man out at second base despite his .313 average, four homers, 30 runs and 29 RBIs in 38 games. And Miners first baseman Scott Simon hit .333 with 27 RBIs in 38 games.
Goldpanners right-hander Reid Hamblet went just 4-3, but check out his 1.49 ERA. Plus, he struck out 55 and walked just 11 in 481/3 innings.
And Truan Mehl of the Bucs hit .293, stole 12 bases and covered the earth in center field.
Daily News assistant sports editor Doyle Woody can be reached at dwoody@adn.com.
