Brett Grandstrand, power hitter

When Brett Grandstrand hit a home run Friday night in his second game back with the Wild Things, nobody was more surprised than the guy who hit the ball.

Grandstrand is known for many things - being one of the best defensive players to come through the Frontier League is one - but being a home-run hitter is not one of them. How rare was Grandstrand's home run, which cleared the back tier of fencing in left field? In his last 688 at-bats, dating back to 2004 in the Pirates' system, Grandstrand had only one home run, that coming last year for Columbus, Tampa Bay's affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League.

"I would have never guessed that my first hit would be a home run," Grandstrand admitted Saturday night, "especially when I haven't seen live pitching since September of last year."

Grandstrand wasn't even expecting to play baseball this year. After being released by Tampa Bay in the offseason, Grandstrand was coaching a high school team in North Bend, Wash., giving baseball lessons and coaching a 15-year-old youth team.

The Wild Things, meanwhile, had kept Grandstrand in mind, just in case they had a need for a shortstop. They also needed a roster spot to open for a player classified as a Veteran - three years or more of pro experience - by the Frontier League.

When Washington released outfield Mike Butia, it opened a Vet spot. Then, a little more than a week ago, shortstop Jeff Beachum's cranky back began bothering him. It landed Beachum on injured reserve.

It didn't take long for the call to go out to Grandstrand. He received a telephone call last week from former Wild Things teammate Chris Carter - now the team's hitting coach - and was asked if he wanted to play again.

"I did miss playing, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to make a comeback," Grandstrand said. "I was happy with what I was doing. But one thing led to another and here I am."

So Grandstrand flew out of Seattle and headed for Washington, Pa. In his second game back, he hit a home run. This after not hitting a homer in 282 at-bats with Washington in 2006.

Grandstrand, the Pirates' 14th-round draft pick out of Coastal Carolina in 2004, made two spectacular defensive plays Saturday night. One was a catch of a throw from pitcher Mike Schellinger at the second-base bag. The throw was a little too far on the first-base side of the bag, but Grandstand made a sprinting catch, and with a runner bearing down on him, fired a leaping throw to complete a double play. The other gem was a sliding catch going to his left to field a grounder, and he threw out the batter to end a River City scoring threat.

"We had the Vet spot open and we were waiting to use it to sign a pitcher," Washington manager Greg Jelks said. "But there were no pitchers out there, and in the meantime our shortstop hurts his back. We had to sign Grandstrand because he really solidifies our defense."