Whittleman's work pays dividends

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- This is the story of how Johnny Whittleman got his groove back.

The story begins in beautiful West Oahu, Hawaii, a world away from the familiar surroundings of Whittleman's hometown of Kingwood, Texas. Whittleman came in search of his swing, and CanFires' pitching coach Mike Micucci had a pretty good idea of where to find it.

Micucci knew they didn't have to look too far. There was a reason the Texas Rangers drafted Whittleman out of high school in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, so talent could not have been the issue.

He was also aware of Whittleman's impressive high school resume, which included being the star quarterback and stud third baseman who led his team to a Texas 5A championship. Confidence didn't seem to be the problem either.

So what was it? Why was it that when the Rangers promoted Whittleman -- a prospect who was thought to have no ceiling on his potential -- to Class A to start the 2006 season, he bottomed out, playing so poorly that he had to be shipped to the middle of the Pacific Ocean like an express UPS package?

"He was a young kid in a tough league," Micucci said, trying to defend the .227 average and 97 strikeouts Whittleman had accumulated in his first full season of professional baseball. "We spent a lot of time both on the mechanical side of the swing and the mental part of it. I think when we matched those two things together, we were able to make some real good progress."

If they did, the immediate results weren't very encouraging -- Whittleman finished Hawaii Winter Baseball hitting .189 with four home runs and 27 strikeouts. But as Micucci had suspected, the adjustments Whittleman made would prove to be monumental.

When Whittleman returned for his second round of Class A ball with the Clinton LumberKings this spring, he came with a whole new arsenal: an adjusted swing, a host of talented new teammates and, most importantly, Micucci, who was hired to replace Andy Fox as the LumberKings' manager.

"It was frustrating last year because you could never feel comfortable," Whittleman said. "It's like you never get back to your old ways. Not that you forget how to win -- it's just that every time I stepped into the box I wasn't comfortable. I didn't feel like I was ready to go.

"There's a much better atmosphere this year. A lot of us just met each other, but we've got a great coach and there's 12 of us returning [from last season] who have helped hold this team together."

The entire team seems to have fed off this energy. After ending last year with a Midwest League-worst 45-94 record, Clinton finished the first half of this season at 41-26, which was good enough to win the wild card.

"Even though I've had my struggles," Whittleman said, "I've never doubted myself as a leader on this team."

His swing has never looked so smooth; Whittleman is in the top five of almost every offensive statistic in the league. He's first in extra-base hits (38), tied for second in home runs (14) and third in slugging percentage (.540).

Coaches and front-office personnel around the Minor Leagues have taken notice of Whittleman's rebirth and recognized him with a number of awards. The Texas Rangers named Whittleman their Minor League Offensive Player for the Month of April. That same day, the Midwest League gave Whittleman the Offensive Player of the Week award after he put up unreal numbers in the first week of May.

The honors kept piling up as Whittleman was selected to play in the Midwest League All-Star game in June. His latest accolade may be the most prestigious of all, as he was selected to play in the 2007 Futures Game on July 8 in San Francisco.

Despite accumulating all the hardware, Whittleman balked at the opportunity to brag about his season. After enduring the pain from last year, he knows how important it is to remain levelheaded if he wants his success to continue.

"This is a very humbling game," he said. "You're going to have success and you're going to fail. Whenever you have that success you can't get too high, and whenever you're having a bad streak, you can't get too low."

But even Whittleman, in all his modesty, had trouble containing his joy at the thought of showcasing his talent in the same ballpark as some of the Major Leagues biggest stars, who will be playing in San Francisco for the All-Star Game two days later.

"You can't even describe how exciting the game's going to be," Whittleman said. "There's going to be a lot of great players and good competition. I guess you can pretty much rank yourself right there, so I think that's a pretty good feat to accomplish."

After a few more questions, Whittleman went back to his team's locker room. As he walked, there was a noticeable swagger to his step. You could tell that Johnny Whittleman had gotten his groove back.