Field of Dreams For The Ladies In Center - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Winter Haven, Fla. - The majority of big-league baseball stars in the making eagerly embrace all the attention that goes with it.

They relish the photo shoots, the early-morning wake-up calls to appear on television, the in-depth interviews with the country's leading publications.

Anything to get their name out there. Any way to cash it in.

The Indians have a star in the making whose reluctance to be singled out is astonishing in this age of cash-grabbers, such as Olympic flop Bode Miller.

Grady Sizemore, 23, has gone from being demoted to Class AAA Buffalo one day last spring training to being brought back to the Indians the next day when Juan Gonzalez came up limping, to orchestrating a season to remember.

Sizemore's good looks, parlayed with a relentless style of play that incorporates a combination of power and speed, have made him as marketable as anyone on the team. He appears headed for popularity among the Indi ans' female fans that threatens to rival Omar Vizquel in the 1990s and Rocky Colavito in the 1950s.

Get ready for the Sizemore marketing blitz.

"Fans immediately identify with Grady," said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians' vice president of public relations. "Particularly female fans.

"Our female market demographic research showed there were 200 percent more women watching Indians games last season. Grady is the big reason. It's manifested in the 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts."

Midway through last season, 200 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts went on sale in the Tribe's team shop at Jacobs Field. They were gone by the end of the day.

"We sold 600 in six days," said Curtis Danburg, the Indians manager of communications and creative services.

Indians manager Eric Wedge was asked if 'Mrs. Eric Wedge' T-shirts were made during his brief playing career. "No," he said, smiling. "In fact, not even Mrs. Eric [Kate] Wedge would wear a 'Mrs. Eric Wedge' T-shirt."

Danburg said, in addition to 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts, there will be pink Indians Sizemore caps and a 36-inch Sizemore Bobblehead. "The 36-inch Bobblehead is $275," Danburg said. "We've already sold one."

DiBiasio said it is interesting to note the female fans who regularly show up in the bleachers to support Sizemore, who plays centerfield, compared to the male fans who show up to support designated hitter Travis Hafner. Hafner's nickname: Pronk.

"In one portion of the bleachers," DiBiasio said, "you can find a number of attractive young ladies wearing the 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts. Not far away, there could be five beer-bellied guys with no shirts on - each with letters on their chesting spelling P-R-O-N-K. It's neat."

There is more. DiBiasio said 16 million cans, Mountain Dew and Pepsi, with Sizemore's likeness are scheduled to hit the Cleveland-area market in July. A Sizemore Bobblehead night is April 29.

The least impressed with all the hoopla Sizemore has created is . . . Sizemore.

The game of baseball, not what goes on around it, is what concerns him.

"I go about this the same way I always have," he said. "All of this other stuff does not change my approach.

"My spot on the team may be solidified compared to what it was last year at this time, but I don't look at it that way. I am here to play baseball, to do my job."

The female fans? The 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts? The soft-drink cans, the Bobbleheads, etc. etc?

"That's great," he said. "It's all for the fans."

He paused, smiled and said, "Whatever I can do to bring new fans to the Indians."

And, for the record, Sizemore said he does not have a girlfriend.

Sizemore and minor league catcher/first baseman Ryan Garko share a condominium located just over the fence in right field at Chain of Lakes Park.

"Grady really enjoys playing the game," Garko said. "As for the T-shirts and all the other stuff, I get the feeling that at times, he is very uncomfortable with it.

"He does not like to be singled out."

Ultimately, it is what Sizemore does on the field that will dictate what happens off it.

Sizemore hit .289, with 37 doubles, 11 triples, 22 home runs, 22 stolen bases and 81 RBI in 158 games of his first full season. "You can't help but like this kid," teammate Casey Blake said. "I'm 32 years old and in awe. He does everything so well.

"There is no way I was ready to do what he's doing at his age. I'd probably have stepped up to the plate and fallen right down."

The building attention coming Sizemore's way does not seem to have upset teammates.

"He is a real likeable kid," Hafner said, "because he plays the game so hard. He runs out every ground ball, he runs into walls.

"He is a very talented, humble kid."

The 'Mrs. Sizemore' T-shirts?

"Pretty cool," Hafner said. "A good way to market him."