Mar. 18 -- MEET DOMINIC BROWN

BY SCOTT LAUBER

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Almost ready to leave Bright House and make the 4-hour drive across Florida to Jupiter (the town, not the planet). So, I figured this would be a good time to talk about Dominic Brown.

Never heard of him? You will.

Brown, a 21-year-old outfielder, is the Phillies' top prospect, according to the latest Baseball America rankings. But he just as easily could be catching touchdown passes for the University of Miami. Brown committed to playing football for the Hurricanes, but instead, he signed with the Phillies after being drafted in the 20th round in 2006.

So, why the change of heart?

"I'll be honest with you. Baseball is my first love," he said the other day after taking batting practice on a back field at the Carpenter Complex. I told all the scouts that. But I was so highly ranked in football, I guess they just couldn't believe a guy with my caliber of skills on the football field would take the baseball route."

Neither could Brown's friends. Most young athletes would've opted for college football. It's a far more glamorous existence than toiling in the minors, riding buses from one small town to the next. (Hey, take my word for it. I used to cover minor-league baseball.)

"A couple of [friends] were like, 'Brownie, you've got to be out of your mind,'" Brown recalled. "I was like, 'Man, baseball is what I want to do.' So, they backed off. You know, they're my friends. My mom says I was hitting off the tee when I was 3 years old."

Brown, often compared to Darryl Strawberry because of his similarly tall (6-foot-5) and slender frame, batted .291 with nine homers and 54 RBIs in 114 games last season at single-A Lakewood. He's slated to start the season at advanced-A Clearwater, and it'll be a few years before he's ready for the big leagues. Figure 2011, which would be good timing since Raul Ibanez will be on the final season of his three-year, $31.5 million contract.

I had a chance this week to speak to Chip Lawrence, the scout who advised the Phillies to draft Brown, and I wrote about Brown in Wednesday's News Journal. If you haven't checked out the story, please click here, and let me know what you think.

Talk to you tomorrow from Jupiter.