Power trip

There's something different here.

"He's able to hold a conversation and he's inquisitive and interested in learning things outside of baseball, which, for me, was such a breath of fresh air," says Gabe Kapler, the former Sox outfielder who was Anderson's manager at Single A Greenville in 2007. "Lars just being where he is developmentally . . . he's already ahead of the curve. He's going to be a very intriguing person to follow off the baseball field."

On the field, too. The first baseman has progressed from an overlooked high school talent to an 18th-round draft pick (because of signability issues) in 2006, to a rising star with developing power and strike zone discipline, to a Baseball America cover boy and the top prospect in the Boston organization.

He's started to realize this. His parents have started to realize this. The anonymity has begun to lift. Recognition has come, and the glimpses of life at the big league level have appeared more frequently as he readies to make his debut in major league camp in Fort Myers, Fla., in 10 days.

"It's kind of amusing," his father, George, says. He is asked to elaborate.

"Well," he says, "you get to see the phenomena of celebrity where none existed before. So what's different? That's kind of what's amusing about it. Like all of a sudden, there's this incredible interest."

Early signs George, tall and gangly, gets out of his chair in the living room to put on a demonstration. Egged on by his wife, who suggests he tell the "sock story," George is more than willing to oblige, motions and all. He recalls the miniature Lars, 2 years old, or maybe 18 months. George would throw rolled-up socks to his son, who would promptly swing.

Then there was the time he rolled his son a little ball.

"I go, 'Here, Lars, catch,' " George says, and assumes a perfect infielder's posture, imitating the 2-year-old Lars ready to receive the grounder. "I swear to God. It was amazing."

Diane Goettlicher, Lars's mother, corroborates the story, confirms Lars's fascination with baseball nearly from birth.