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Peninsula Oilers first baseman Mark Tracy wants to be recognized as only one thing -- Mark Tracy.

Literally born into the sport, his father a former major leaguer and current manager, one of his brothers playing minor-league ball after a successful stint with the Oilers and the other scouting talent on the East Coast, Tracy willingly acknowledges his roots. He doesn't rely on them, though.

This 21-year-old is concentrating on building his own legacy.

"I would definitely love to follow in their footsteps because they've all made it to pro ball and everything," Tracy said. "But I'm not going to sit there and try to do everything that they've done because I'm a totally different player. Just work hard and do my thing and hopefully it turns out good."

It did on Saturday.

Tracy blasted the Oilers first home run of the season in the opening game of a doubleheader, a game-winning, two-run shot that propelled Peninsula to a thrilling 3-1 win over the visiting Glacier Pilots. That homer, which came from the fifth spot in the order and snapped a streak of eight at-bats without a hit, gave Tracy three RBIs on the season while improving his average to .222.

"I'm hoping that's what it's going to do," he said of ending his slow start to the season. "Every game's different. You never know what's going to happen the next game, so you just go out and keep going."

Even though he served as designated hitter when he came through in the clutch on Saturday, Tracy's play at first base has been nothing short of solid, too, committing just a single error.

Whether behind the plate, where he shared time at in college this year, or behind the first-base bag, it doesn't matter. Tracy's love for swinging the bat is what drives him.

"It's not about where I play, basically I like to hit," he said. "So I'm basically willing to do anything in order to get into the lineup."

Peninsula manager Jeff Walker is beginning to see improvement.

"He's starting to come around. I think his swing's starting to lock in," Walker said. "Right now as far as guys that we can count on, he's definitely one of them that I have to put in our lineup every day until he tells me he needs a day off."

Not likely.

Baseball is in this kid's blood.

His father, Jim, played two seasons with the Chicago Cubs before spending eight years in the dugout as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and currently the Colorado Rockies.

As a youngster, Mark would travel with his dad and the team, mostly during the summers, hanging out with the squad and even playing cards with some players.

"My dad was always pretty lonely at the hotels," he said. "So he loved when I'd come with him."

A bundle of memories come to mind, none more so than the pranks the future big leaguers would play on the little guy when Jim was coaching in the minors.

"I was stuffed into a lot of trash cans and all that kind of stuff," he laughed, adding current San Diego Padre and 20-year MLB veteran Cliff Floyd was one of the culprits. "They'd put me all sorts of different places."

Just two weeks before Tracy was due to arrive in Kenai for his first tour through Alaska, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was fired, paving the way for Jim, then the bench coach, to take the reigns of the Rockies.

Now the hottest team in baseball, Colorado is 21-7 since Jim took over, at one point winning 11 in a row and 17 of 18, a surprising surge reminiscent of their late-season run to the National League pennant in 2007.

Mark tries to follow the Rockies as much as he possibly can, checking the scores when he heads home following a game.

"I try to keep up with the team and everything and I call my dad and I'll talk to him about the game and stuff," he said. "He likes that."

The Oilers are hoping the Tracy magic makes its way to Coral Seymour Memorial Park sometime soon.

"We need to get hot over here, too," Mark laughed.

Then there's Mark's older brother, Chad, now a member of the Texas Rangers organization and an Oiler in 2005 who socked a walkoff home run in his Peninsula debut in propelling the local nine to a thrilling 10-9 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots.

Oh, and in case you forgot, that homer completed the cycle.

"Pretty crazy," Mark said, adding the radio station provided his family with the call from that remarkable July game. "That's pretty cool."

Walker said despite the national and local notoriety, Tracy handles himself like a true professional, never wavering in the face of adversity or pressure.

"He carries himself well. You wouldn't know it by just watching him play or looking at him or anything like that," he said. "I'm not going to pretend like I know what it's like to be in his shoes, but I'm sure it's there."

Tracy, who led Duquesne University with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs as a junior this past season after transferring from Pepperdine following his freshman year, doesn't talk much about his roots unless questioned first.

"Like when you first come in, people start to find out. But I try not to talk about it at all. I just try to do my thing," he said. "There is sometimes when I feel a little bit of pressure but you've just got to fight through it. It's definitely helped me that I've had a lot of experience around some big-league guys and stuff and it's been pretty cool." He's hoping it helps as the summer wears on. And so are the Oilers.

Mired in a season-opening slump at the plate, Peninsula's struggles can be traced to a handful of factors, the most obvious being an adaptation to a wood bat.

Tracy, however, has more experience swinging the lumber than some, having played in summer leagues the past two years that also use wood.

"I think we're still trying to stay out of that panic mode," he said. "But we'll get it going here."

If it doesn't happen soon, he always has his own personal coach to offer up some helpful pointers.

"He's always been really good with that. He always wants us to call him and everything," Tracy said of his father. "If I'm ever slumping or anything, he can't see my swing but I can explain things to him and he can try to help me out, too. It's always good to have that kind of source."

Walker is depending on Tracy's power numbers from college to return.

"He's a guy we count on to drive in runs with balls in the gap or balls over the fence hopefully," he said. "I think he's a guy that's going to continue to improve and continue to get better."

Recently drafted in the 49th round by the Rockies, Mark's professional future may initially depend on it.

Tracy didn't sign with the club, saying he asked for a certain amount of money -- "I really wasn't looking to break the bank or anything" -- and has until mid-August to decide if he wants to forgo his college eligibility.

"They did not make an offer, so that's the thing," he explained. "I think it's like a draft-and-follow type deal to where they're going to watch me during the summer and if things go well here, you never know.

"If I have a good summer we'll see what happens and if not I get to go back to college, which is kind of a win-win situation."

Some may say Tracy has big shoes to fill. That's not how he views it, though.

"It's definitely been a dream of mine forever. Just like my brothers," he said. "I'm just going to go out and do whatever I can do to make myself better."