Too early for Metheny to focus on batting stats

He had heard the good news for the first time about an hour before Sunday night’s game.

But it didn’t faze Brent Metheny either way.

Mid-Missouri’s left fielder doesn’t take much stock in early season statistics, including his .667 batting average (eight hits in 12 at-bats), which was the top mark in the Frontier League entering the Mavericks’ game with the Rockford RiverHawks.

“After three games, I’m not too concerned about things like that,” Metheny said. “Come the end of the year it would mean something.”

He went 2-for-5 in Sunday’s 18-7 loss to Rockford, including a double and a broken-bat single. His average fell to .588.

Metheny said there has been little secret to his success thus far. His approach at the plate is no different than in past seasons.

“Right now I’m hitting it,” he said. “I’m swinging at strikes and seeing the ball real well.”

The Old Fields, W. Va., native endeared himself to fans in Columbia last year, hitting .280 in 66 games as a Maverick with six home runs and 41 RBIs.

He was applauded and noted for his undying hustle on the bases and in the field.

Some in the crowd have even been known to sing along softly to his at-bat introduction music, John Denver’s “Country Roads.”

“I like John Denver,” Metheny said. “It’s a good song. Everybody knows it.”

Metheny said no one has heckled him about the choice in the six years it has been his song, including about a year and a half in the Seattle Mariners’ system.

That tolerance seems appropriate for the Mavericks (0-4). Other players, namely right fielder Eli Albertson (“Angie” by the Rolling Stones), have chosen older songs for their music.

Metheny said that “County Roads” is befitting because it mentions his home state by name. Still, he said that he enjoys the variety of activities Columbia has to offer.

“Being from the country, you’d go fishing a lot,” he said. “But here you can always find a movie and places to go out. There’s always stuff you can do.”

Before joining the Mavericks, Metheny split time in 2003 between Seattle’s rookie league team in Arizona and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, its Class A affiliate.

He started last season in Wisconsin but struggled early. He was hitting just .196 after 30 games, so the Mariners released him.

“It’s fun playing baseball,” Metheny said. “But it’s still a long year.”

GOOBY SNACK?: The cartoon program “Scooby-Doo” was the only thing that could calm young Rufus Gerlits when he was acting up.

His mother would tell him to be a good “Scooby-Gooby” as she sat him in front of the sedating television. Finally she could enjoy some quiet time.

As it turned out, the boy’s nickname stuck. After a few years it had evolved to just “Gooby.”

Nine years ago the former Rufus Gerlits, 22, the current catcher for the Rockford RiverHawks (5-0), legally changed his name to “Gooby.”

By his second at-bat Sunday night, an RBI single in Rockford’s nine-run third inning, many of the 896 fans at Taylor Stadium had taken a shine to Gerlits’ odd first name. They yelled “Goo-by!” after he was announced.

“You name it, I get it,” Gerlits said, grinning. “I love it.”