July 5, 2005

Charleston, SC - A year ago, Chip Cannon was pondering dental school and a career saying, "This won't hurt a bit."

But after 1-1/2 seasons in minor league baseball, it looks like Cannon's future could involve drilling home runs instead of drilling teeth.

The former Citadel standout first baseman has established himself as a fast-rising prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization, belting 24 homers and driving in 72 runs in just 71 games so far this season. So, for now anyway, dental school can wait.

"I haven't even opened a book since I left The Citadel," said Cannon, who was promoted earlier this month to the Blue Jays' Class A advanced team in Dunedin, Fla. "And I don't plan to anytime soon. Right now, my focus is on baseball.

"When someone tells me to stop or I realize things are not looking very positive for me, I may have to make a decision at that point. But right now, I'm just trying to get better and be more consistent and see how far I can go."

Cannon, a star of The Citadel's 2004 Southern Conference championship team, has gone pretty far pretty fast this season. On June 3, he was promoted from the Blue Jays' Class A team in Lansing, Mich., to Dunedin, near Tampa.

The 6-4, 215-pound Cannon celebrated in style -- he hit for the cycle in his last game with Lansing, hopped a plane for Florida and slammed two home runs in his Dunedin debut.

"It's been a crazy summer," said Cannon, who is from North Charleston and was an eighth-round pick of the Blue Jays last year. "But it's been a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun when you are winning, and we're in the middle of a division race down here."

It's also a lot of fun when you're hitting the ball out of the park, as Cannon has done with attention-grabbing regularity this season.

In his first 25 games at Dunedin, Cannon batted .389 with 13 homers and 36 runs batted in. That gives him 34 homers and 113 RBIs in his first 133 games as a pro, including 10 homers and 41 RBIs last season with Auburn in the short-season New York-Penn League. That compares favorably with the minor-league numbers of another former Citadel standout, Dallas McPherson of the Los Angeles Angels. McPherson hit 20 homers and drove in 117 runs in his first 163 games of minor-league ball in 2001 and '02.

Last year, McPherson hit 40 homers in Class AA and AAA and is starting at third base for the Angels this season.

Cannon always had power -- he's second in Citadel history with 40 career homers -- but has surprised even himself with his wooden-bat success.

"It's just getting to play every day," Cannon said. "As you get more at-bats, you see more pitches and you try to repeat your swing. You get into a routine. Ask Dallas or anybody -- as a hitter, as you start to feel more and more comfortable, things just sort of take off.

"In college, you play every weekend and one or two games during the week, but you still go two or three days between games sometimes. In the minors, you are playing every night."

And traveling. Cannon logged a lot of bus time in the Midwest League with Lansing, but the Florida State League is much more compact. With four other FSL teams within 90 minutes of Dunedin, the Blue Jays often commute to away games and sleep in their own beds. Cannon shares an apartment and big-league dreams with three other teammates.

"Right now, life is pretty good," he said. "And getting to play baseball every day, that makes it a lot better."