You wouldn’t think being a Yankee northerner would cut native Mainer Greg Creek any slack in the heart of Dixie.

Actually, it does a lot more than that.

“Anyone I meet around here between ages 20 and 26 knows the University of Maine beat Mississippi State [9-7 in a 2004 regular season football game], whether they’re from Mississippi and love Maine or they’re from Mississippi State and hate Maine,” Creek explained. “It’s actually very much like Maine here. People are kind-hearted and it’s very down home everywhere you go.”

If Creek sounds like he’s very comfortable, it’s because he is.

Life in Pearl, Miss., is good for Gregory Robert Creek. Maine’s Mr. Baseball in 2001 has started the 2008 minor league baseball season on a high note after two straight injury-shortened seasons.

The 25-year-old Augusta native and former Maranacook High School of Readfield star leads the Mississippi Braves with nine RBIs and the Double-A Southern League with three triples. He also has three doubles and is second among team regulars in batting average at .310 after 42 at-bats.

Not bad for a guy who had to undergo offseason rehabilitation after having wrist surgery the required shaving down a bone and removing a bone chip.

“I think it actually helped me,” Creek said. “Because of it, I didn’t hit until after New Year’s and usually I’d start in October. For the last two years, by the time spring training rolled around, I was already tired, so I paced myself and came into spring training in much better shape, timing-wise.

“I also waited to start my running until mid-December and I felt stronger once spring training started. I learned a lot this winter by experimenting and I think it really paid off.”

The Atlanta Braves’ 6-foot-3, 225-pound, undrafted 2005 free agent signee had a solid spring, but still started off without a starting role.

Early on, I had to battle for at-bats,” he said. “It went well, pinch-hitting to start so I got a shot when somebody got hurt.”

Now he’s starting at first base, sometimes playing third, and occasionally warming pitchers up in the bullpen.

Creek gives a lot of credit for his solid start to 2008 to some offseason psychological work.

“I took a little more time off this year and rested my body for a month or so, and I lifted lightly after rehabbing my wrist, but I also got my mind right and read a lot about the mental part of the game,” he explained. “There was one book in particular by a psychologist who’d worked with a lot of athletes and it was mostly baseball-oriented. It basically said whatever you believe is going to happen will happen, so don’t dwell on the negative stuff.”

Creek also drew inspiration from Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who he heard address some rookie pitchers during spring training.

“It was just for pitchers, but I snuck in to listen,” said Creek. “He said when he was young, he believed how he did in the game would affect how much people liked him after the game. It’s twisted, but I think that competitive part in my head had me believing that too. That struck a chord with me and reassured me the feeling wasn’t that weird, and that my family and friends would still like me even if I failed.”

That’s not something the left-handed batter has to worry about these days with a .408 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .595.

Stats aside, it’s not hard to spot Creek even when he’s not wearing his Braves uniform.

“I have a University of Maine necklace that I always keep on, and I haven’t taken it off for five or six years,” said Creek. “People notice it.

“People know Maine down here. When we went to NCAA [baseball] regionals at Ole Miss, everyone loved us because we’d beaten Mississippi State. Once they find out I’m from Maine, they almost always mention it.”

As much as the necklace is a conversation piece, that’s not the reason he wears it.

“I try to keep in my mind where I came from and the fact that no too many guys have a chance to experience something like this,” he explaiend. “So if I ever in the big money, hopefully I can help out University of Maine baseball somehow.”

Hmm… Creek Clubhouse. It has a certain ring to it.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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