He's still Robby Thompson's disciple.

Instead of taking extra grounders at second base, Frandsen will work overtime at shortstop while Omar Vizquel's left knee mends.

A likely regular until Vizquel returns and possibly beyond, if he can wrest second base from Ray Durham, Frandsen vowed to maintain a Minor Leaguer's obsession to prove himself.

"I'm not going to get outprepared," he said Wednesday, on the eve of the Giants' Cactus League opener against the Chicago Cubs.

That was Thompson's mind-set from 1986-96, when he established himself as the best second baseman in the Giants' San Francisco history. Among the legions of fans he won was Frandsen, who breathed black and orange as he grew up in San Jose.

"I was infatuated by the way he played and just how hard he worked," said Frandsen, 25. "As Will Clark would say, he was the right side of the infield, because he covered so much ground -- diving around, playing with so much fire and passion. With a lot of people, they could be really good but there's something missing. With Robby, there was nothing missing."

The ultra-intense Frandsen needs no prompting to deliver a sincere effort. But he received even more motivation during an offseason chat with Thompson, whom he had met and spoken with a handful of times earlier. Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow, a teammate of Thompson's and an admirer of Frandsen's game, facilitated the talk. Frandsen initially had hoped to travel to Thompson's Jupiter, Fla., home and receive tips on playing second base directly from him, but those plans dissolved.

"I wanted to find out what it's like to be a true Giant," Frandsen said. "He's a guy that people jumped on -- fans, teammates and coaches -- because he was well-respected. It's not the easiest thing to talk to someone who's your favorite player growing up because you're kind of tongue-tied. But he makes it very easy. He's very approachable and he understands."

Thompson, who works for the Cleveland Indians as a special assistant to baseball operations, has seen Frandsen perform only occasionally. But he has heard the parallels.

"People said he plays the game kind of like I did, with a grittiness to him," said Thompson, who ranks among the top 10 San Francisco Giants in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, walks, stolen bases and total bases.

Thompson's message to Frandsen was keep it up. Better yet, turn it up.

News and features:

• Giants expect mix-and-match lineups

• Cain fans six in Giants' loss to Mariners

• Giants unhappy with sloppy loss

• Giants' Vizquel set for Minor League action

• Giants' PA voice to work Civil Rights Game

• Mixed results for Giants' Zito in tune-up

Multimedia:

• Spring Training Spotlight: Giants  400K

• Rowand on facing his former team  400K

• Lansford offers Giants status report  400K

• Haft on life without Bonds  400K

• Kline discusses spring  400K

• Correia on his outing  400K

Spring Training info:
• MLB.com coverage  |  Schedule  |  Ballpark  |  Tickets

"You've got to make the best of it when you get a chance," Thompson said. "Don't lose sight of that. A lot of times, players get to the big leagues and quit working when they get there. ... There's an old saying, 'It's hard to get to the big leagues, but it's even harder to stay.'"

Hold onto that daily sense of urgency as if it were a game-ending popup, Thompson urged. "That little bit of an edge is what we need," he said.

How did Thompson sustain that edge through injuries, sub-.500 finishes and that dreadful Candlestick Park weather?

"When I made the team in '86 and you're putting on a big league uniform and playing on a big league field for the first time ... for me, it was very easy to keep," Thompson said.

Thompson's sentiments have been expressed countless times in various ways. Yet nothing about them sounded old or hackneyed to Frandsen, since they confirmed his beliefs.

"When you grow up the way I have, from my parents and everything I've ever done, you learn that working hard is going to get you places," Frandsen said. "It might not happen, but you have to believe that. That's who I am and that's what's gotten me here. And I have to remember that."

Frandsen understands the danger of crossing the threshold between sincere yet controlled effort and frenzied activity. Playing virtually every day at second base last September, he settled down noticeably, batting .370 and reacting naturally instead of anxiously to each ground ball.

"I didn't feel like I had to make things happen," Frandsen said. "When I do that, I know I'm at fault. When I started playing every day and got in my groove, I let things happen."

Frandsen insisted that he'll reach a comfort level just as easily at shortstop. He pointed out that he played mostly short when he made the Arizona Fall League's All-Prospects Team in 2006, although he was named to the squad as a second baseman (Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki, last season's National League Rookie of the Year, was one of the two All-Prospect shortstops).

For Frandsen, playing the right position matters less than playing the game right. Just ask his idol.

"I don't care if they put him out in the outfield," Thompson said. "That everyday approach never changes."