Look out for 'Killa'

Robinson was a hit facing Lake Elsinore mascot

Chattanooga Lookouts center fielder Trayvon Robinson became a top-10 prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers after a 2009 season in which he routinely displayed speed and strength.

Suffering the brunt of his wrath was not only California League pitching but the Lake Elsinore Storm's gorilla mascot.

Robinson hit .306 with 15 home runs and 43 stolen bases in 117 high Class A games last year with Inland Empire, and his playful pounding of a costumed sideshow earned him the nickname "Gorilla Killa." The entertainment rivalry, which featured Styrofoam noodles as weapons of choice, didn't take long to find its way to YouTube.

"This mascot would come through our dugout and would want someone to beat him up, and one time I tripped him and he fell," Robinson said. "Everybody thought it was a pretty big thing, so the gorilla kept coming back to me, and I would do something different to him. They loved me there."

Said Lookouts right fielder Scott Van Slyke: "It got to the point that whenever he went up to bat, it didn't say 'Trayvon Robinson' on the big screen. It said 'Gorilla Killa.'"

Robinson wore a mask and cape during one of his attacks last July, and the mascot showed up in early August with a dummy of his sparring partner. The scrapping came to a close a couple of weeks later, when the 5-foot-10, 201-pounder from Los Angeles was promoted to the Double-A Lookouts.

After hitting .246 with two homers and four stolen bases in 19 games with Chattanooga late last season, Robinson was rated by Baseball America as the No. 9 organizational prospect. The 22-year-old is among four top-10 prospects who opened this season with the Lookouts, and he has been reunited with manager Carlos Subero, who guided Inland Empire last year.

"Trayvon is a strong kid, and you can see it when he's running or when he hits the ball," Subero said. "Last year when I had him, I asked permission to move him from the leadoff to the No. 3 position. I didn't think he was a true leadoff. This guy likes to attack the baseball, and he put up some power numbers.

"He just needs to keep working on his plate discipline, and I mean him being able to swing at strikes. That's going to be his biggest challenge, but once he makes that adjustment, I think you'll see him taking off."

Robinson was invited to big-league camp but missed most of March with a minor leg injury, which Subero believes has hindered his start. Entering Tuesday night's game in Huntsville, Robinson was hitting just .222 with two home runs, three stolen bases and eight RBIs.

His 18 strikeouts and nine walks were each team highs.

"What I have to become is more patient as a person and a player and not let things get me down," he said. "If I strike out, I can't let that affect me when I go back out in the field."

Robinson is a graduate of Crenshaw High School, an athletic factory that has produced former New York Mets and Yankees outfielder Darryl Strawberry, former UCLA and Los Angeles Rams tailback Wendell Tyler and former UCLA and Milwaukee Bucks forward Marques Johnson. He also is a product of Major League Baseball's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program, which enabled him to play in more tournaments and improve in ways he couldn't have otherwise.

The RBI program even allowed him to play a game in Dodger Stadium as a 15-year-old.

"There wasn't anybody there, but I'll never forget it," he said.

Nor will anyone at Lake Elsinore forget Robinson after last season.

"Trayvon is such a good guy and such a good sport," Storm media relations and advertising director Steve Smaldone said. "He just took off and ran with it."

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