Charles Clings to Dream

When Frank Charles broke into pro baseball at 21, he looked around at some of the older guys hanging on in the minor leagues and swore he’d never become one of them.

“My expectation was I’d be in the big leagues by the time I was 25 or 26,” said Charles, a Montclair Prep graduate drafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 1991.

Funny how his perspective has changed, now that Charles is 27 and playing for double-A Tulsa, Okla.

“Now I see that I love the game so much,” he said. “And the chance to do something you love doesn’t come around much. I’m just enjoying going out every day and getting better and playing better. The fire is still going for me. My perspective is, as long as you have a job, whether it’s in double A or triple A, you have a chance [to make the majors].”

Charles, who spent two seasons in the San Francisco Giants’ organization and one in the independent Northern League before signing with the Texas Rangers before the 1994 season, is off to the best start of his career.

He is batting .293 and ranks among Texas League leaders with six home runs and 25 runs batted in. Still, his chances of making the majors seem slim, not only because of his age but because Charles was a replacement player two years ago.

“The situation the Rangers put us in, if you were not a [top] prospect, it was either play or go home,” Charles said. “I didn’t think at that point in my career I could afford to go home and hope for them to call me back. I just needed to play to show them what I could do and stay in the organization. It was a chance to be seen. It was very agonizing making that decision, but I can’t say I regret it because I kept my job.”

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Scanning Friday’s box scores: TRIPLE A--Outfielder Ryan Radmanovich (Pepperdine) hit his fifth home run for Salt Lake City. In the same game, outfielder Jalal Leach (Pepperdine) hit his first homer for Tacoma. DOUBLE A--Former JetHawk outfielder Shane Monahan homered and drove in five runs for Memphis, Tenn., helping right-hander Greg Wooten, another former JetHawk, pick up the victory. Wooten (3-1) allowed three runs in six innings. . . . Right-hander Bryan Corey (Thousand Oaks, Pierce) picked up his fifth save for Jacksonville, Fla. CLASS A--Outfielder Greg Shockey (Cal State Northridge) hit two more home runs for Rancho Cucamonga. Shockey had homered in his first at-bat of the season on Thursday.

JETHAWKS

Miguel Correa hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and give the Lancaster JetHawks a 4-2 victory over the Visalia Oaks on Saturday night at Visalia.

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Talk about making up for lost time.

First baseman James Clifford, who hit 20 homers last season with the JetHawks, hit one in his first at-bat this season, then went homerless in his next 78 at-bats.

But Clifford hit one in the ninth inning Wednesday, then two Thursday and two more Friday. Just like that, he moved into a tie for the team lead with six.

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Tonight’s game: JetHawks (Kevin Gryboski, 0-3, 11.96) at Visalia (Kevin Gregg, 0-1, 11.25), 7:05.