The Kid Has Clout

Leaving that disputed clout aside, everyone agrees to the following:

?He has hit a 150-foot home run over a fence at the Irving YMCA field—as a six-year-old playing tee-ball. "None of the parents had ever seen anything like it," says Bobby Stokes, Jason's father and the owner of Lone Star Ink and Supply, a printing company. "He might've been a bit chunky, but he's always had that power."

?He has hit a 500-foot-plus home run over an apartment building against Trinity Christian Academy-Addison ace David Purcey, a hard-throwing lefty who has also been heavily scouted. Earlier this year Coppell coach Dave Curliss had Stokes leading off. In a March game at Trinity Christian, Purcey's first pitch of the game was a 90-mph fastball. Thwack! "Purcey threw it 90, Jason hit it 150," says Curliss. "Up, up, up and over the building. Can't imagine anyone else doing that."

?He has called a grand slam. Playing last summer for the Connie Mack league Dallas Mustangs, Stokes was on deck with two men on, two outs and his team trailing by four runs. "Jason walked over to me," recalls his father. "He says, 'If our next guy gets on, I'm fixin' to hit a grand slam.' " Thwack! Tie game.

?He has hit numerous batting practice home runs onto the top of Coppell's under-construction multipurpose indoor athletic facility, a 20-foot-high building roughly 50 feet beyond the baseball field's left centerfield fence. "I wouldn't be surprised if he clears it one day," says McFadden. "He's strong enough."

Stokes isn't one to brag about the shots, preferring to let others do the talking. Beyond baseball his passions run to hunting, fishing and country dancing. (To his senior prom, Stokes wore a tuxedo jacket, black Wranglers and a black felt cowboy hat.) As a middle schooler he was an equally adept football player, starring as a defensive lineman until his freshman year. "It was easy to quit, because I hate football," he says. "The coaches all told me I was making a big mistake, that I was throwing my future away."

The coveted baseball slugger, the fat kid who ate alone, smiles with delight and says, "It looks like they were sorta wrong."