June 25, 2008
* VIDEO OF CHRISTIAN'S MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT
* JUNE 24 GAME RECAP: PIRATES 12, YANKEES 5
* YANKEES CALL UP SPEEDSTER CHRISTIAN (JUNE 25, 2008, MLB.COM)
* CHRISTIAN'S OFFICIAL MLB.COM PLAYER PAGE
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - It was just a matter of time before former Southeast Missouri State University All-American Justin Christian got the call to the big leagues. Yesterday, the time finally came for the 28-year-old Christian.
After spending parts of six seasons playing professional minor league baseball, Christian was called up and made his Major League debut for the New York Yankees, batting eighth in the lineup and playing left field against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It has been a long road to "The Show" for Christian, who transferred to Southeast from Auburn after the 2001 season and missed the 2002 campaign with a shoulder injury. In 2003, the then-second baseman earned All-American honors after batting .376 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles, three triples and 48 RBIs. His 18 stolen bases and 55 runs scored that season both still rank in the top 10 for a single season in the Redhawks record books.
After going undrafted, Christian caught on with the independent River City Rascals of the Frontier League. He had an impressive showing in 2003, and began the 2004 season batting .450 in 30 games for the Rascals before signing with the Yankees.
Over the next two seasons, the middle infielder worked his way through Single-A minor league clubs, and he earned a promotion to Double-A Trenton in 2006 where he made the switch from second base to outfield. In 2006, he stole a team-record 68 bases while leading the Eastern League and the entire Yankees farm system in the category.
The speedy Christian, who has stolen 235 bases in his minor league career while being caught just 39 times, was promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the middle of the next season, where he hit .325 in the final 40 games of the year. After a successful Spring Training with the big league club this spring, he was batting .309 with four home runs, 39 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 55 games at Triple-A. Christian had been on a tear in the month of June, going 21-for-51 at the plate for a .412 average.
Despite his success in Yankees spring training earlier this year, as well as at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the call came as a bit of a surprise to Christian, who told reporters after last night's game that he expected a September call-up at best.
"It happened a little sooner than I thought," Christian told Brian Hoch of MLB.com. "Luckily, I was able to play well down there, and I feel pretty ready."
He was ready indeed. Making his Major League debut for the Yankees just hours after being scratched from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lineup, Christian went 2-for-4 at the dish, including a two-RBI double in the sixth inning. He recorded his first Major League base hit in his second at bat, a fourth-inning single off of Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny.
"It kind of hit me a little bit, seeing the crowd," Christian said to reporters after the game. "I felt relieved. It was a weird sensation. The hard work I put in through the Minor Leagues, it's kind of weird being here in the Major Leagues. It sunk in quick and it ended quick."
"It's been a grind," Christian said. "It's a dream come true, but I'm trying to keep it all in perspective right now."
"It is really exciting to see Justin with the big league club, especially with all he has gone through," head coach Mark Hogan said, who coached Christian as a member of the 2003 Southeast team that finished 31-20. "It was a thrill to see him with the Yankees last night and to watch him get a pair of hits. He has come a long way since 2002 when he came here and was recovering from a serious arm operation. He went on to earn All-American honors in 2003, and then flourished in the minor leagues, and now he is living his dream in the Major Leagues."
Christian becomes just the fifth Major League Baseball player to play at and graduate from Southeast Missouri State University. He is the first since Kerry Robinson, who completed his eligibility in 1995 and played for five Major League squads over the course of nine seasons. Robinson enjoyed his most success as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played in 344 games from 2001 to 2003. He last played in the Majors in 2006 with the Kansas City Royals.
Christian and Robinson, along with Steve Bieser, are the only Major Leaguers to play at Southeast since the beginning of the modern-era of NCAA baseball competition in 1957. Jack Powell (1911-1912) played in two games for the St. Louis Browns in 1913, and Roy Parker (1918) appeared in two games with the Cardinals in 1919.
