Report from the Fort : Spotlight on Ryan Kalish

His first big league spring training camp has been a learning experience for outfielder Ryan Kalish and he's making the most of it.

"It's awesome, crazy," Kalish said. "I've never experienced anything like this before. But it's been great. The fans are awesome. You feel the intensity. You can feel yourself getting a little over your head, but then you just have to calm down and say 'I'm here for a reason.' And then it all calms down and you're fine."

Kalish, who turns 22 on March 28, was selected by the Red Sox in ninth round of the 2006 draft out of Red Bank Catholic High School in New Jersey. Baseball America recently ranked him the fifth-best prospect in the Sox system, and the Sox named him their minor league player of the year last season.

In four minor league seasons, he has hit a combined .281, with a .370 on-base percentage, .421 slugging, 27 home runs, 142 RBI, and 60 stolen bases in 73 attempts (an 82 percent success rate). His early development was slowed by a broken hamate bone in July 2007. He missed the rest of that season and the first three weeks of the 2008 season.

Although he's not competing this spring for a job with the big league team, he's doing what he can to prepare for that.

"Just taking all I can learn from these guys," he said. "I've already been talking to Jacoby [Ellsbury], Mike Cameron, guys like that. They really seem pretty open to letting you get some of that experience. Just taking that and learning from it and using that for my career."

Last season, Kalish hit .304 with five home runs, 21 RBI, and seven stolen bases (in 10 attempts) in 32 games for High-A Salem, earning a promotion to Double-A Portland. The transition to a higher level was not easy.

"Last season the mental approach was a problem for me," he said. "I had a really, really hard time believing in myself, especially when I first got called up to Double A. It was really, really bad for half a month. I went up and I was trying to do too much, and I didn't have my swagger. That's a huge part of this game is the mental approach and believing. You have to. It's kind of cut throat, and you got to go out there and just believe you're better than most people. I know it might sound a little bit like a bad teammate. But it's not like that. Just as far as your team goes you have to be confident you can help the team, and you're confident in your own abilities. I think that's what I lost for a while. I had it in High A. But then I got up and tried to do too much. The first two games I didn't get a hit, and I was like, 'Oh, man, I don't know if I can hit here.' And then two weeks later I was just like, 'You know what, [forget] it. I know I can hit.' So that's the change I had. I didn't change anything mechanically in my swing or anything."

That change, getting his swagger and his confidence back, helped him finish the season in Portland with a .271 average, 13 home runs, 56 RBI, and 14 stolen bases in 103 games.

It wasn't easy while he was struggling last season, but Kalish is glad it happened.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "I think it was really good for me to go through it. I'm not saying I'm never going to go through it again. But I think I'll know how to get out of it quicker than I did. I think I could minimize it, taking it from two weeks and minimizing it to a week because of the mental approach. I can say 'Hey, I know I can do this.' I think that'll really help."

Kalish has played all three outfield positions, and while he prefers center, "I'm comfortable playing any position on the field if it gets my to the big leagues," he said.

A left-handed hitting, left-handed throwing outfielder, Kalish's build and batting stance have drawn comparisons to former fan favorite Trot Nixon. Kalish, who was in Boston this winter for the rookie development program, met Nixon, who was in town for a Jimmy Fund event.

"I've heard that a few times in the cage," Kalish said. "People will say, 'You look like Trot.' And I'm like OK, that's not bad. That's a good thing. The guy's awesome."

Kalish is not sure what this year holds for him. He will likely start in Portland, but a call to Pawtucket is a possibility. And, of course, a call to Fenway is the ultimate goal. Being here in big league camp, in the big league clubhouse, playing alongside big leaguers, he's that much closer to that goal.

"Now that we're here, I'd like to sometime help the team. That's the ultimate goal," he said. "And this year. I think, it's actually more attainable than ever, because I'm moving up. And, if it doesn't happen, I want to just keep what I had going from last year. The confidence thing. I feel confident in myself. Being a good teammate. And I think if I do all those things, this season will be great."

FELIX THE HALL OF FAMER: Felix Maldonado, a player development consultant entering his 47th season with the Red Sox, was recently inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame.

"It was a great honor," Maldonado said. "I was thrilled."

Maldonado, who turns 72 in May, began his career as an outfielder in 1959 with the Giants' Northern League Class C team. He joined the Red Sox' Triple-A Seattle Rainiers in 1963 and has been with the organization ever since as a player, scout, manager, instructor, and coordinator. Field No. 5 at the player development complex is named for him.

FORT MYERS VIA POINTS SOUTH: Catcher Mark Wagner played for Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican League this offseason. In 12 games he hit . 294 with two home runs and three RBI... PawSox pitching coach Rich Sauveur served in the same capacity this offseason for Leones de Caracas, winners of the Venezuelan winter league, helping the team to the Caribbean World Series. Caracas took the final two games in the home park of its rival, Magallanes, to win the Venezuelan league. "People there really love their baseball," Sauveur said. "[Caracas vs. Magallanes is] more intense then Yankees-Red Sox games. Twenty-thousand people down there are louder then 50,000 people up here." For proof, just look up 'Leones de Caracas 2010' on youtube.