White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson is painstaking with every autograph: " Someone really cares about it, so you have to put some effort into it."

Rich-Joseph Facun / Arizona Daily Star

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Brian Anderson walked into the White Sox dining room and emerged an hour and a half later, his wrist aching.

In between bites of food, the 23-year-old rookie had signed 200 pictures, eight dozen baseballs and a few bats at Kino Sports Complex.

Welcome to the majors, kid.

"If your wrist is sore from signing so much," he said, "then that's probably a good thing."

Anderson, a Canyon del Oro High School and UA alum, is penciled in as the starting center fielder for the defending World Series champs. He will bat ninth today when the Sox host the Rockies at Tucson Electric Park in the season's first spring training game.

He might also be the most compelling story Tucson baseball has seen in years. Not since Tucson High School and UA alum Ron Hassey was with the Cleveland Indians from 1978 to 1984 has there been such a prominent Tucson-born player training in his hometown.

The outgoing Anderson appears well-equipped to handle the pressure, both in his hometown and on the South Side of Chicago. He has the tools and personality to be a baseball star. The starting job is his to lose.

When someone suggests that Anderson learn to sign his name faster, he bristles. As a child, he signed his name "Brian Anderson, Los Angeles Dodgers," over and over again.

"Someone really cares about it, so you have to put some effort into it," he said. "You have to sign the last one the same way you signed the first one."

Everyone seems to have a favorite Anderson tale. The plot usually mimics that of a lovable sitcom character — Anderson does something scatterbrained, makes people laugh, then apologizes with a genuineness that makes it impossible to stay mad at him. Think Zack Morris from "Saved by the Bell."

UA baseball coach Andy Lopez screamed at Anderson the first time the two met. Anderson and former UA player Pat Reilly were playing catch with a football in the outfield during a workout. Some trainers use footballs to help players recover from shoulder injuries.

Lopez, in his first day of practice at the UA, then saw the two start kicking the ball and making fair-catch signals like punt returners.

"I'm waiting for two more guys to show up for a flag football game," said Lopez, who threw them off the field.

Kent Winslow, who coached Anderson for his final two years at CDO, said Anderson set the record for punishment drills.

"He'd show up for a game with one cleat," Winslow said. "And no jersey."

Both qualify their stories by saying, "That's just B.A."

Even at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Anderson could pass for 16 years old. He has knotted, almost white, hair, and could be an extra on "Laguna Beach." His chest is full of graffiti in the form of tattoos. On one pectoral muscle is the word Irie — a Jamaican term for good feelings — that he got illegally at 17. It is now raised and scarred. He has vines all over his stomach and a monkey at his waist.

"I drew it up one day," he said. "I'm kinda a weird dude."

Anderson doesn't own a house or a car. He's borrowing both from former UA player Trevor Crowe, who is training with the Indians in Florida.

Anderson's grandmother does his laundry. He still falls asleep when he rides in cars, like a child.

"I'm 23 going on 12," Anderson said. "It's the best."

But Anderson doesn't have a house for a reason.

His half-sister, Brooke Holmes, is a 15-year-old sophomore at CDO. She told Anderson she wanted to live closer to school. Within a week, he sold his house and bought his mom, Leslie, and Brooke a home within walking distance of school.

"I'd sleep in a tent if I had to, as long as my sister's happy," he said.

Anderson bought his mom a Range Rover for Christmas. Anderson sold his car, a black Chrysler 300C, to former UA player Chris Frey. Cut him a deal on it, too.

"I had to — he's like my little brother," he said.

Anderson, who had 34 at-bats for the White Sox last year, might give his World Series ring to his father, Dana. And because he'll never use all the free Wilson equipment, Anderson donates it to Winslow, who now coaches at Prescott High School.

"He's a very generous kid," Winslow said. "B.A., when you kinda get him alone, down deep, he's very mild-mannered and very humble that way."

Anderson was moved from pitcher to center field as a freshman at the UA. He slumped to start his junior season, so Lopez tinkered with his stance to fix his timing. Anderson was drafted 15th overall by the White Sox in 2003.

"It was a little bit of a gamble, changing it up that late," Lopez said. "There are certain athletes that sit around and ponder themselves into slumps or bad situations. I don't think Brian's ever going to be accused of that."

But he's not aloof. As a sophomore at CDO, Anderson gave up a game-winning home run. It was the only time he cried because of baseball.

"With a kid that's loose, you want him to feel it," said Phil Wright, who coached CDO that year. "You're like, 'OK, he did care.' He had that certain coolness about him."

Anderson — who admits to being impatient in the minors — has shot up from advanced rookie ball in three years. This week, he was named the No. 51 prospect by Baseball America.

Anderson might appear nonchalant, but he's one of the last White Sox players to leave the weight room.

He has spent hours working on his bunting and will be counted on for defense. Still, so much of his future depends on how he handles pressure.

"You have to have the right mental attitude from the beginning," said Bobby Jenks, Chicago's rookie closer last year. "He's so laid-back."

But he's no space cadet.

"I don't mind when people give me a hard time about the way I am," Anderson said. "Some guys are reserved, some guys are outgoing.

"I just want to go out there and be a baseball player. I've got a job to win."

● Pitcher Chad Bentz was born with only one fully developed hand, but that will not be a hindrance in his pursuit of a roster spot with the White Sox; Notebook. Pages C1 and C4.

On StarNet: Preview all the teams training across Arizona at azstarnet.com/multimedia