Charles Looks for Marquee Season on Field, Not on Film

I’m ready for my changeup, Mr. DeMille.

Former Montclair Prep and Pepperdine catcher Frank Charles could be following in the footsteps of Chuck Connors and John Berardino, two professional baseball players who hit it much bigger in show business.

Connors was a Brooklyn Dodger farmhand before gaining fame as television’s Rifleman. Berardino, a longtime star on the soap opera “General Hospital,” played for the St. Louis Browns in the early 1950s.

“Acting interests me, but baseball is still my No. 1 career,” said Charles, who recently made his big-screen debut in “Major League III--Back to the Minors”.

Charles, playing catcher and first base for the Shreveport Captains, the San Francisco Giants’ double-A affiliate, played a minor part as a Minnesota Twin outfielder in the movie.

After two months of shooting in places like Charleston, S.C., and Minneapolis, Charles returned home to California, where he signed with an Orange County talent agency.

The Giants’ 17th-round selection in 1991 is more concerned with having a marquee season on the field.

Charles is batting .287 with 12 home runs and 66 runs batted in and is tied for second in the Texas League with a career-high 39 doubles.

He appeared both in the double-A and Texas League all-star games in July, and spent one week with the Giants’ triple-A affiliate in Fresno.

If you want to see Charles on video, you have two choices.

You can wait about six weeks until the movie is released in stores Oct. 13, or you can visit https://www.attheyard.com on the Internet, an award-winning site dedicated to minor league baseball.

Charles is the site’s resident hitting guru, and can be seen in real video, giving a series of batting tips.

He gives instruction on stance, balance, pivot and having a level swing, among other topics.

“It’s just the basics,” said Charles, who filmed the series of three lessons earlier this summer on a road trip.

“But a 12-year-old can tap into it and get some tips that might help him.”

The site was developed by Jackson Generals pitcher Chris Hook, Charles’ former roommate.

Attheyard.com also features daily diaries by several minor leaguers, interviews with various players and behind-the-scenes looks at things such as a recent 13-hour bus trip.

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Shreveport pitchers Robert Crabtree, formerly of Cal State Northridge, and Mike McMullen, formerly of Kennedy High, were among the members of the bullpen to recently bleach their hair.

In a minor mishap, Crabtree’s hair turned out to be closer to orange than blond.

“I don’t think people down here in Louisiana were ready for that sort of thing,” said Crabtree, who has shared the role of closer with McMullen.

Crabtree and McMullen both have been assigned to the Arizona Fall League, where they will pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions.

Crabtree entered the final weekend of the season with a 2-0 record, four saves and a 1.53 earned-run average for Shreveport. He had allowed only 28 hits in 53 innings.

McMullen was 6-4 with nine saves, a 2.13 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 67 2/3 innings.

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The Lancaster JetHawks entered the final weekend with a magic number of two to clinch their second consecutive California League playoff berth.

With two games to play, Lancaster (76-62 overall) led Modesto (75-63) by one game in the race for the Valley Division’s wild-card entry.

If there is a tie, a one-game playoff will be played Monday night at Modesto.

The wild-card team will host either High Desert or San Jose on Tuesday in the opener of a best-of-three first-round series.

Game Nos. 2 and 3 will be played on the road.

Playoff tickets will go on sale at the Hangar box office at 10 a.m. the morning after the JetHawks clinch.

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JetHawks groundskeeper Dave Pfatenhauer has been selected groundskeeper of the year by the Assn. of Professional Baseball Leagues.

Pfatenhauer, a graduate of Sylmar High, received the award Aug. 21 during a JetHawk game.

Pfatenhauer’s work on baseball fields was well known long before he took over the crew last year at Lancaster.

He served as the groundskeeper at College of the Canyons throughout the 1980s and early ‘90s, when the school built a reputation for having one of the nation’s finest junior college playing surfaces.

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Gabe Kapler, former Taft High and Moorpark College outfielder, will reportedly be among the players promoted to the Detroit Tigers when major league rosters can be expanded in September.

Kapler, who last week broke the Southern League record for runs batted in, is expected to join the major league club after his Jacksonville Suns are finished with the double-A Southern League playoffs, which begin Sept. 9.

Kapler entered the weekend needing two doubles to tie the league mark of 44 set by Aaron Boone.

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Former Crescenta Valley High right-hander Brendon Cowsill was selected the Midwest League’s pitcher of the week for Aug. 16-22.

Cowsill threw consecutive shutouts, the first two complete games of his career, and improved to 7-2 for Cedar Rapids, the Angels’ Class-A affiliate.