TEAMMATES AGAIN EX-EL CAMINO REAL PALS CLIFFORDS, BIRKINS REUNITED IN MINOR LEAGUES.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

When Woody Cliffords hit a home run in his first at-bat as a professional baseball player, he figured things couldn't get much better during his stay at the rookie level. That was until he learned who was joining the team and becoming his roommate.

Cliffords recently was reunited with his good friend and former El Camino Real High of Woodland Hills teammate Kurt Birkins. Birkins made his debut with the Bluefield (W.V.) Orioles last week after being promoted from the Gulf Coast League Orioles, making the pair teammates for the first time since they earned a City title as seniors at ECR in 1998.

``I was very happy,'' said Cliffords, who already had another Southern California product on his team in pitcher Scott Rice from Royal High of Simi Valley. ``Just to have someone from your same state is nice, but from your same high school is great. Me and Kurt, we hung out together a lot. We kind of kidded we would grow up and play for the same pro team, but I don't think we really thought it would happen.''

Cliffords and Birkins had been teammates since youth leagues when their dads coached their teams. At ECR, Cliffords was the hot-hitting outfielder/first baseman anchoring the offense to support his buddy, who was an All-City pitcher. They were separated when Cliffords headed to Pepperdine and Birkins went to UCLA.

``I was always hoping in the back of my mind we'd be able to stay teammates,'' Birkins said. ``But when I went to a different college, I figured that would be it. When I saw the Orioles drafted him, I was excited.''

Birkins had signed with the Orioles shortly before this year's draft as a draft-and-follow selection from the previous year. The left-hander was taken late in the 2000 draft as an outfielder even though he had withdrawn from UCLA, taken the year off from playing and hadn't played outfield since high school.

He knew if he could attract interest without playing, he could get a better offer when he was back in competitive form. So Birkins stuck with his original plan of going back to school and went to Pierce College. He entered the season as Baseball America's No. 1 junior college prospect and with a scholarship to play at UC Irvine next year. Before Birkins even pitched his first game for the Brahmas, scouts were filling the stands to watch him practice.

By the end of the season, Birkins was projected to go within the third to fifth round of this year's draft. The Orioles kept him from entering the draft by offering him a deal comparable to high-third-round money, which Birkins said ``was too good to turn down.''

He headed to Sarasota, Fla., to begin his professional career, then heard the news that Cliffords could soon be joining him. The Orioles rewarded Cliffords for a three-year career at Pepperdine, in which he earned All-West Coast Conference honors, by drafting him in the 10th round.

Cliffords was one of the last players to make the cut to go to Bluefield instead of the Orioles' lower rookie team in Florida. He began the season as a reserve and said he didn't think his teammates expected much of him, so he didn't feel much pressure when he made his debut against the Martinsville (Va.) Astros. The result was a pinch-hit home run.

``It was a good way to start,'' said Cliffords, whose average hovers near .200 and who went more than a month before homering again. ``But after a while I started to think maybe it wasn't so good since you can't go up from there.''

Things started looking up when Birkins was promoted after going 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA, 24 strikeouts and three walks in 22 innings in the GCL, a league that quickly taught him minor-league baseball is not nearly as glamorous as the big leagues (long bus rides were twice prolonged by the bus breaking down and games were played during the day in intense heat and humidity).

Birkins confirmed he was ready for the promotion by allowing one earned run and four hits in six innings to win his first start with Bluefield on July 24. He struck out nine in six shutout innings in his next start.

The two now have one another to turn to for company and support in a town so remote they do not have Internet access, their cell phones do not operate and the primary form of night life is going to one of the few fast-food restaurants.

``They're finally reunited,'' said Woody's dad, George Cliffords. ``They were pretty happy. They've been friends for a long time. This makes their dream of playing baseball even more special.''

Being teammates at the major-league level would complete the dream.

``That would be awesome,'' Woody said. ``That's definitely the goal. Getting into the same organization is the hard part, now we just have to stick together.

``Being on the same team is great. I've played a lot better since Kurt's been up here. We push each other. We did that in high school; you always push each other to do better.''