Century’s Reimers Balances Baseball and Other Pursuits : Preps: In classroom, on field or with paintbrush in hand, senior gives his all.

SANTA ANA — Every so often, Century’s Tom Reimers will walk out on a baseball field and pinch himself just to make sure it’s really him out there. He finds the English language a clumsy tool to explain his fondness for the game.

“Ours is the kind of family where a lot of things revolve around sports,” said Reimers, one of two team members who have played for Coach Rick Hayes since baseball’s debut at Century High four years ago.

“I started out watching my brother play when I was in my diapers. (Baseball) was set into me. There’s something about the beauty of baseball. I don’t know, it’s almost majestic to me. I get antsy when it’s spring and summer, not just because school’s out, but also because it’s baseball season.”

Legions of players across the country might feel the same way, but how many are willing to fess up with such an honest--dare we say, sensitive--perspective of the pastime?

“He’s a real sensitive kid, especially to how other people feel,” said Dorothy, Tom’s mother. “Perhaps that’s a little bit unusual for a boy his age.”

Then again, it’s not common to find someone his age--17--and with his athletic background--he has toyed with football and basketball at various levels--who likes to paint for relaxation.

“He’s quite an artist,” Dorothy said. “He likes to do things like that.”

Mom hasn’t taken inventory, but baseball is a subject that, not surprisingly, has caught the artistic eye of her youngest son.

“He’s drawn pictures of players, stadiums, things like that,” she said.

Reimers has taken a particular interest in players such as former Angel pitcher Jim Abbott and stadiums such as Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The Cubs’ playground, with its ivy-covered brick wall as a backdrop, conveys tradition. Reimers, a batboy for the Angels last summer, considers Abbott one of the nicest people he has met.

To him, Wrigley Field and Abbott, now with the Yankees, represent much of what’s good about baseball.

To others, Reimers represents what’s good about high school athletes.

“We have a special relationship because we’ve been together four years,” Hayes said. “He’s developed a certain maturity and focus. It’s been fun watching him start from a skinny, quiet kid who liked to pitch into a nice young man who has some velocity and can pitch.”

The 6-foot-2 senior pitcher has a 3.9 grade-point average and is a two-time All-Pacific Coast League selection. Reimers was the team’s captain as a junior and, with batterymate Robert Guzman, is the Centurions’ co-captain this season.

Reimers is being recruited by Division I schools including Pepperdine, USC, Loyola Marymount, Wyoming and Stanford, where he will return from his first recruiting trip this afternoon.

Weather and other circumstances have displaced Reimers in Hayes’ pitching rotation and limited his playing time. He has a 2-1 record.

But Reimers expects a lot out of himself this season. He was on Century’s varsity basketball team for two years, but decided to forgo this season so he could get an early start on baseball.

“I believe in sharing athletes,” Hayes said, “but this is a critical time for him, if he wants to play baseball at another level.”

By devoting the winter season to pitching, Reimers hopes he has a better shot at a college scholarship, which he hopes to use as a steppingstone to the pros.

“Baseball’s my first love, so I decided to cut my losses and really focus on baseball,” Reimers said. “Physically, I feel stronger than ever before. Having played all this time, I felt like I was in midseason form from the time we started.”

Reimers figured he took 10 times the number of swings he normally takes before the season. As a result, he has two home runs, two more than in his first three years at Century, and more singles and doubles than before.

As far as his pitching, Hayes has noticed that Reimers’ technique and velocity have improved, “but we still need to work on his consistency and location.”

Reimers is realistic about the future, and he is preparing for a career outside of playing professional sports, possibly in sports medicine.

“Only about 1% ever get to play in the pros,” Reimers said. “Even if you do make it, you can’t play forever. (With college), you get the best of both worlds. You get to play baseball while you get a college education.”

The importance of education was something Dorothy and Bob Reimers drummed into Reimers as he was growing up, and now he’s taken up the crusade on behalf of his teammates.

“He tutors other kids on the team when they need it,” Hayes said. “He’s always there for them. Just like his mom and dad were always there for him. His family upbringing is reflected in his success.”

Last season, Reimers and his brother, Rob, who is a senior third baseman at Chapman University, worked in the Angel clubhouse. It was an experience Tom won’t easily forget. Several times during the high school season, Reimers had a double shift, where he would pitch for Century before his parents would whisk him away to Anaheim, where he would work a night game.

“It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” Reimers said. “Meeting people like Jim Abbott and a lot of guys on other teams. That’s something you don’t forget.”

Although he was invited back, Reimers, who would catch himself staring at big-name players in the clubhouse, wants to focus on his game.

“My ultimate goal is to be in the clubhouse playing, not picking up dirty towels,” he said.

Baseball’s image has taken a beating at the professional level, but from his season of exposure, Reimers thinks most of it is undeserved.

“Baseball players get a bum rap,” he said. “The media can make these guys out to be bigger monsters than they are.

“I was expecting that with the kind of price tags on these guys, they wouldn’t have time to talk to anyone. But they’re real nice. People expect them to be supermen, but they’re not. They’re just regular guys like you and me.”

Guys who, like Reimers, sometimes have to pinch themselves as a reminder of how lucky they are.