"Travis Hafner's first hit of the spring was a line-drive single to right field on Wednesday.

It's a long way from there to Pronkville. Actually, it hasn't seemed a whole lot shorter from the batter's box at Progressive Field to the second deck the past few years.

Nobody is expecting Hafner to be Pronk, the man, the myth. But with his contract and the Indians' payroll shrinkage making him an increasingly expensive proposition, the Indians better hope Manny Acta is correct when he talks of 30 homers and 100 RBI being in Hafner's wheelhouse.

"We just need him to be productive in the middle of the lineup," Acta said Wednesday. "If he is able to go out there enough I think he can do that."

The 42 homers and 117 RBI Hafner hit in 2006 established Pronkville. Now if the place were any more foreign to Hafner, he'd be getting his passport stamped at customs.

Everybody has a theory for what went wrong. Mark Buehrle hitting Hafner in the face with a pitch. A broken hand. He dismisses those along with the whispers about performance enhancers.

Scouts began chirping privately last year that his bat speed was gone. Once, he never seemed to hack at a bad pitch. Over the last few seasons the hole in his swing seemed to open like a trap door.

"Injuries are part of the game but it's been extremely frustrating," Hafner said. "Hitting is what I've always loved to do and I haven't been able to perform as I'd like. At the same time I just have to keep working at it."

No pressure, but any serious chance of contention for the Indians depends on Hafner being more than a singles hitter in a lineup reordered with Grady Sizemore batting second in part because power is a luxury at the leadoff spot.

Pronk -- part project, part donkey as old teammates Lee Stevens and Bill Selby affectionately proclaimed him -- tries not to think about hitting home runs, or for that matter, justifying his contract.

The Indians owe him $40 million more. He'll make $11.5 million this year, $13 million next and $13 million in 2012. There's a $2.75 million buyout of the 2013 club option.

"You want to go out there and live up to that obviously," Hafner said. "But if you focus on that at all, it's a distraction. Hitting is about keeping everything simple."

Hafner hit 50 to 100 balls three times a week over the winter at the batting cage constructed in his house. He's been able to lift and stay on a program. He doesn't have to manage his playing time or his swings this spring. "