The season put together by Ronnie Belliard in 1998 at Class AAA Louisville is one of the few seasons in the Top Hitters series that did not lose points for a ‘hitter’s ballpark’ influence. Belliard also gained points for being quite young in the league (23 vs 26.4 average) at the time.
Belliard, a short, stocky (5’9″, 210#) New York City-born prospect was drafted in the eighth round by Milwaukee in the 1994 MLB June Draft out of Miami (FL) Central HS.
After reporting to the Brewers Rookie team in the Arizona League, Belliard performed well at each level, moving to A ball and AA ball in successive years before starting play at AAA Tucson in 1997.