Baseball: Year of the Tape Measure

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The son of a farm worker, Scott was kicked out of the Greenville, Miss., Little League at eleven because "they said I was too big and too good. Over one stretch of six games, I hit at least two home runs in every game, three in most." Signed by Boston for a modest $10,000 bonus when he graduated from high school, he spent last year playing for the Red Sox's Pittsfield, Mass., farm club in the Class AA Eastern League—where he hit .319, with 25 homers in 140 games. Batting in the big leagues, he allows, is easier in some ways than batting in the minors: "In the minors, you never know what pitch to expect or where to expect it. Up here, where the pitchers know how to pitch, you can guess what they're going to throw." Judging by statistics so far, Scott obviously has been guessing right. Last week he was the No. 3 batter in the American League (.351), led the league in homers (ten) and hits (34), ranked second in RBIs (24) and was merrily riding the crest of a 13-game hitting streak.