BARON DOWN AT THE PLATE EX-HART, UCLA PLAYER PERFECTING HIS HITTING CRAFT AS HE WORKS TOWARD MAJORS.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer

Steve Baron and his son Brian spent many days at Santa Clarita-area batting cages.

Of hitting, Brian Baron discovered through his dad that home runs are nice. But quality at-bats, making good contact and putting the ball in play are more important.

Just as crucial to one's success - Baron has seen plenty as an All- American at UCLA and a farmhand in the Minnesota Twins system - is coping with failure.

``My dad didn't raise crybabies,'' Baron said.

When shoulder and then knee injuries interrupted his career at UCLA, he carried on to produce one of the greatest seasons ever by a Bruin. And Baron refused to wilt during an early slump in his Double-A New Britain Rock Cats season.

Baron, who attended Hart High, was sat down more games than he's been used to when his average dipped under .220 after he was hitting close to .300 at New Britain of the Eastern League in 2002.

``You do have to produce,'' he said by phone from Connecticut on Friday. ``You know that a manager's job is to win games. And when kids aren't producing, you have to take the responsibility for that. You've put yourself in a little hole and it's your job to get out of it.

``I'm not going to sulk about it. This is how to find out who the real ballplayers are. When finding out the guys who can play in the major leagues, you're weeding out the people who (can't) withstand all the stuff going on.''

And New Britain manager Stan Cliburn knows what Baron is capable of given the former 46th-round draft pick's first two professional seasons. After hitting .443 as a Bruins senior and signing with Minnesota as a draft-and-follow pick, he was at .306 and .295 clips at Single-A Fort Myers (Fla.) and New Britain, respectively.

``He has a very positive attitude day in and out,'' said Cliburn, returning as Baron's Rock Cats manager. ``He had such a tremendous season last year. But he's always pulling for his teammates and he's just a great guy on the team.''

And though the hits are falling safely less frequently - he raised the average to .231 with 20 RBI entering Friday's game against Trenton (N.J.) - he's holding to his dad's advice about hitting.

UCLA coach Gary Adams once called Baron ``one of the toughest outs I've ever coached.''

``You look at the numbers, and in 175 plate appearances he's struck out just eight times,'' Cliburn said. ``He puts the ball in play. Early in the season the Twins talked to him about hitting for more power and I think that confused him a little. He's not a power hitter. He's a gap-to-gap line- drive hitter and he needs to stay with that.''

Baron, whether it was playing Little League, starring at Hart, earning Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America honors at Northwestern or his UCLA single-season batting record, took the Joe DiMaggio approach to keeping strikeout totals to a minimum.

He strives for that plate discipline as a professional. He struck out just 87 times in 655 career at-bats entering the 2003 season. In that same span, he homered just twice and has none this season.

But for Baron that approach works well.

``I think it's kind of a lost art, choking up on the bat and lining up in the stance,'' he said. ``It's something that's not emphasized in this era of live baseballs and short parks. Players are always trying to be bigger and stronger. I wouldn't say I'm `old school.' I strive to be a modern player, one who can hit the ball to all fields and keep the strikeouts down.''

Chris Cocoles, [phone]

chris.cocoles(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Brian Baron suffered an early-season slump at Double-A New Britain (Conn.), but his manager says Baron's attitude makes him capable of hitting around .300 like he did last season.

(2) - Brian Baron, whose batting average is down this season after a successful 2002