Baseball : Franco Fighting His Way Up the Ladder

Matt Franco figures there will be plenty of thrills before his playing days are over, but so far, one of the most exciting moments of his young professional career was a bench-clearing brawl earlier this season.

“That was pretty fun,” Franco said. “I’ve never been in one of those before. It was about a 15-minute brawl.”

Pitchers in the Appalachian Rookie League fought unsuccessfully to control Franco when he was playing at Wytheville, Va., this season, and now the pitchers in the the Class-A New York-Penn League are waging a similar battle since Franco’s promotion to Geneva, N. Y., last week.

“My manager told me I was going up after a game on the road,” said Franco, who was batting .392. “I wasn’t expecting it. I figured I’d spend the whole season at Wytheville.”

Franco, a 19-year old third baseman from Westlake High, was selected by the Cubs in the seventh round of the 1987 draft. Last season at Wytheville, he batted .248 with 1 home run and 21 runs batted in 62 games.

Franco went 2 for 3 and drove in a run in his debut for Geneva, a 5-2 win over Watertown that snapped an 18-game losing streak.

“The guys here are a little older, the travel schedule is tougher and the pitching is a little more consistent,” Franco said. “But I don’t think I’ll have too many problems. I’m getting older and getting stronger. I was pretty intimidated when I came up last year. I’m not intimidated anymore.”

Knee deep: Phil Lombardi underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the third time in his career Thursday, but the former Kennedy High catcher is not letting the breaks of the game snap his spirit.

“At least I just have one bad knee,” said Lombardi, who plays for Tidewater, Va., the New York Mets’ triple-A affiliate in the International League. “I’d be in real trouble if it was two.”

Lombardi, who was traded from the Yankees to the Mets before the season began, was batting .308 when he injured the knee Tuesday trying to avoid a tag while running to first base in a game against Maine.

Lombardi, 25, played several positions for Tidewater, including catcher, outfield and first base.

“At the beginning of the year, the manager said you’re looking at only about 250 at-bats,” said Lombardi who has nine home runs, 44 RBIs and compiled a 20-game hitting streak earlier this season. “But then I started playing every day and was on my way to having a good year. I was at a point where I defeated a lot of the odds.”

On Tuesday, bad luck once again caught up with Lombardi, who is in his seventh full season in professional baseball. He will be on crutches for four weeks.

Staying power: Former Cal State Northridge outfielder Jim Vatcher continues to swing a hot bat for Spartanburg, S.C., the Phillies’ Class-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.

Vatcher is batting .308 with 7 home runs and 53 RBIs. He also leads the team with 24 steals.

Vatcher, 5 foot, 9 inches and 160 pounds, made the South Atlantic League all-star team and was named Topps player of the month for June after helping Spartanburg to the Northern Division first-half title. Earlier this season, he was named the Philadelphia organization’s player of month for April.

Wood craftsman: The Cape Cod League is the only amateur baseball league in the country that requires the use of wood bats rather than the standard aluminum thunder sticks that have inflated the averages and egos of hitters from Little Leagueto the college level.

UCLA outfielder Bob Allen is apparently going with the grain this summer playing for with the Brewster Whitecaps. The former Granada Hills High standout is batting .300 with 16 RBIs.

“I like the wood, but it takes some getting used to,” Allen said. “Everyone breaks their share of them.”

Allen has broken more than bats in Massachusetts.

“I ran a John Deere lawn mower into a tree and cracked the front frame,” said Allen, who earns $6 an hour for mowing lawns and painting houses.

Kansas bound: The San Fernando Valley Dodgers, who have clinched the Northern Division championship of the Golden State League, have accepted an invitation to participate in the 32-team National Baseball Congress World Series, Aug. 3-15 in Wichita, Kan.

The Dodgers finished 11th in the tournament last season.