Phillies' Domonic Brown acquiring high profile

READING - Domonic Brown turned on the ball so quickly he could not have seen where it went even if he had tried. The ball traveled an estimated 426 feet, over the pool beyond the right-field fence, over the large pavilion and out of FirstEnergy Stadium, onto Centre Avenue.

"I wasn't trying to watch it," Brown said. "Just hit it, put my head down, and go from there."

Pedro Martinez told Brown he should have admired the shot a little longer. In the clubhouse after the first-inning home run Wednesday, there was Martinez, never afraid to show his emotions during 17 major-league seasons, instructing the top prospect Brown how to properly react when hitting a mammoth shot like that.

Martinez was on his way out of the Reading clubhouse, headed for a car that would take him back to Philadelphia and ultimately, the major leagues, where he will start tonight against the Cubs in his Phillies debut. Brown, promoted to double A on Aug. 1, will likely spend the rest of the season in Reading, which is perfectly fine.

"I know they have a plan for me," Brown said. "All I can do is play hard and continue to stay focused."

That plan took center stage as the trade deadline approached. Brown, an outfielder rated as the No. 1 prospect in the Phillies organization by Baseball America, ascended even higher. He's untouchable now.

Viewed as one of the integral pieces in a potential package to acquire Roy Halladay, a former Cy Young Award winner, Brown said he tried to stay away from the constant rumors. He wanted to stay with the Phillies. He got his wish - plus a promotion.

Brown was hitting .303 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs in 66 games with single-A Clearwater. The 21-year-old would have made the jump to Reading sooner had it not been for a broken finger suffered June 9, which cost Brown a month of playing time.

Injuries and rumors aside, Brown is grateful for the high regard in which the Phillies hold him, even if there were times during the last week of July when he had his doubts.

"When I was watching ESPN, I saw my name on the bottom and I was like, 'Really? No way,' " Brown said. "Then I hear people talk about it and I'm like, 'Oh, man.' But I tried not to think about it."

Still in Clearwater, he would tell his roommate, first baseman Michael Durant, to change the channel. (Durant would protest, saying, "No, they're talking about you!")

The 6-foot-5, 204-pound Brown said he was humbled by the whole process. Despite the attention, he remains a shy prospect, worried about things like getting too close to a big shot like Martinez. Only recently did he tell the Phillies that they had misspelled his first name since he was drafted. (It's Domonic, not Dominic. And he has no idea why. Just the way his mother, Rosemary, spelled it.)

"Everybody spells my name wrong," he said. "But it's not a problem at all. It's OK."

Mom was one of the reasons why a 20th-round pick chose baseball over a football scholarship from Miami (Fla.). She was a softball catcher in high school. And most of his friends played baseball, too. That led to constant Wiffle Ball games in the yard.

"It was an easy decision," Brown said.

Going into last night's game against Trenton, Brown was batting .333 with three home runs and six RBIs in eight games since joining Reading on Aug. 1. The toughest part of the transition, Brown said, is facing pitchers who have consistently better control than the pitchers at single A.

He has also made it a point to improve his base-stealing. Averaging between 20 and 30 steals per season, he thinks he can be closer to 40.

Brown could be more than a year away from the majors, especially considering the talent the Phillies have in the outfield, along with another prospect, Michael Taylor, who is playing at triple A. But Brown is confident in the Phillies' eventually finding a spot - after all, they did to keep him.

For now, he's the guy they didn't trade.

"Of course there's pressure there," Brown said. "I just try to keep all of that in the back of my mind. I try not to think about it."

Philly.com incorrectly spelled Brown's first name in an earlier version of this story.