Long before he was Giancarlo Stanton, the Marlins star and Major League Baseball home run leader, he was Mike Stanton, a powerful but raw outfielder at Notre Dame Prep in Sherman Oaks, California, best known for his touchdown catches and booming punts with the Knights football team and his 21-point average on the basketball court.
He was a .200 hitter as a junior, No. 7 in the batting order, not exactly the stuff that impresses college coaches or Major League Baseball scouts.
But everything changed Aug. 6, 2006, during batting practice at Blair Field.
It was there, in the Long Beach, California, ballpark where Brad Pitt filmed “Moneyball,” that Stanton’s baseball script began to unfold.