August 17, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Versatily is his forte

by Rick Eymer

The traffic and the population needed some getting used to, but by the time Eric Bruntlett graduated from Stanford in 2000, the Indiana lad had grown into a California man.

Bruntlett, now a utility player with the Houston Astros, made several big life changes last November: he got married (Eden) and bought a house in Santa Rosa.

"The first time I was on the west coast was when I visited Stanford for the first time," Bruntlett said. "It took awhile to warm up to the area. I come from a small town in Indiana and the only time there was traffic was when you got stuck behind a tractor. But you can't beat the weather here."

Bruntlett, who played in three College World Series with Stanford, is one of five Cardinal players drafted in 2000 who reached the major leagues. Justin Wayne, Joe Borchard, Jason Young and John Gall have spent time in the big leagues. Edmund Muth was also drafted that year but never appeared in the majors.

"It's about time Gall got called up. He was overdue," Bruntlett said. "He keeps plugging along; he keeps hitting."

(Gall has since been sent back to the minors).

Bruntlett has become an all-purpose player for the Astros, who made him their ninth round pick. The 27-year-old infielder has already seen action at third base, shortstop, second base and all three outfield positions and his Major League career is all of 139 games old.

Bruntlett has also taken grounders at first base, and is the team's emergency catcher. He's also hit in every spot of the batting order.

"Having a player like that is important because it allows you to save hitters for specific roles," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "I've always had a player like that by design. I go out and find that guy. I think they're valuable."

Former Astros manager Jimy Williams started Bruntlett's multi-faceted career. He's the one suggested he get some work everywhere.

"I never played outfield until two years ago," Bruntlett said. "Every day I worked out early somewhere. Last year, when I went back to Triple-A, basically all of July I played in the outfield."

Bruntlett is hitting .279 since May 23, which leads to more opportunities.

"The reason he's on the team is his ability to do a whole bunch of things," Garner said. "I realized when I put Bruntlett in there I wasn't worrying about him. I felt comfortable. He's a damn good base runner who can steal a base. I can put him in there, and turn him loose on the bases. I trust he'll make good decisions."

Bruntlett, who considers shortstop his natural position, even jumped at the chance to catch, which he's never done at any level.

"I used to catch pitchers between innings and I guess I looked all right," he said. "There was one time when (Brad) Ausmus was the only available catcher and I was next in line. That was a little scary but it might be something so why not?"

At one point this season, Bruntlett had the most at bats without a hit (14) in the major leagues. On July 24, his three-run homer in the 14th inning gave the Astros a 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

"It's always been my personality that when you put me in, I'll get the job done. I had a little bit of a slow start, a frustrating start but I've gotten a chance and had some success."

Bruntlett said his time at Stanford helped prepare him for professional baseball.

"Stanford has an amazing number of people who are all good at something, whether it be athletics or their chosen field," he said. "They're all among the best in the world at what they do. It's like that being around here with all the best baseball players in the world. Just being around people with Olympic gold medals or who are world class athletes, I got used to the fact they're still just people."

Bruntlett, who keeps in touch with several of his former Cardinal teammates, also has fond memories of Stanford coach Mark Marquess.

"Marquess runs the baseball program the right way. I have all the respect for what he does. He makes sure you work hard on the field and in the classroom," he said. "Just the way he goes about business is something that rubbed off on me. As a senior, I only needed one quarter to graduate, so I didn't have any school from March on. It was just baseball. He helped a lot of guys that way, especially with the number of guys who got drafted after their junior year. They would all take classes in the fall and graduate. I know he took a lot of pride in that."

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