A pitcher could drill first baseman Lars Anderson in the ribs with a fastball.
A base runner could spike him when he tags the bag.
A clubhouse manager could grind his bats into sawdust.
But nothing aggravates the 23-year-old Anderson more than mentioning all the hype he received heading into and during the 2009 season and his stats at Portland.
Anderson split the 2008 season between Lancaster and Portland, where he combined to hit .317 and 18 home runs, replete with 80 RBI. That prompted Baseball America to name him Boston’s No. 1 prospect.
But in 119 games in 2009 with the Sea Dogs, Anderson’s batting average fell to .233 with a commensurate drop in his power numbers (nine home runs and only 51 RBI).
“It’s funny because that is so last year,” said Anderson, who was promoted to Pawtucket from Portland last season on April 29. “Why are we not talking about this year? (2009) is pretty much like ancient history.
“For what it’s worth, I really disliked all of that stuff. If anything, it made me more of a recluse – which I don’t know if that’s the right word. I don’t think I embrace that kind of stuff as much as other people. How do you rank a first baseman over a shortstop or a second baseman,” queried Anderson as he warmed to the subject, “or how do you compare a pitcher and a catcher? Last year happened just like the year before happened and the year before that.”
What happened prior to his promotion to Pawtucket was a reasonable facsimile of Anderson circa 2008.
In 17 games with Portland, he hit .355 with five homers, 16 RBI and an Eastern League-leading slugging percentage of .677.
“What I saw was a guy that played the game at full speed with a ton of confidence,” said PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler (who managed Portland before he was promoted this year). “In baseball terms, the phrase we use is he’s ‘locked in.’ He wasn’t just locked in offensively. He’s also was locked in defensively.
“I saw that he was on a warpath from a mental standpoint in spring training to make this happen. That’s what every young player wants to have happen. All that time he spent in the off-season … the dedication that he showed started to translate.
“Another part of that comment is you want a young player to struggle,” continued Beyeler. “You want him to experience some adversity so, at some point he can go back and say ‘Hey, I’ve been down that road. I’ve taken the wrong road and felt sorry for myself and it cost me an entire year.’
“When you got through that once, you tend not to want to go through it again. I think Lars learned a valuable lesson last year.” That’s an interesting point and one which Anderson didn’t refute.
“Any experience, be it good or bad or perceived as good or bad, is just an experience,” he said. “You don’t have to put a label on it. But it’s an experience and it’s something you learn from. If last year I had outstanding statistics (which, of course, he didn’t) or if I had sub-par statistics, it’s an experience you can learn from no matter what it is.”
The obvious question is what might Anderson have learned from the experience of a less-than-commendable 2009 season?
“It’ was a matter of letting my body do what it’s naturally supposed to do and letting my mind rest during the action,” said Anderson, who through his first 46 games this season is hitting a respectable .275 albeit only with two home runs and 19 RBI.
Beyeler, for his part, literally buried anything about Anderson that referred to his 2009 season.
“I totally blocked out anything,” he said. “I wanted to let him go out there and play. My job is to let these young players go out and have some fun.
“Once I started to see things where I could re-direct some of his thoughts, I could help him out. What I told Lars was to go out and have fun and play hard.”
After a good start with Pawtucket, Anderson didn’t exactly finish with great stats.
In 113 games, he hit only .266 with 10 homers, 53 RBI and, most importantly, 125 whiffs in 409 at-bats.
“(Anderson) hits the ball well to the opposite field and he also can pull the ball,” said an American League scout. “But he’s shown streaks where he struggles and he strikes out too much – especially when he’s thrown off-speed stuff.”
That also was evident when he received a late-season promotion to Boston. In 18 games, he hit a Mendonza Line-like .200.
Now, Anderson faces another obstacle since the Red Sox traded for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez — a deal which ensured he would begin the 2011 season at Pawtucket.
How Anderson reacts could determine not only his future with the organization but also how he’s perceived by other teams who might be interested in trading for him.