COMING OF AGE BELTRE'S GROWING PAINS HAVE MADE THE THIRD BASEMAN OF THE FUTURE THE STAR OF TODAY.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

At age 19, Albert Pujols was facing junior-college pitchers in Missouri. Barry Bonds was a sophomore at Arizona State and Jim Thome was a struggling shortstop with the rookie-league Gulf Coast Indians.

Then there was Adrian Beltre. At an age when hitters are considered advanced if they can hit a curveball, Beltre found himself in the majors, flailing away against Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux.

After only two full seasons in the minors, Beltre joined the Dodgers in June 1998 as their third baseman of the future. Six years later, Beltre has fulfilled that promise and reached the end of a long, frustrating journey that has transformed him from chronic underachiever into MVP candidate.

``It just look me a little longer to be a consistent hitter than I expected in the majors, but hitting in the majors is not easy,'' Beltre said. ``It's the best of the best, and it takes some people longer. Some people come from the minors right away and start hitting, but others take longer.

``People had good reason (to criticize), because I didn't do it for five years. People were expecting me to be better earlier, but it happened now and it's better late than never.''

For years, the knock on Beltre was his consistency. He would struggle in the early months, then catch fire after Aug. 1. This season, he started strong, never stopped, and put up some of the best numbers in franchise history, with a .334 average, 48 home runs and 121 RBI, all team highs.

Beltre also became the first Dodger since Mike Piazza in 1997 to record 200 hits in a season.

``He's had a tremendous year,'' manager Jim Tracy said. ``When you talk about the MVP award, I think it's safe to say that we wouldn't be in the position we are today without the efforts of Adrian Beltre.''

It seems that everyone who has watched a Dodger game this year has a theory on Beltre's emergence. Some say it's his work with new hitting coach Tim Wallach. Some say he's motivated by his impending free agency. Some even say his ankle injury has shortened his swing and made him a more patient hitter.

Most critics, however, reject the simplest answer: that Beltre, now 25, simply has matured. No tricks, no gimmicks, just a player who has emerged after enduring lengthy growing pains in a glaring spotlight that could have destroyed his career.

Beltre played only 318 minor-league games, none at Triple-A. He made the jump from Single-A to Double-A in 1998, played 64 games with San Antonio then got the call to the Dodgers in late June when Bobby Bonilla went on the disabled list. Beltre hit a RBI double in his first at-bat.

``It's totally different baseball when you get to the big leagues,'' Beltre said.

He found out quickly. Beltre hit .215 in 77 games that year, then was the Opening Day third baseman in 1999. Ready or not, Beltre had arrived, and he would have to learn on the spot, a situation made even worse by the fact that Beltre, because of false paperwork, was a year younger than everyone thought.

``When you struggle as a young player in the majors,'' Wallach said, ``it's going to be even more of a struggle than if you're in the lower levels, because you're facing major-league pitching every night. In the minors, you can catch some breaks and get out of slumps a little quicker and get some confidence.''

Beltre raised expectations in 2000 when he hit .290 with 20 home runs, but a botched appendectomy the next spring ruined his 2001 season. He hit .257 that year and .240 the next, with only moderate power numbers.

Part of the problem, team sources say privately, is that until Wallach showed up, Beltre didn't learn enough from his hitting coaches, which stunted his development.

``I was immature, in that I didn't have a good approach when I was going to home plate,'' Beltre said. ``I didn't have a good idea of the situation of the game and how the pitcher was probably going to pitch me.

``The other problem I had for years is that I would get in slumps, and I would try to fix things that I shouldn't have been fixing on my own, and that would just get me deeper in holes. Now, I just stick to one approach the whole year and stay consistent, and it works.''

That's where Wallach comes in. Starting in spring training, Wallach worked with all the Dodgers to improve their pitch recognition and patience. It paid off for Beltre, who learned to overcome his weakness for outside pitches and hit better to the opposite field.

``He's a tremendous hitter, and you've got to make great pitches to him,'' San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy said. ``He's developed into a huge threat for them, and he's not nearly as streaky as he used to be.''

Even though bone spurs were found in his ankle early this season, Beltre never slowed. Tracy started the year with Beltre in the No. 7 position and was reluctant to move him up, fearing that he might mess with Beltre's psyche. But a midseason move to the cleanup spot has only made Beltre more productive.

Former general manager Dan Evans tendered the arbitration-eligible Beltre a contract last winter, but Beltre will be a free agent this winter and is certain to receive a huge contract. The only question is whether the Dodgers, who invested five tough years in Beltre, will be able to enjoy him for years to come.

``Patience is not something that's really en vogue in professional sports these days,'' Evans said. ``The same people who said we shouldn't offer Beltre a contract were the same people who said (Eric) Gagne shouldn't be the closer. I'm extremely happy for Adrian that he's had such a great year.''

The power numbers have been huge, but one nondescript at-bat indicates just how far Beltre has come.

On Sept. 26 in San Francisco, with the Dodgers clinging to a 1 1/2 game lead over the Giants, Beltre came to the plate in the fifth inning with the score tied 3-3, runners on first and third and two outs.

Brett Tomko worked the count to 2-2 and threw two tough sliders, both low and away. Last year, Beltre almost certainly would have swung and missed at one. This time, he watched both and walked, and Shawn Green followed with a run-scoring walk that put the Dodgers ahead for good.

``Before, maybe I would have swung,'' Beltre said. ``Don't get me wrong, I still swing at bad pitches sometimes, but I've been able to lay off some of them now. Now I'm maybe not as aggressive as I was before, when I was jumping at everything. I'm still going to make bad swings and strike out on bad pitches. It's going to happen, but if you compare this year to last year, I think it's a lot better.''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

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Hans Gutknecht

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