The kid is a hit

SAN FRANCISCO -- To understand John Bowker's ascent to the major leagues, you have to understand a little about Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn.

It is a graveyard for hitters, so much so that the Giants have pleaded with the folks in Connecticut to alter the ballpark to make it more hitter-friendly. The Giants had seen too many of their Double-A hitters frustrated.

So when Bowker came through there last season and hit 22 homers -- a record for the Connecticut franchise -- he opened quite a few eyes among the Giants' brass.

"That was a real year, no question about it," said Bobby Evans, the Giants' director of player personnel.

Bowker also hit a career-high .307, earning a spot on the Giants' 40-man roster.

Backup catcher Steve Holm, who played with Bowker at Connecticut, said the left-handed hitter was locked in all season.

"It seemed about a month into the season, it just clicked for him," Holm said. "His swing was the same, day in and day out. That's what you are looking for . . . He was just real consistent. He didn't give away at-bats."

Evans said Bowker "just raised his game. There are a lot of guys who scuffle or get mentally down because it's tough to hit there. He didn't let that happen to him. Even though there are bad days, he'd come back the next day and get his hits."

It was clear that Bowker made a jump on the organizational depth chart last season, after his career had seemed to stall.

A Sacramento native, Bowker played at Long Beach State, where he was a teammate of Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The Giants picked Bowker in the third round of the 2004 draft. He started his career well, but in 2005 he hit just .267 at Class-A San Jose, with 108 strikeouts in 462 at-bats, and he earned himself a repeat trip to the California League in '06.

Although Bowker improved slightly in '06, raising his average to .284, he still hit only seven homers. The Giants, who had invited him to big-league camp in '05 and '06, sent him directly to minor-league camp in '07.

Evans said Bowker seemed to come to camp last year with a point to prove.

"After that repeat year in San Jose, he really wanted to make that Double-A club, and he did it," Evans said. "He has a lot of pride."

Once at Double A, Bowker faced the daunting Dodd Stadium, where several elements conspire against hitters to make the park play bigger than its listed dimensions (401 feet to center, 385 to the alleys and 309 down the lines). It's cold early in the year. There is a prevailing wind that blows in. The grass was long, and often wet, so it swallowed up baseballs that might otherwise roll to the wall. (The team installed a new, faster, grass surface this year.)

"I tried not to think about how big the park is," Bowker said. "I didn't want to try to hit it harder because the park is so big. I just tried to stay simple and hit line drives."

That approach should serve Bowker well if he sticks in the majors, because AT&T Park is also notoriously difficult for left-handed power hitters other than Barry Bonds. All of which makes it even more impressive that Bowker was at AT&T Park when he became the first player in Giants franchise history to homer in his first two big-league games.

He has gotten off to such a hot start that the Giants have accelerated plans to move him to first base, a project they began late in spring training. Although Bowker had played only a handful of minor-league exhibition games at first, the Giants put him there for an inning on Wednesday afternoon.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Bowker's bat is so impressive that they'd like to get him ready to play first as soon as possible.

Bowker, who worked out with J.T. Snow at first, said he's ready.

"I'm getting more comfortable each time I go out there," he said. "If I'm taking ground balls, I'm assuming they could put me in a game, so I'm preparing for that."

You can reach Staff Writer Jeff Fletcher at 521-5489 or jeff.fletcher@pressdemocrat.com.