Whatever It Takes: Mollenhauer hopes to follow in footsteps of McEwing, his manager on the Dash

Second baseman Dale Mollenhauer of the Winston-Salem Dash is determined not to let the cold hard facts of professional baseball dash his dream.

A study by Baseball America revealed that only about 10 percent of the players who sign a professional-baseball contract will ever spend a day in the major leagues. There are 25 players playing for the Dash, which means that only two or three are likely to ever realize their ultimate goal.

If Mollenhauer had dwelled on the odds, he never would have signed with the Chicago White Sox as a 17th-round draft choice in 2007 after his junior season at East Carolina. For that matter, if Bob Mollenhauer, Dale's father, had dwelled on the odds, he never would have signed with the Oakland A's as a 27th-round pick in 1973 after playing at Lafayette College.

So Mollenhauer takes the same approach as his father -- who spent five years in the A's organization, rising as high as the Class AA Southern League -- and every other player who signs a pro contract.

He convinces himself that he will be the one to buck the odds, then does whatever he can to make sure he will.

"When you do think about it, it's actually amazing," Mollenhauer said. "But when you're in the thick of it, it doesn't even make sense. It's just what we are doing, and everybody expects to be there. I don't think there's one guy out there who is just happy to be here. They're expecting to make it. That's just the way it is."

Mollenhauer has, in Joe McEwing, a manager who never let the odds hold him back. Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 28th round in 1992, McEwing spent seven years climbing the minor-league ladder and then spent all or part of nine seasons playing in the majors for the Cardinals, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros.

McEwing is not expected to end up on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in 2011. He hit .251 in 1,767 major-league at-bats. But in 1999, given the opportunity to play 152 games for the Cardinals, he hit .275 with nine homers and 65 runs scored. And he became a fan

favorite at every stop for his hustle and obvious love for the game -- the same attributes that helped him become one of only seven percent of players drafted after the 20th round to reach the major leagues.

"It's like we always talk about -- you can't control that stuff," McEwing said. "If there's a uniform on your back, you try to get better every day and prepare mentally and physically. And as long as that uniform is on your body, you have a chance."

Mollenhauer doesn't have any skills that would rank him among the best prospects in minor-league baseball, but neither did McEwing. Mollenhauer has good but hardly blazing speed and is sure-handed enough to have made only four errors.

His range in the field, although improved, would never bring to mind Bill Mazeroski, a Hall of Famer who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and is considered by some to be the greatest fielding second baseman of all time.

"I think the way I am as a player I have to do everything," Mollenhauer said. "It's not one thing that's going to separate me. It's everything. I just come out here every day, and there's something I have to get better at."

McEwing describes Mollenhauer as a "grinder" for his hard-nosed, dogged approach to the game.

"What impresses me most is he doesn't take a pitch off, defensively or offensively," McEwing said. "He's a student of the game, and he picks up the little things and does the little things to help your team win.

"It's a manager's luxury."

Mollenhauer hit in the middle of the order at Pine-Richland High School in Pennsylvania, where he played with Neil Walker, the first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004. And he batted in the middle of the order for two of his three seasons at East Carolina, helping the Pirates reach the NCAA Tournament twice.

But when the parent Chicago White Sox promoted Jordan Danks to Class AA in May, McEwing didn't have to look far for another leadoff hitter. He moved Mollenhauer up from the No. 2 spot and has been more than pleased with the results. Through 177 at-bats, Mollenhauer was hitting .299 with an on-base percentage of .377. He was third on the team with 32 runs scored.

"I was fortunate enough to have some leadoff experience before," Mollenhauer said. "I did it in college one year. I did it last year in (Class A) Kannapolis. Honestly I try not to do anything different. I try to get on base and do the all the same things I would do wherever I'm hitting in the order.

"I just try to get on every time and try not to run back to the dugout as much as possible. I'm playing the game to win and do the situations right, not to lead a league in a stat."

Mollenhauer has one advantage over his father. His father made sure of it. Whereas Bob Mollenhauer battled right-handed, his son bats left-handed. That skill makes a middle infielder all the more valuable because of the preponderance of players at shortstop or second base who bat right-handed.

"He was the one tying my left hand behind my back, making me throw right-handed and then making me hit left-handed, too," Mollenhauer said. "My mom will say that."

Mollenhauer remains three giant steps from the White Sox home of U.S. Cellular Park on the south side of Chicago, with no guarantees he'll ever get there. He's certainly not on a fast track and will more than likely need at least another two or three years to put himself in position for a promotion.

He'll turn 23 on June 26, and as of now he says he has no backup plan. But one source of encouragement is knowing that if one team doesn't fully appreciate his abilities, another team might.

"The thing we misinterpret sometimes is everyone wants to get to the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox," McEwing said. "But there's 29 other teams, and you never know who's watching, and you never know who's in the stands

"So that's why you have to go out there and bust your butt every day and give it everything you've got every day. That way you can look yourself in the mirror at night and say, ‘I gave it everything I've got.'"

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.