SAN FRANCISCO – The Fu tures Game is the one All-Star Game that is played in the afternoon sunshine. This game is all about hope, hustle and future glory. They could call it the Can’t-Miss Game.
Some of its graduates include C.C. Sabathia, Justin Verlander, Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Lance Berkman, Chase Utley and Jose Reyes.
Fans got a peek at the future at AT&T Park yesterday, as did a slew of scouts that included Met GM Omar Minaya and Yankee director of pro scouting Billy Eppler, as the World beat the USA, 7-2.
It won’t be long before Joba Chamberlain is pitching for the Yankees and Kevin Mulvey is on the mound for the Mets. The Mets also had the youngest pitcher in the game, rocket-throwing 18-year-old Deolis Guerra.
Chamberlain is the most advanced of the three.
Remember, Phil Hughes pitched in this game last year in Pittsburgh and Chamberlain is on the same path to success. Some scouts believe the right-hander could be a future No. 1 in the Yankee rotation. Not bad for someone who was working for the Lincoln, Neb., Parks Department just four years ago before winding up at Division II Nebraska-Kearney and eventually the University of Nebraska.
“I was sitting in my living room in Lincoln watching Alex Gordon play in this game last year,” said Chamberlain, who gave up a run in his one inning of work. “To realize [that], a year later, you’re in the same game, it’s unbelievable. This was awesome, the best experience of my life.
“This makes you want to work that much harder,” added Chamberlain, who is native American, a member of the Winnebago tribe.
Chamberlain’s story is one of passion and overcoming obstacles, something Chamberlain learned from his father Harlan, 55, who became sick with polio when he was nine months old. Harlan was in the hospital for the next six years, five months and 11 days.
Though suffering complications from polio, Harlan eventually went on to graduate college and work 27 years in the state penitentiary, managing different living units. Joba has the same dogged determination as his father.
The Yankees took Chamberlain with the 41st pick of the 2006 draft, the second-highest native American ever selected in the draft. Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury, who is of Navajo descent, was taken 23rd in 2005.
Chamberlain’s stock dropped because of triceps tendinitis.
“If it wasn’t for the people that count you out in this game,” Chamberlain reasoned, “a lot of us wouldn’t be successful. A lot of people said I couldn’t do it. Keep saying I can’t do it, because I’m going to go out there and prove you wrong day in and day out.”
Chamberlain started this year in the winter league in Hawaii, made his way to Class A Tampa and then was promoted to Double-A Trenton.
In his last outing for the Thunder, Chamberlain struck out 12. Joba (pronounced Jah-bah) is 6-1 with a 2.38 ERA. He throws 94-97 mph, and his slider has a nasty downward tilt. He needs to polish his changeup before he is major-league ready. He has time. He is only 21.
“I may not be the best guy, but I am not going to be outworked,” said Chamberlain, who worked with Roger Clemens during a rehab stint at Tampa.
Mulvey, 22, has moved up quickly after being selected in the second round of the 2006 draft, out of Villanova. He is 6-8 with a 3.40 ERA at AA Binghamton.
The two New York prospects signed baseballs for one another after the game. Quick-thinking Rockie prospect Ian Stewart pulled the lineup card out of the garbage and had his teammates sign.
Mulvey knows he has to bide his time. “I can’t pack my bags and show up at Shea and say, ‘I’m ready.’ ”
That’s not his decision, but the Future is just around the corner.