07/27/97
Something with "Grande Leagué" in it
Nope. This night, his progress was slowed by all the baseballs shoved in his direction by the dozen or so fans left in the park. "Sign this, Ruben?" they'd ask. And Mateo would somehow free his left hand to hold the ball and a few fingers on his right to scrawl his name. "Thanks, Ruben." "OK," he'd say in his English, which is a step or two above broken. A Florida State League baseball autographed by Ruben Mateo might be worth holding on to since Mateo is one of the gems of the Texas Rangers' organization. "A five-tool player," Charlotte manager Butch Wynegar says. That's baseball jargon for "this guy has the goods." Mateo, 19, can run, field, throw, hit for average and hit for power. He leads the Rangers in batting and is third in the FSL with a .322 average and has eight home runs, seven triples and 19 doubles. Mateo missed 16 games with a wrist injury, but returned Monday and hit safely in nine of his first 16 at bats. "I remember being out three, four weeks, coming back and my swing was stale," Wynegar, a former big league catcher, says. "Ruben comes back and gets three hits in his first night.... He might be the best all-around player I've seen in my four years of coaching." Along with his bat, Mateo has the speed to play center field and a right arm that can make a batter think twice about taking an extra base. "He has the best arm in the league," says Ranger pitcher Mike McHugh. Those tools, coupled with a diligent work ethic, which Mateo has, are what turn a minor league star into a major league player. "I think he can be a center fielder in the big leagues," Wynegar says. "For sure a right fielder. He can play anywhere they want him." * * * "Baseball is baseball. Baseball. Baseball," Mateo says while wading through a steaming plate of chicken fajitas at Chilis Thursday after the Rangers' lone afternoon game of the season. He was 18 years old when he arrived in Charleston, S.C. last year for his first season in the Rangers' organization. And while the game is the same one he played while growing up in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, the lifestyle wasn't. "No rice," he says. It wasn't so bad Mateo didn't speak English. He had two teammates who were also from the Dominican Republic -- pitcher Henry Mota from Santo Domingo and catcher Cesar King from LaRomana. Both are with Charlotte this summer. Manuel Batista, the Rangers scout for Latin America, helped the players find an apartment, and Charleston trainer Frank Velasquez, also with Charlotte this year, speaks Spanish and took the players food shopping several times until they got the hang of American stores. But the players couldn't find a restaurant that served rice -- a staple in the Dominican Republic. "Lots of rice," Mateo says. "Beans and chicken, too." Oddly enough, Mateo ordered fries with his chicken fajitas. Texas has scouted the Caribbean countries well. Seven members of the team's 40-man spring training roster are natives of either the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, including Puerto Rican's Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez. Mateo was well aware Latin players fair well in the Texas organization -- games are televised in the Dominican Republic, and Mateo grew up rooting for Texas -- that's why he spurned offers from four other clubs to sign with the Rangers when he was 16. After a season in the Dominican League when he was 17, Mateo was ready for the United States. It was actually Mateo's second trip to the states. When he was 12, he went to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series, where his team lost to, who else?, Taiwan. Mateo speaks English well enough to converse with his teammates and coaches. But some Americans, namely reporters, speak too fast for him to understand. So Valesquez joins Mateo for dinner and acts as an interpreter. "Ruben doesn't speak perfect English, but he knows what's going on," Valesquez says. It also helps that teammates like McHugh and Craig Monroe have made an effort to learn Spanish. McHugh took five years of Spanish during high school and college. Since Latin players can be signed by major league clubs when they're 16, many begin their pro careers while their American counterparts ares still high school juniors and seniors. This poses a number of problems: Their driver's license, if they have one, is no good in the states. They're too young to rent a car. Some have trouble renting apartments. They're away from home for the first time and in a foreign country to boot. Mateo shares an apartment with Mota, King and Jose Martinez, also from the Dominican Republic. They get rides to and from the stadium from teammates and members of the Charlotte Rangers Booster Club. "It's different," Mateo says of playing in the states. "The food. The language. But things always seem a little easier when I'm playing well." Things went well for Mateo in Charleston last season. He led the team in games played, hits, doubles and runs batted in. Wynegar spent the summer reading reports about this speedy outfielder in Charleston with the quick bat and the strong arm. "The reports I read were pretty much accurate," Wynegar said. * * * Roberto Clemente is Mateo's hero. The hall of fame right fielder is the hero of every Caribbean baseball player, Mateo says. "I would like to model myself after him," Mateo says. "They're are a lot of similarities with Roberto Clemente," Wynegar says. "Bad-ball hitter. Lots of speed. Strong arm." It is also the dream of every Caribbean ball player to reach the major leagues, or as Mateo calls it, "The grande leagué." Mateo's best friend from San Cristoble, Jose Guillen, is an infielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Cincinnati pitcher Jose Rijo also hails from his home town. Mateo has a good chance to follow them to the majors if he continues to improve his game and layoff pitches that are out of the strike zone. He played in the Instructional League over the winter to correct that bad habit. "Last year, swing at everything," Mateo says in English. "Now, only for strikes." Other than the fact that his family can't get to Port Charlotte to watch him play, Mateo is happy with his situation. He's popular with his teammates, he's playing well and Martinez can cook meals the way Mateo's mom used to. "Good cook," Mateo says of his roommate. Rice? "Every day."
By ROGER MOONEY
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