Kids are welcome with this Hiatt

Friday, July 11, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

CASHIN' AT CASHMAN

The top home run hitters in Las Vegas franchise history:

Asked which is more challenging, raising triplets or reaching -- and staying -- in the majors, Phil Hiatt responded quickly.

"Definitely," he said, "raising triplets."

Hiatt, who has hit a Las Vegas franchise career-record 67 home runs. and wife Misty have had their hands full with Madison, Morgan and Mackenzie for five years.

"Early on, when they were young, it was really tough on Misty," Hiatt said. "She had a chart and schedule, and people came over at certain times, like shift work. Luckily, my family and hers were there, in Pensacola.

"They would have to come over and help her. If the kids weren't on the same schedule, there would be trouble. They had to eat at the same time, bathe at the same time and sleep at the same time, or there was no time for yourself."

One of the most popular 51s in 2001 and '02, Hiatt won Pacific Coast League MVP honors in '01 by hitting .330, with 44 home runs and 99 RBIs.

He returned to Cashman Field on Thursday and awkwardly took a place in the visitors' dugout for the first time, as a member of the Iowa Cubs, with his family on his mind.

"They miss me," he said. "They're definitely daddy's little girls. I talk to them on the phone, and they say, 'Hey, you don't play baseball. Hey, you don't play baseball.' They want me to come home.

"We have such a good time, rasslin' and playin' around. They miss it. They love coming to the games, and I saw them in Memphis and New Orleans this season. It's tough when I can't see them."

The Dodgers, for whom he played 23 games in 2001 -- he manned third base when Barry Bonds hit the 500th home run of his career early that season and when Bonds smacked his record 73rd home run of '01 at the end of the year -- released Hiatt after last season.

Chicago then obtained the services of manager Dusty Baker, who had left San Francisco.

Hiatt, 34, knew Baker knew of him, because he had success hitting against Giants left-handed pitchers Kirk Rueter and Shawn Estes two years ago.

"The main thing is when a manager knows who you are," Hiatt said. "I was curious what kind of manager Dusty was. I had heard a lot of great things about him."

At spring training in Mesa, Ariz., he again found himself behind first baseman Eric Karros, who is Hee Seop Choi's backup. In December, the Cubs acquired Karros from Los Angeles.

In previous springs, Hiatt was a notch below Karros on the depth chart in Vero Beach, Fla.

"He saw me and started laughing, saying, 'You trying to follow me?' I said, 'I'm just trying to push you, to make you better,' " Hiatt said Tuesday, after batting practice in Des Moines, Iowa. "You just have to laugh it off. It's one of those things."

The Cubs have not sent for Hiatt, who played in 128 games for the Kansas City Royals in 1993 and '95, and six for the Detroit Tigers in '96.

His 15 homers currently rank fourth in the PCL, and he is hitting .280 and has driven in 55 runs.

Trenidad Hubbard gave him a dose of inspiration Monday. Hubbard, 37, was called up to the parent club after Corey Patterson sustained a season-ending knee injury.

"I'm just a big insurance policy," Hiatt said. "There's always that chance of getting back up, that's why I keep playing."

Returning to Las Vegas, for whom he couldn't even recall having a mini-slump during his fantastic '01 season, and seeing radio broadcaster Russ Langer and others in the 51s' organization, excited Hiatt.

If the Cubs don't call, he will test the market in Japan for a lucrative deal. He is also thinking seriously about his future in the game, about concentrating on the triplets -- and an infant son -- instead of triples.

"I'm 20 home runs shy of 300 in the minors, and that's a pretty good milestone," he said. "I don't know if I'll get there this year, and I'd still like to get to the big leagues.

"Man, I've thought about how long I want to play and have contemplated this being my last year, but guys say, 'You can't quit now, you can still hit.' And, physically, I'm fine, knock on wood. I still think I can do it."