AREA BASEBALL STARS FIND MAJOR SUCCESS IN MINOR LEAGUES

Four professional baseball players with local ties are all experiencing considerable success through the early part of the 1996 season.

Two players in Class A ball -- Kerry Robinson and Cliff Politte -- have made the Midwest League All-Star Team as members of the Peoria Chiefs, which is an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Midwest League All-Star Game will be played June 18 in Appleton, Wis..

And two players in Class AAA -- Matt Whiteside of Oklahoma City (Texas Rangers) and Steve Bieser of Ottawa (Montreal Expos) -- are also putting together highly respectable seasons.

* Robinson, a former Southeast Missouri State University standout who is in his second professional season, is putting together some impressive numbers in Peoria, Ill.

Area baseball fans no doubt remember the season Robinson had at Southeast Missouri State in 1995 when he hit in 32 consecutive games for the 13th-longest hitting streak in NCAA history. He then experienced success last summer in rookie ball before being promoted to the Class A level this year.

This season, Robinson -- who was selected as the starting left fielder for the Midwest League All-Star Game in voting by the league's managers -- is batting .327 with 31 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple, 19 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases in 46 games.

Robinson is sixth in the Midwest League in hitting and he ranks second in stolen bases.

* Like Robinson, Politte has also been tearing up the Midwest League to earn an all-star berth.

The righthanded pitcher -- who played for the Kohlfeld Capahas last summer after a standout career at Jefferson Junior College in Hillsboro -- leads the league in earned-run average with a 1.99 mark. He is 6-1, having allowed 43 hits and 18 walks in 58.2 innings while striking out 64.

The hard-throwing Politte -- his fastball has consistently been clocked in the 88 to 92 mile-per-hour range -- was set to pitch for Southeast Missouri State last year before the Cardinals signed him in the summer.

* Whiteside, while no longer in the major leagues, is doing well in Oklahoma City as he makes a bid to rejoin the Rangers later this season.

The Charleston High product was selected in the 25th round of the 1990 June draft after a highly successful pitching career at Arkansas State. He put together some eye-popping relief numbers in the minor leagues and spent parts of the 1992 and 1993 seasons with the Rangers before pitching exclusively with Texas in the 1994 and 1995 campaigns.

Whiteside also began this year with the Rangers but was sent down to Oklahoma City after only a handful of rough appearances that saw his ERA balloon to 12.46.

But Whiteside is making a strong case for perhaps being called back up by the Rangers. He is tied for the American Association lead in wins, with a 6-1 record as a reliever and spot starter. In 42 innings pitched, the righthander has a 3.64 ERA, having allowed 33 hits and 15 walks while fanning 20.

* Bieser, who last played for Southeast Missouri State in 1989, was originally with the Philadelphia Phillies organization but he's now risen to the Class AAA ranks with Montreal's Ottawa squad.

A catcher and outfielder who also sees action as a designated hitter, the native of Ste. Genevieve is batting .250 with 20 runs scored, five doubles, three triples and eight RBIs in 41 games.