Parallels aplenty between Wallace, Ramirez

The 13th pick of the 1991 Major League Baseball draft was out of George Washington High in New York. He played third base. His name was Manny Ramirez, and by all means, he could hit.

Mickey White, former scouting director for the Cleveland Indians, once described to reporters what it was like to see Ramirez hit a baseball for the first time. A lot of hitters smoke line drives, he said, but this was different.

"It sounded like a gunshot," White said, "and it knocked the shortstop's glove right off his hand."

Reached last week, White's memory hadn't faded. Selecting a top draft pick is similar to a weekend trip to Las Vegas, he said. The stakes are high. You're gambling with an organization's future. With Ramirez, White realized his head "was in a noose," but he couldn't help himself.

"I loved his swing," White said. "It reminded me of Roberto Clemente, just the ease of it and the ability to get it through the strike zone. His hands were quick to the point that it looked deceptive. When some people say they want to see bat speed, a lot of times they look for effort. Manny made it look about as easy as someone cracking a whip."

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The 13th pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft was out of Arizona State. He played third base. His name was Brett Wallace, and by all means, he could hit, too.

Allen Rossi, Wallace's high school coach in Napa, Calif., remembered the first time he saw Wallace, then a freshman, take batting practice. His first thought: "Oh, my goodness." The ball just made a different sound coming off Wallace's aluminum bat.

"I had heard some great things about a kid coming up, but being a varsity coach you heard rumors about a lot of kids, and a lot of times they're not true," Rossi said. "But Brett was so far advanced. If we would've kept him on the freshman team, he probably would've ended up hurting somebody. He just hit the ball so hard."

Wallace shattered nine school records at Justin-Siena High. He hit .520 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI his senior season, but he didn't really blossom until he arrived in Tempe.

ASU coach Pat Murphy noticed Wallace wasn't totally polished as a freshman, but he realized Wallace had the tools. Wallace's swing was quick, short and strong. He had great hand-eye coordination. Perhaps most important:

"He understood hitting," Murphy said.

Over the next three years, Wallace became a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, twice leading the conference in the Triple Crown categories. This made him an easy draft pick for the Cardinals, who didn't seem concerned that Wallace might have played out of position at third.

"When people ask what position he's going to play, (scout) Chuck (Fick) will answer, 'He's going to hit third,' " Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals vice president and draft director, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"That's where he's happy - at home plate, getting ready to pound on a fastball or drive a fastball the other way. He can play third. He can play first. He can play left. (But) he knows, as do we, his value is what he does at the plate."

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Manny Ramirez didn't require much hitting instruction in the minors.

"He was mature beyond his years in the batter's box," said Dave Keller, his first minor-league manager. "When there were runners on base, it was absolutely awesome to watch. His concentration level went to another level."

After two years, Ramirez joined the Indians. He played 22 games with Cleveland in 1993.

He played 91 in 1994. Three years later, he started one of the more impressive runs in recent big-league history, averaging 39 home runs, 123 RBIs and .321 over a 10-year span, earning eight Silver Slugger awards in the process.

"He might be the best right-handed hitter we've seen in our generation," television analyst and former manager Buck Martinez said.

On May 31, Ramirez, with the Boston Red Sox, hit his 500th career home run. He is on pace to drive in at least 100 runs for the 12th time in 16 seasons, accomplishments worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, fresh out of college, Brett Wallace, prepares for his first step into professional baseball, possibly joining a Class-A affiliate as soon as he agrees to terms.

It's impossible to predict what will become of him. At this point, no one can say Wallace is a future All-Star or even a future starter. For now, he is simply a hitter, just like Ramirez was all those years ago coming out of high school.

And perhaps more than anything, that gives him a chance.