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EVENTS
CENTERS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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On the Diamond Seattle finds a future heartthrob in young Jamal Strong
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com SEATTLE -- He's no Ichiro -- heck, he's not even close yet -- but Jamal Strong got a little taste of what it's like to be Seattle's heartthrob Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field. Girls screaming. Fans mobbing him for his autograph. The media all over him. "I wasn't expecting this," said Strong. "This is ..." and his voice trailed off as he shook his head in amazement. Jamal Strong is an outfielder in the Seattle Mariners' farm system, and Sunday he showed up at Safeco Field to play in his first game there. It was the Futures Game, a preview of up-and-comers who someday may make an actual All-Star team. Strong, 22, is playing Class A ball with the San Bernardino (Calif.) Stampede. What he's doing is pretty amazing. He's been in the California League only a few weeks, but he hit .398 in his first 27 games and had a .492 on-base percentage. He's cooled off now, all the way down to .382. And he has 15 stolen bases in 31 games. That, of course, is not why he was getting swamped Sunday before the game, which Strong's U.S. team won, 5-1. What got him all the cheers were his clothes. He wore the red jersey of the U.S. squad for the Futures Game -- with his aqua-billed Mariners cap. That cap was enough to get this Mariners-mad city all gaga over him. "It's like I'm in the big leagues or something," he said, standing on the dugout steps on the first-base side of Safeco Field as he caught balls and programs and caps from fans and autograph seekers. "I guess they think I'm the next big thing or something." Strong very well might be. Last season in Class A he hit .314 with the Mariners' Everett team, stealing 60 bases in 75 games, a league record. Before he was called up to San Bernardino at the beginning of June, he hit .353, had an on-base percentage of .478 and had 35 stolen bases in Class A Wisconsin. When he was introduced with the rest of the 25-man team Sunday, he landed the biggest cheers. It wasn't even close. "I was amazed," he said later. "I knew there would be some fans. But I didn't think it would be like that. "It was a lot of fun. Everyone was calling my name in the outfield when I was out there. It was great." Strong came off the bench in the fifth inning to play center and, in his only at-bat the next inning, grounded out to third on a 3-2 pitch from Alex Herrera of the World team, a lefty who plays for the Cleveland Indians' Class A team in Kinston. Not surprisingly, Strong still got a good-sized cheer after his groundout. That's the way in Seattle right now. Anyone with any connection to the Mariners can do no wrong. No, he's not Ichiro. But, on Sunday at least, Jamal Strong was in the same ballpark.
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