"Gary Brown, the Giants' top hitting prospect, plans to treat himself to his first trip to Hawaii before year's end, and why not? He was a busy man in 2011, conquering the California League, then continuing a marathon first full professional season by playing in the Arizona Fall League.

There, Brown struggled big-time, and the Giants could not have been happier.

Brown was a stud in high school. He was The Man at Cal State Fullerton. After the Giants selected him in the first round of the 2010 amateur draft, the speedster torched pitchers for Class A San Jose in 2011 with just one bad 0-fer in June.

Baseball is a failure-based game. Before Brown comes to the major leagues, to start what the Giants hope is a long run as their leadoff hitter and center fielder, they want the 24-year-old to struggle so he can learn to adjust with his bat and his mind.

In the fall league, which ended Nov. 19, Brown faced pitchers with Double-A and Triple-A experience and could not get untracked. He went 11-for-50 for the Scottsdale Scorpions before he got sick in late October and the organization sent him home for the winter.

"He needed to fail," said Scottsdale hitting coach Ken Joyce, who was Buster Posey's last hitting coach at Fresno and this season worked at Double-A Richmond.

Just before the illness, Joyce told Brown the struggles were good for him, "because, if you fail at the big-league level, you're the guy who gets sent back, and I've seen many times when those guys never make it back for one reason or another."

"All of a sudden, now you're back in the minor leagues. It's the first time they've ever failed, and that's a big burden to carry, especially for a first-rounder."

Brown was not alone. Bryce Harper of the Nationals, who might be the best hitting prospect in the majors, also was hitting in the low .200s in the fall league in October before he finished at .333. The Angels' Mike Trout, who scuffled during his first cup of coffee in the bigs this year, did so in Arizona as well."