"The kid looks like he’s going to have some big-time power."

It wasn’t Travis Wong’s mom or dad or high school coach bragging – rather the Cincinnati Reds’ Greg Vaughn speaking of their 17-year-old 13th round draft pick back in 1999.

It was in June after his senior season at Boise’s Timberline High School and Doug and Cathy Wong’s youngest son was getting a hefty taste of the big time. The Reds made him the 398th overall pick of the amateur draft and figured they’d found a diamond in the rough.

Boise, Idaho, normally not considered a fertile ground of hardball greatness, had produced this 6-foot-6 first baseman who had hit .475 his senior year and was set for a tour with the USA Junior National Team.

Travis Wong was poised to soak in the moment and take the Red’s best pitch. They flew him from Boise to Cincinnati, where he took batting practice with Vaughn, Mark Lewis and Jason LaRue – got a few hitting tips from a fella named Johnny Bench and talked ball with Buddy Bell.

"Offering money is one thing, but actually being there was a little overwhelming," Wong recalled. "They took me into this room that was filled with baseball bats and asked me what kind of bat I’d be using. Coming from a small town and a small high school, by the end of the day, you start thinking maybe that is what you want to do."

"This is great," the starry-eyed kid told reporters that night before he settled in to watch the Reds beat Arizona 2-0. "It’s exciting enough just to hang around these players, much less hit with them. And then to have Johnny Bench work with me on my swing is unbelievable."

It was indeed a field of dreams kind of experience, one that would end with Wong throwing the final curve.

The Aggies will need more big home runs from Wong this season.

During the star-studded batting practice, Bench turned to Travis: "Son, are you ready to be a Red?" he asked. "Maybe," Travis responded. "Maybe?" Bench retorted. "Is your agent standing here?"

As the summer of ’99 passed, Wong realized that despite the bright the lights of Cinergy Field, they still didn’t hold a candle to the magic of Olsen Field.

"I really enjoyed the atmosphere at A&M… who wouldn’t?" Wong said. "I took all my recruiting trips, and I wanted to go to a warmer climate, a competitive baseball team and get a good education."

It eventually added up to A&M, especially after the Reds’ salary offer didn’t add up to enough.

"I was expecting to be drafted a little higher than I was, but I probably slipped down because of what I was asking," Wong said. "The Reds kept after me most of the summer and they came real close but never quite got there."

Heavy courting by Cincinnati was only a slice of Wong’s magical summer of ’99. As a high school All-Star, his selection to the USA National Junior team was no surprise. He joined the team on a tour that ended in Taiwan, in the country of his ancestry, China, where his team won the gold medal. A third generation Chinese American, Wong’s father and grandfather were born in America.

"My great grandfather was born in China," he says proudly. "My grandfather spoke Chinese and my dad does some, and I know how to say grandma and grandpa, but that’s about it. I’ve certainly never tried to hide my heritage or culture. I’m very proud of it. And I never had any problems from other kids growing up."

Wong was a big man on campus when he transferred from Boise High School to the newly opened Timberline after his sophomore year. He helped lead his team to two state championships and was named to the USA Today second team high school All-America team. Timberline went 27-5 his senior season. Wong’s .475 batting average came with 29 RBI and six home runs.

It was during the summer tour with the Junior National Team that A&M coach Mark Johnson got his first look at the power hitter he had recruited. Johnson was coaching Team USA in Tucson, and he had scheduled a couple of games with the junior team.

"I sure remember the first game I saw him," Johnson said. "He hit a towering home run off our pitcher Ben Diggins." Diggins was later a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wong remembers the weekend for not just the home run, but for his convenient timing.

"We play two games with them, and Coach Johnson missed the first game because I believe he had to go to a wedding," Wong said with a smile. "Well, I went zero-for-four in that game. He showed up the second game, and I hit a home run and two doubles."

Johnson first got the word on Wong in an unconventional way that’s common in the world of amateur baseball.

"I was helping run a baseball camp in Rupert, Idaho along with one of my former Aggie players, Jeff Schow," Johnson said. "Travis wasn’t at the camp, but enough people there knew about him and talked about him. Jimmy (Lawler) saw him later in California. Everyone was recruiting him, including the Reds. We knew his dad had gone to A&M, so we thought that would help us get in the door."

Johnson got backing from both parents, along with older brothers Corey and Jared, both former college stars at Gonzaga. Jared went on to play four years in the Atlanta organization.

"Travis made a pretty firm commitment to us, and we felt good about it," Johnson added. "He put that word out to other people early and that worked to our favor."

Wong eventually chose A&M over Clemson, Miami – and the Cincinnati Reds.

TEXAS A&M TIES

Doug and Cathy Wong went to high school together in San Antonio. After finishing at A&M, Doug got a job with the USDA in Austin and was transferred to Boise when Travis was 5. They were divorced seven years later, but Wong says his mom and dad stayed and remain good friends who often travel together to College Station to watch their son play.

"My mom has always been my biggest coach," Wong said. "She gives me plenty of advice. She was in town for the Continental Classic and gave me some hitting pointers. My dad helps me, too. They have always been supportive and let me make my own decisions – about school, about going pro, about everything."

Wong said his parents didn’t have a problem with his far away journey for college.

"They wanted me to go where the competition and the team would be competitive," Wong said. "They would like to see more games, but they know that A&M is a good school for me."

And despite a recent hitting slump, Wong has been plenty good for A&M baseball. After two seasons of sharing time at first base with Jeff Freeman, as a junior, the position is his. He went 3-for-5 against Rice in the season opener and followed up with four more multi-hit games in the next seven, with three doubles and three home runs. He hit a drought starting with the Continental Classic, getting only five hits in his next 40 at bats, but two of those were home run blasts against Washington State and UT-Arlington.

"I’m pleased with how I’m playing," he said with measured enthusiasm. "I started off hot, and now I’ve slowed down. But as long as we’re winning, that’s what matters."

Despite the temporary funk, Johnson keeps Wong in the heart of the lineup.

"Because of Travis’ power, it’s tough for him to reach the standard that people put on him," Johnson said. "We were real encouraged by his start."

His start picked up where it had left off playing summer ball in Portland. Playing for the Aloha Knights in the Pacific International League, he was named first-team All League as a designated hitter with his team-leading 51 RBIs, hitting .301 with 13 doubles and eight home runs and starting in 59 of the team’s 62 games.

"Travis’ development is still an ongoing process," said Johnson. "He’s been in the arena now for a couple of years after taking a period of time to make adjustments. In Boise, he didn’t see the kind of pitches he sees in the Big 12."

Travis Wong’s short-term goals are simply stated – to help his team where he’s yet to go with them, to the NCAA post season.

"This should be the year for us," he said. "My first year we had lost a lot of guys, and we were really young. Last year, we came on stronger. Now we have a lot of guys who have been playing a while. Sure I want to some day make a living playing baseball, but right now all I want to do is win here."

It’s a good bet that Wong will have his second shot at the pros, whether it’s next year or the year after. For sure, he has no regrets of that day he looked Johnny Bench in the eye and said "maybe"… or the day he looked Mark Johnson in the eye and said "yes."