Rays/MLB

We have something here

Scott Kazmir's talent and drive long ago made his rise to All-Star seem inevitable.

	[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
	Scott Kazmir has had plenty to get pumped about en route to his first career All-Star Game.

That was nothing new for the 9-year-old from Houston. Even at that age, Kazmir dreamed of overwhelming batters with his fastball and cutting down runners at the plate with darts from the outfield.

On that day, however, the throw from the leftfield fence, about 180 feet from home plate, went to first base without a bounce.

Dave Lymberopoulos, one of the coaches running the PONY League tryout, took notice. Darn good arm, he thought. Perhaps the kid can pitch a little.

Turned out, the kid can pitch a lot.

Kazmir, 22, the Devil Rays' baby-faced left-hander, is quickly becoming one of the American League's best pitchers and was elected by the players to be in his first All-Star Game tonight at PNC Park.

That the process began with a single throw seems so Field of Dreams; like the story of the kid in the stands who makes a great catch of a foul ball and hears the manager yell, "Sign him up."

But Kazmir's parents, Ed and Deborah, insist Lymberopoulos was the first to put their son on the mound and teach him a basic windup.

"It's selfish for me to say I'm the one who made him what he is today," Lymberopoulos said. "But, I mean, in anybody's life there's always somebody who says, 'Hey, give this a shot. This might be something you like.' "

If only Ed had taken him seriously, Lymberopoulos said, when he joked he wanted to be Kazmir's agent.

How is a life shaped? With the good and the bad.

Ed recalled Kazmir intently watching the Astros' Billy Wagner pitch on television and marveling at the closer's velocity.

There were those weekend trips to showcase tournaments around Texas Ed said he used as mini vacations to push the family closer. And Kazmir's first start as a sophomore at Cypress Falls High after he displaced a senior as the No. 2 starter and proved he belonged by striking out 19.

Hanging over it all: the way the family that includes older brother Joey dealt with Deborah's cancer that led to a mastectomy and three other surgeries to reconstruct her breast.

Kazmir was 8 when that dreadful story began. Deborah said he even hated when she went to the hospital for what she told him were "the good surgeries," and he became quiet around the house.

Ultimately, Deborah said she believes the episode developed her son's fortitude.

"Even though he was 8, he was old enough to learn not to take anything for granted," Deborah said, "especially when it hits close to home."

"Of course," Kazmir said. "It was scary to see what was going on. You realize everything can be taken away from you in a blink of an eye."

When it comes to baseball, though, it is best to start with Lymberopoulos.

He said the standard evaluation method back then was to line the kids up at shortstop and see how they fielded grounders. Kazmir missed his ball, and it rolled to the fence.

"A lot of the kids if they missed one stayed right there," Lymberopoulos said. "But before anyone could say anything, he turned and ran as fast as he could to the fence and threw a line drive to first base."

"I just liked to show off my arm," said Kazmir, who mostly played centerfield. "I was always trying some way to get my velocity up. Even at that age, I wanted to throw hard."

Lymberopoulos put Kazmir on the mound, but Kazmir told him he didn't know how to throw from a windup or a stretch. Lymberopolous said he told him to just throw one to the plate.

"He whipped it in there," Lymberopoulos said. "It wasn't right down the middle, but he had velocity. I remember going to my assistant and saying, 'I might be crazy, but his ball has some movement.' "

He said he told Ed, "I'm telling you, we have something here."

Lymberopoulos said he taught Kazmir some basic mechanics and told him to practice every day in front of a full-length mirror.

"He'd close his door, and he could be in there an hour," Ed said.

Kazmir said he still uses a mirror to examine his windup.

Ed said Kazmir was an active kid who wouldn't spend more than 30 to 40 minutes in front of a television before wanting to go outside. He tried community league soccer and high school football but always went back to his roots.

He said there were times Joey, five years older, pleaded with him to be realistic about his future.

"He was like, 'Listen to me. Don't get your hopes up,' " Kazmir said. " 'One in a million makes it and you need something to fall back on.' I said, 'No, I'll do whatever I have to do to be a major-league baseball player.' "

Brent McDonald, Kazmir's former high school coach, said Kazmir threw 95 mph as a junior. That was the season he pitched 23 straight scoreless innings during three straight no-hitters, one of which went nine innings, one of which was a perfect game.

With Kazmir, drafted 15th overall in 2002 by the Mets, and teammate Clint Everts, drafted fifth overall by the Expos, striking out opponents at a staggering rate, McDonald said he changed the way Cypress Falls practiced.

"We concentrated more on hitting because we just didn't have to take many ground balls," he said. "You had to allocate what was best for your two hours, and taking ground balls for us was kind of a waste of time."

Everts said that really was because of Kazmir, Baseball America's 2002 high school player of the year who set a Texas state record with 172 strikeouts in 75 innings.

"Everybody knew he was the guy," said Everts, a right-hander for Class-A Potomac in the Nationals organization. "He always had that drive. Nothing got in the way of him going out every day and being dominant. He just really does have the heart and drive to be the best."

Kazmir, acquire from the Mets in 2004 for Victor Zambrano in one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory, is 10-6 on a team 11 games below .500. He is second in the majors with 125 strikeouts and second in the American League with 9.7 per nine innings.

Just wait until he gets more consistent with his slider and changeup.

"I love him," Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "I'm as impressed with him as any young pitcher I've seen."

"He throws 93 to 95 (mph) with a great slider, and he knows how to pitch," Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla said. "Anybody who has his kind of stuff and has an idea of what he's doing out there, I'll take him on my team."

Funny, that's what Lymberopoulos said when he saw that throw from leftfield.