01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

PAWTUCKET -- Buddy Bailey saw the move coming, not merely from a mile away, but from the distance of a couple of weeks.

"There's no doubt that, if the Red Sox felt they needed help offensively, Andy Dominique would be one of the front-runners on our ballclub to go up to Boston," Bailey said one night at McCoy Stadium during the PawSox's previous homestand.

With Bill Mueller, last year's American League batting champion, hurting, the Red Sox called the 28-year-old Dominique up to the majors yesterday.

He might have gotten there sooner except, to some people, he didn't fit the image of what a big-leaguer is supposed to look like.

But those people were looking at the slugging-but-not-svelte Dominique the wrong way.

Instead of focusing on his weight (220 pounds) and waistline (like Elizabeth Taylor's age, something upwards of 40), they should have been looking at his batting average (.321), his International League-high RBI total (38), his slugging percentage (.527), and his on-base percentage (.418).

As Bailey says of his rotund catcher/first baseman/designated hitter: "He doesn't look good in a uniform, but he looks real good in the batter's box."

That's the perfect description of Dominique.

While some might think him a bit pudgy, put a bat in his hands and he looks like Pudge Fisk. Or Pudge Rodriguez, take your pick.

Dominique hit a combined .319 last year -- .361 in 32 games for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, and .304, with 13 homers, in 79 games for Pawtucket -- and he's been pounding the ball again this season.

Physically, he may not look all that impressive. Statistically, he's dazzling.

Dominique is more burly than buff. More rounded than cut. More molded than chiselled.

Which is not to say he's soft. Anything but. Any pitcher who's faced him will tell you that he's a very tough out.

"Some people look at my body," said Dominique, "and it doesn't fit their perception of a player. They look at the long season and think I'll break down. But last August was one of my better months."

It was, in fact, his best. Dominque hit .340 (34-for-100), with 9 doubles, 4 homers, and 26 RBI for the PawSox at a time of year when fatigue stemming from the daily wear-and-tear often affects a catcher's offensive production.

"He's very selective at the plate," Bailey said. "But, when he gets his pitch, he's very aggressive. And the count is irrelevant to his ability to hit."

Dominique also is capable when he's crouching behind the plate.

"His hands are good," said Bailey, a former minor-league catcher himself. "He's a good receiver."

He isn't considered the best catching prospect in the Red Sox organization, however. That distinction belongs to 24-year-old Kelly Shoppach, even though Dominique has better offensive numbers.

Although Shoppach displaced Dominique as Pawtucket's starting catcher this year, Dominique was the only player to have appeared in all 45 games for the PawSox, prior to last night.

Drafted as a third baseman by the Phillies in 1997 out of the University of Nevada-Reno, where he hit .335 during his four-year college career, with 62 homers, Dominique also can play first base and, obviously, fill the role of designated hitter.

It is that versatility, along with his batting ability, that earned him an overdue shot at the majors.

He has hit wherever he has played -- going back to when he clouted 24 homers and drove in 102 runs for Piedmont in the Single-A South Atlantic League in 1998, then followed that with a 92 RBI season for Clearwater in '99.

"He gets it done," Bailey said.

Now in his eighth season of professional baseball, Dominique was placed on the Red Sox's 40-man roster for this season, but had yet to appear in a big-league game before being called up yesterday.

"It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time," said Dominique.

As for the matter of not having the exactly-right physique: "People have talked to me about losing weight," he said. "But this is my body type.

"I do work out. I do a lot of cardio-vascular work. But I also play winter ball, and so I don't want to wear myself out in the gym.

"I just go out and do my job and, hopefully, someday, somebody will take a chance on me."

That day came yesterday, and chances are good that Dominique will do the job for the Red Sox.

Just look at his numbers, not his build.