Milwaukee Brewers catching prospect Angel Salome had a 2008 season to remember.

He hit. 360 with 13 homers and 83 RBIs at Double-A Huntsville to run away with the Southern League batting crown and the Brewers organization lead in that category. He finished fourth in the system and fifth in the league in RBIs, despite playing in just 98 games. And he made his big league debut, joining the Brewers in September and getting pinch-hitting appearances in three games down the stretch.

Salome also made it a night to remember for more than 3,000 Stars fans in Huntsville, Ala. on May 24 when, surrounded by his teammates at home plate after a game against the visiting Birmingham Barons, he dropped to one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Johanica Coronado. They wed this past January.

The two have been a couple since their high school days at George Washington High School in upper Manhattan and are the proud parents of a lovely daughter, Kai-Angeli.

Salome's nomadic lifestyle as a professional baseball player may have made it harder to settle down, but he knew it was time and he wanted to make the proposal something special. That meant receiving the blessing of his biggest role model and influence: his mother, Aydin, a nurse who brought her family to America when her son was 3.

Living in the Washington Heights section of New York City, where there is a huge Dominican population, Salome grew up bilingual and bicultural, a native New Yorker who is still very much grounded in his Latino roots.

In fact, when he signed with the Brewers out of high school as a fifth-round Draft pick in '04, the hardest part of adapting to the Minors was the absence of his mom's home cooking. When he headed to Arizona for Rookie ball that year, his mom overnighted him 15 pounds of beef. When he joined the West Virginia Power in '06 and the team traveled up to New Jersey to play in Lakewood, Aydin arrived with trays of chicken and rice and beans.

Salome needed that sustenance to keep weight on his 5-foot-7 frame, which is all muscle thanks to his No. 1 hobby of working out.

"People used to say to me, 'Aren't you too short to be a catcher?'" he recalled. "And I'd say, 'Yes, I am.'"

Bestowed with the nickname "Pocket Pudge" after catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Salome hits like a slugger twice his size.

Though a broken hamate bone suffered at the end of high school abbreviated his pro debut that summer, he hit .415 with eight homers and 50 RBIs at Class A Short-Season Helena (Mont.) the next year and was batting .292 with 85 RBIs in just 105 games in '06 when a broken ankle ended his South Atlantic League campaign.

He improved to .318 at Class A Advanced Brevard County in '07 and .360 at Huntsville last year. His .415 on-base average and .559 slugging percentage both ranked in the top three in the Southern League, and he heads into the '09 season with a .322 average over five pro seasons. He has line-drive power to all fields, and while his overall defense behind the plate is still developing, he has one of the best arms around.

MLB.com: Of what accomplishment in your life on or off the field are you the proudest?

Angel Salome: How my work ethic has gotten better. Thank God I went up to the big leagues where I was surrounded by veteran players like Jason Kendall and Prince Fielder. I would ask them, "How do you do it? What do you do in the offseason?" Not every guy will do the same thing in the offseason. And now, thank God, during the offseason I don't have to work (get a job). On the field, I'm proud of being consistent. I still have to work on a few things, but I think things will just get better.

MLB.com: What do you think you'd be doing now if you weren't playing baseball?

AS: I'd probably be in college, maybe studying psychology or be a real estate agent.

MLB.com: Do you have other hobbies or creative outlets aside from baseball?

AS: Going to the gym. I'm not a big fan of running or conditioning, but I go to the gym every day and do pullups. And I play video games with my friends. I love "The Show."

MLB.com: Complete this sentence: It would surprise people to know that I...

AS: ...made it because I'm so short.

MLB.com: If you could trade places with one person for a day who would it be and why?

AS: My mother. Because of what she does every day to make me and my sister -- and now my daughter -- better. She's my role model. She got up at 4 a.m. every day to go to work, whether it was raining or snowing. She went through a lot of things that were hard.

MLB.com: Which aspect of life in the Minors do you find to be the biggest challenge and why?

AS: Being away from my family. In the Minor Leagues you don't get paid a lot, maybe $600 every two weeks, and from that you have to pay bills plus you have to pay for your apartment. And having a [child], now you have to buy milk and diapers and pay the phone bill because how else are you going to communicate? That's one of the biggest things I've been through.