BORCHARD KEEPS HEAD AMID GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

Joe Borchard hears the comparisons just like everyone else. When you're playing your first full season of professional baseball and scouts are already throwing out names like Dale Murphy and Mickey Mantle, it gets your attention.

But in typical Joe Borchard fashion, the former Camarillo High and Stanford star just laughs and shrugs them off. Borchard, now with the Chicago White Sox's Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) Barons, resists the temptation to think about who he might be and what he might do once he gets to the big leagues.

It's difficult enough learning a new position and getting acclimated to pro ball as one of the most heralded prospects in baseball. To add even more burden by carrying around the weight of impossible expectations would be asking for trouble.

So Borchard leaves all the speculating and comparing to everyone else, just as he did when he left Camarillo to play football and baseball at Stanford in 1998 and scouts predicted the second coming of John Elway.

Borchard laughed it off then, just as he does now.

``It doesn't bother me,'' Borchard said. ``It should bother those (major- league) guys, having some punk kid in Double-A who hasn't proved anything being compared to them. It's more humorous than anything.''

Of course, it's difficult not to conjure up illustrious names when talking about Borchard. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, he looks like an NFL player in a baseball uniform, much as Murphy did when he patrolled center field for the Atlanta Braves years ago. Like Mantle, Borchard is a switch hitter with comparable power from both sides of the plate. And he hits for average, batting .282 with 18 home runs and 66 RBI.

These were the numbers the White Sox envisioned when they selected Borchard with the 12th pick in the 2000 draft, then dangled a team-record $5.3 million signing bonus in front of him to give up the starting- quarterback job at Stanford and sign with them.

The huge payout raised some eyebrows around baseball, but the investment is already paying dividends for the White Sox.

Borchard played in three all-star games this year - the Southern League All-Star game; the 2001 Futures Game, in which the best minor-league prospects from the United States meet the World's best, and the Double-A All-Star game.

Clearly this is a player on the fast track to the big leagues.

``He's exceeded our expectations,'' White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. ``And we had high expectations.''

But Mickey Mantle? Even Borchard shakes his head at that one.

``You just can't pay any attention to any of that,'' Borchard said. ``You've got to be your own man.''

Borchard signed with Chicago two days before the opening of football practice last year. By taking the $5.3 million bonus - which was paid over two years - he agreed to give up the Stanford quarterback job.

It wasn't an easy decision, despite all that money. Borchard dreamed of playing quarterback in the Pac-10 since he was a child. Now, with his dream about to become reality, he had to give it up. He still thinks about what he missed.

``I don't think you can help but think about stuff like that,'' Borchard said. ``That's always going to be there. But at the same time, you have to be satisfied with your decision, which I am, and move on to the next phase. For me that's playing baseball for the White Sox and trying to get better every time I take the field.''

Still, with football season right around the corner, Borchard sometimes reminisces. His Stanford highlight was coming off the bench against UCLA in 1999 to throw for 324 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-32 win. Had he remained at Stanford, scouts projected Borchard would have been one of the top quarterbacks taken in the 2001 draft.

``I don't like to elevate myself, but I was probably a better football player than baseball player,'' Borchard said. ``I had more of a football mentality because being the quarterback, I was always the guy.''

Of course, $5 million has a way of swaying people.

Once Borchard signed, Chicago moved him from left field to center with the idea of getting him to Comiskey Park as soon as possible. The White Sox are set with stars-in-the-making Carlos Lee in left field and Magglio Ordonez in right, so the fastest route to Chicago for Borchard is center field.

So far, Borchard has made a smooth transition. He's athletic and fast enough to cover the extra ground. The key now is learning the angles in center and improving his reads on pop flys and line drives. He's worked extensively on being in proper position to maximize his ability to chase down balls.

The White Sox are pleased with the results.

``That's a difficult transition for most players,'' Williams said. ``But we were comfortable Joe would make the switch. He's an excellent athlete.''

Hitting has never been a problem, although the White Sox want him to improve his judgment on the strike zone. Like a number of young power hitters, Borchard has a tendency to strike out, having fanned 114 times in 374 at-bats.

``He just needs to work on being more patient,'' Birmingham manager Nick Capra said. ``Guys are starting to pitch around him a little bit, and sometimes he jumps on pitches he has trouble handling. But that just comes with experience. All in all, he's making the necessary adjustments both in the field and at the plate and he's putting together quite a year.''

Whether that will result in a September promotion to Chicago remains to be seen. If Borchard closes out the rest of the year in the same fashion, the White Sox would have to consider bringing him up.

``He's clearly pushing the envelope,'' Williams said. ``In some ways, he's forcing our hand.''

Under normal circumstances, promoting Borchard wouldn't even be an issue - his numbers are worthy of it. But with the potential of a strike or lockout interrupting next season, the decision might be out of the White Sox's hands. If Borchard gets called up to the White Sox this year, he'll be on their 40-man roster, meaning he won't be eligible to play or return to the minor leagues for more seasoning until the work stoppage ends.

Chicago, fearful of stunting his growth waiting out a prolonged stoppage, will take Borchard's long-range development into account.

``There are a number of intangibles involved,'' Williams said. ``We have some issues to consider.''

Borchard isn't concerned. He'll get to Chicago when the White Sox think he's ready. Until then, he'll concentrate on playing baseball and improving.

``I don't get caught up in all that stuff because I have no say in the matter other than to play the best I can,'' Borchard said. ``Everything else is up to the organization. They make those decisions and I play baseball.''

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(color) JOE BORCHARD

Camarillo grad is making great strides as a center fielder with the Chicago White Sox's Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) Barons.