visions of big league baseball dancing inside his head. But he couldn't hit or

throw and, after a while, he couldn't bear to dream anymore.

  His son, John Jr., attends Central High and there's only one part of the

game he finds a wee bit troublesome - flat-out motoring.

  However, since his bat fires line drives to all fields and his arm guns down

runners at second base and his greatest desire in life is to work harder than

any other would-be major league catcher, the scouts view his games on a

regular basis and the phrase they keep uttering, often in hushed tones, is

"top-notch prospect."

  How top-notch, of course, no one will know until the first week of June when

the annual draft takes place. Whatever happens, John Marzano Jr. is having the

time of his life.

  "You hear so many things. You don't know what to believe," said John, a 5-

11, 185-pounder. "You can't pin down what the scouts are thinking. I could

get drafted high, I could get drafted low, I might not get drafted at all.

For me, it's a dream come true just to have the scouts come around, to have

them evaluating what you can do.

  "NOT MANY KIDS can say, 'I was scouted. ' Not many kids are experiencing the

extra excitement that I am."

  Although John says he has never been pushed by his father - "only helped"

- the two have long acted as one. 

  When John was only 9 or 10, his father would take him to Columbus

Playground, near his house at 11th and Wharton Sts., and the pair would work

on John's game for up to six hours. When John was in ninth grade, his father

spent $1,000 to purchase a pitching machine. When John was in 11th grade, his

father spoke with Phillies' officials and received permission to hold nightly

two-hour workouts in the tunnel under the left-field stands, where a batting

cage is located.

  "In all my years of coaching," said Central's Bob Cullman, "I've never

seen a father who's closer to his son and a son who's closer to his father."

  "We've always been that way and our common love has been baseball," John

said. "Since I was 8, we've worked out together. He'll come to me and say,

'Let's go to the field. 'I'll go to him and say, 'Let's go to the field.'

There's never any argument. We always go.

  "I was always the best hitter in my age group. That's because my father

gave me so much practice. He'd talk all the little kids into shagging the

balls in the outfield and pitch to me and pitch to me and pitch to me some

more. Laughing When I got too good for his pitching, he bought the

machine.

  "In the five months before this season, I worked out at the Vet for two or

2 1/2 hours a night. Seven days a week. We'd put the pitching machine up on

the mound and turn that baby up to 90 or 95 MPH. After that, my father would

walk inside the net and fire balls in the dirt to give me practice at blocking

bad pitches. Even now, we work hard."

  INDEED. ON SATURDAY, it was mentioned to Mr. Marzano that the scouts like

the strength of John's arm, but his throws to second have not yet reached the

point where they get to the exact spot consistently.

  "I knew it! I knew someone talked to him about that," John said, laughing.

  "He had me outside today, making millions of throws to second base. He kept

saying, 'Get it here. Get it here.' "

  Through 12 games, including eight in the Public League, John has 19 hits in

36 at-bats for a .527 average. His other key stats include 11 doubles, 3

triples, 2 homers, 27 RBI and the unheard-of slugging percentage of 1.167. He

has also drawn 15 walks, many of the semi-intentional variety.

  Bob Cullman has coached baseball for 14 years and one of his players has

never batted .500 over a three- year career. John Marzano, meanwhile, could

go hitless the rest of the season and he'd still boast a plus-.500

average.

  Marzano spent his formative years at third base. After his soph season,

there were whispers his future would prove rosier at catcher and the switch

came to pass during the following winter.

  Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Marzano did not wake up in a cold sweat one

January morning and drag his son to the playground to throw him "wild

pitches" that bounced into snow instead of dirt. John became a catcher during

his week-long stay at a Florida-based baseball camp, which he attended again

this winter.

  "My father and I had discussed the possibility of switching with Mr.

Cullman, but nothing was definite," John said. "I went to camp as a third

baseman. Steve Boros (now coach with Expos) told me, 'You have good

quickness at third. But with your arm, you should get behind the plate. You'll

have a better shot at making fast progress.' "

  JOHN MADE MOST of his early progress with Columbus in the Dept. of

Recreation program. His coach, Gabe "Spanky" DiFeliciantonio, bursts with as

much pride as Mr. Marzano.

  "Spanky worked my butt off, too," John laughed. "When I played 14-to- 16,

he'd have me working with the 12- to-14 and 16-to-18 teams. He'd work me at

third, short and second to improve my mobility, sometimes for as much as 10

hours a day."

  Like most kids, John envisioned himself as a big league player about the

same time he first plopped down some change for bubblegum cards. The dream,

however, didn't zoom into focus until last year.

  "In 10th grade, I was just out there playing ball, trying to improve," John

said. " Then I moved to catcher in 11th grade and people started to talk about

me in terms of being a prospect. Now, it's all I can think about.

  "My father he doesn't say 'boo' at games and never acts like the typical

pushy pop is caught up in it, too. He says I should work at it more than

ever. He says, 'You've come so far, don't ease up now. ' I agree with him. You

never know, there might be someone out there working harder than I am."

  Doubtful. It's also quite doubtful that John Marzano will be prevented from

doing all that he wants to.