SNAKE CHARMER

Barry Faulkner

Early in his 15th major league season, closing in on 1,000 hits and

still a valuable commodity among general managers and managers alike,

Brent Mayne appreciates his notable baseball career.

But it fails to impress him.

As a beginner on the youth fields of Costa Mesa, the product of

Costa Mesa High, Orange Coast College and Cal State Fullerton saw

himself as a diamond gem, even when others doubted a then-spindly

catcher could be chiseled and polished to a professional shine.

“I always felt like I belonged and that this is where I should be

playing,” the soft-spoken Mayne said in the comfort of his umpteenth

big-league clubhouse Saturday, before starting for the visiting

Arizona Diamondbacks against the Padres at still-spanking-new Petco

Park in San Diego.

Growing up immersed in baseball -- his father, Mike Mayne, was

then in the midst of a distinguished tenure as the OCC baseball coach

-- Brent Mayne absorbed knowledge of the game in daily doses. He also

developed confidence in his own ability, as well as a sensibility for

cracking the game’s competitive code.

“As a little kid, I had an opportunity to grow up with baseball,”

Mayne recalled. “I was around it so much, with my Dad coaching, and I

always felt like I could compete. Even when I was 5 or 6, watching

college guys, I thought ‘I could hit that pitch.’ ”

After playing one season for his father at OCC in 1987, Mayne

played in the College World Series with Cal State Fullerton in 1988.

He earned All-American honors with the Titans in 1989 and was then

drafted in the first round, 13th overall, by the Kansas City Royals

in the 1989 June amateur draft.

He needed just 436 minor-league at-bats before getting the call to

the Kansas City Royals at the tail end of the 1990 season.

He spent the next five seasons with the Royals, before making

one-season stops with the New York Mets and the Oakland A’s. He then

spent two seasons in San Francisco, followed by a season and a half

in Colorado, before being traded back to Kansas City, where he played

through 2003.

As a slick fielder and left-handed hitter with a cryogenically

cool big-league temperament obvious to anyone who speaks with him for

more than a few minutes, Mayne has toiled in relative anonymity.

But, all the while, he consistently enhanced his reputation with

the game’s decision-makers. The Costa Mesa resident made slightly

more than $9 million over the last four seasons and signed for

$800,000 as a free agent this season with Arizona.

“We’ve lusted after Brent Mayne for the better part of the four

years I’ve been here,” said Diamondbacks Manager Bob Brenly, himself

a former major-league catcher. “First and foremost, he’s a tremendous

handler of pitchers. He builds a relationship quickly and finds out

what the pitchers like. And he swings the bat from the left side,

which is always valuable for a catcher. Above and beyond that, we

have very similar taste in music, so it seems to be a perfect fit.”

Brenly said he and Mayne consider themselves classic rockers, who

are both not afraid to try something a little more cutting edge. But

when it comes to baseball, Mayne, who turns 36 today, plays to a beat

that baseball’s easy-listening generation can admire and appreciate.

Through Sunday, he has just 38 career home runs and 393 RBIs. But

his .265 career batting average (916 for 3,451, including 7 for 27

this season with five RBIs) is better than 2003 Hall of Fame inductee

Gary Carter (.262) and close to that of 2000 Hall of Fame inductee

Carlton Fisk (.269). Further, Mayne has committed just 43 errors, for

a career fielding percentage of .993.

“He’s one of those guys who just quietly goes about his business,”

said Brenly, who has been utilizing Mayne as the D-backs’ starter,

ever since expected No. 1 Robby Hammock underwent knee surgery in

spring training. “[Mayne] doesn’t seek the limelight and he doesn’t

want the limelight. He just wants to please his teammates, and those

are the kind of guys I love. He’s the kind of guy who plays the game

the way it’s supposed to be played and the only approval he needs is

from the guys wearing the same uniform.”

Mayne, whose veteran stature is accentuated by encroaching gray

hair that has nearly consumed the temporal patches left uncovered by

his catcher’s helmet, said the joy of competing still fuels him.

“I really love to play,” he said. “It seems to get better as the

yeas go by. I guess being around it more, it makes you learn. I’ve

learned to accept things the way they are. The game can be a good

teacher in life, you know?”

Mayne said the transition to his new team, and pitching staff, has

gone well, though Brenly acknowledged the variety of Diamondback arms

presents a challenge for any catcher.

“I think we have about as diverse a staff as you could possibly

imagine,” Brenly said. “We have a future Hall of Famer [Randy

Johnson] who throws 100 mph with a nasty slider. We have a kid in his

second year in the big leagues [Brandon Webb], who throws one of the

heaviest sinkers I’ve ever seen in the big leagues. We have a

knuckleballer for our No. 5 starter [Steve Sparks], we’ve got a

rookie [Casey Daigle] as our No. 4 starter and we’ve got Elmer

Dessens in the No. 3 spot, who is a sinker-slider-type pitcher. So,

Brent gets a different look every day and he handles them all equally

well.”

Mayne’s playing time may lessen when Hammock returns from the

disabled list, possibly this week. But Brenly believes Mayne’s value

to the team will remain constant.

“When Hammock returns, it remains to be seen how [playing time]

will be broken up at that point,” Brenly said. “But, so far, we have

been extremely pleased with every aspect of [Mayne’s] game. His

defensive behind the plate, the way he handles the pitchers and,

offensively, he has come up with some big hits already in the early

going this season.”

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Mayne, whose only big-league stint on the

disabled list lasted less than a month in 2002, said he feels no

different, physically, than he did as a wide-eyed rookie. He said he

could envision himself playing for several more years and he greatly

covets the chance to compete in the postseason, a feat that has

eluded him as a professional.

His skipper said Mayne’s game reflects no concession to age.

“He looks like he always has,” Brenly said. “His throwing arm is

plenty strong and he’s still very quick and agile behind the plate.

He’s probably not as fast as he once was, but we’re not asking him to

steal bases.”

Eventually, however, Mayne’s desire to spend more time with his

three children -- daughter Dylan, 11, son Noah, 5, and daughter Jaia,

1 -- as well as his wife, Hillary, may render the perpetual

big-league travel untenable.

“I’d love to play for another few years, but there are other

dynamics that go into it,” Mayne said. “Two of my kids are in school

now, which is another issue to consider. If it were just me, I feel

like I could play for another 10 years.”

Mayne said money could also be a factor, particularly with the

generous contracts his value as a skilled veteran have generated.

But until the time comes to leave the game behind, Mayne said he

is so focused on the day-to-day responsibilities of keeping himself

and his pitchers prepared, he has virtually no time or inclination to

relish his accomplishments to this point.

“I’m really not reflecting right now,” he said. “I think maybe

that will come when I’m done playing.”