By JESSE TEMPLE
FOXSportsWisconsin.com
BELOIT, Wis. — A.J. Pettersen does not exactly possess a build that shakes the knees of opposing pitchers. More often than not, he is the smallest player on the field for either team, save for the batboys.
Instead, Pettersen, an infielder for the Single-A Beloit Snappers, has relied on every ounce of his work ethic just to earn a shot at success within the Minnesota Twins organization. The way he sees it, he has no other choice.
"I kind of have to scrap for everything I can get," he said.
Pettersen, a Minnesota native who played baseball at the University of Minnesota, is listed at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds. But his feistiness, speed and ability to play multiple positions intrigued the Twins enough to select him in the 25th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. Now, he's attempting to climb the big league ladder for his hometown organization, beginning on one of the lowest rungs of the sport.
"He's a smaller guy with a bigger heart," Snappers manager Nelson Prada said. "He's playing really hard. I like Petey a lot. I think he's to me the player who plays with the most energy on my team right now. When you give him the opportunity to play, he takes it."
Those are the same qualities that helped Pettersen produce a first-team All-Big Ten season during his junior year with the Gophers. He batted a team-best .344 with team highs in runs scored (33), doubles (10) and stolen bases (eight).
During his first season with Beloit, Pettersen has played in 22 games and is batting .278 with four doubles, one triple and 10 RBI. And he's more likely to flummox opponents with a bouncing ball in the infield than a fly ball near the warning track.
"He beat out one the other day that you'd think was a routine ground ball," Snappers general manager Matthew Bosen said. "Just his hustle made the shortstop rush the throw a little bit, and he short-hopped the first baseman. And he beat the throw anyway, even if the guy had made the play because he was hustling down the line."
Pettersen has yet to hit a home run for the Snappers. During his entire college career at Minnesota, he hit just five home runs.
"I told him the other day, he got tough love being 5-8, 5-9," Prada said. "If he was 6-1, he'd already have like 10 homers. He hits some balls out of his shoes, and the ball doesn't go anywhere. He's got no power. But he's a guy that can play short, second, third, in the outfield. He does the little things. He's a really valuable player for me right now on my team."
One of the biggest challenges Pettersen has encountered is something most college standouts must deal with when they sign with a professional organization: sliding down on the baseball totem ball, from all-conference collegian to Single-A minor leaguer. Like many players on Beloit's team, Pettersen is living with a host family in town to save money.
"It is a big adjustment, but I just try to make sure that I remember it's the same game no matter where you go," he said. "It's definitely different in professional baseball. There's a lot of development going on and a lot of talent around me. More talent than we had in the Big Ten, that's for sure. And even the number of cultures that I've experienced has been a life-changing experience.
"I've played with a guy from Czech Republic, from Germany, from every Latin American country there is. It's been pretty cool to experience that coming from a school that had pretty much all Minnesota and Wisconsin guys."
Pettersen, who minored in Spanish during college, said he had expanded his ability to speak the language during his first month with the Snappers.
"Just interacting with different people is something I hadn't really experienced, so I'm working really hard to do that," he said.
If a baseball career doesn't materialize in the future, Pettersen may have inadvertently found an alternate career path during his time with the Snappers.
He recently has taken to blogging for a Twins fan website. One of the site's bloggers asked Pettersen to share behind-the-scenes stories on life as a minor leaguer, and Pettersen said he has tried to write at least once every week or two.
In the offseason, Pettersen blogged for a personal finance website, so he already had familiarity with writing for the web.
"It's fun and really interesting," he said. "I've thought about maybe writing a book about this whole experience down the road. I've jotted down a few notes when I can. I'll just see where it takes me. I'm going to keep doing it for now because I think it's just a good skill to have. I've been trying to work on it lately."
Until that time comes, Pettersen -- who grew up practically in the shadows of the Metrodome in nearby Minnetonka, Minn. -- will continue to focus on his strengths as a baseball player, hoping for an opportunity to someday play for his favorite big league team.
"I've been a Twins fan my whole life," Pettersen said, "and I couldn't have gotten into a better organization."
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