By Dan Israeli
The Washington Nationals rookie, who grew up in Long Beach and played at Chaminade, was pitching in just his third major league game, and was about to face Giants outfielder Barry Bond sin an at-bat with potentially historic implications. Bonds was sitting on 755 career home runs, tied with Hank Aaron for the all-time lead, and needed one homer more to claim perhaps the best-known individual record in all of sports.
Bonds's pursuit of the record had been shadowed by the controversy over his alleged use of steroids. What would normally be a national media circus had become an angry national media circus, and every pitcher on the Giants schedule was facing lifelong notoriety.
The first in line was Lannan.
If that wasn't enough pressure, with every pitch he delivered to Bonds, thousands of flash bulbs went off around the stadium, as fans attempted to capture history. For Lannan, the frozen moment in time ended when he got Bonds to pop out in foul territory, prolonging the suspense until the slugger's next at bat.
Sitting in the AT&T Park stands, meanwhile, was Lannan's father, Ed, who was firm in the belief that his son shouldn't fear Bonds. As a spectator, he was taking the same approach. "I had a calm feeling from the get-go," said the elder Lannan, an attorney for AllState Insurance. "From that first at-bat against him I had confidence. I figured as long as [John] felt good, I felt good."
His son was feeling good enough to allow just one run over his seven innings pitched, scattering eight hits and five walks. According to Ed Lannan, John's early struggles with control were more a result of big-league jitters than a true indication of his pitching ability.
"He hasn't pitched up to his potential yet," his father said. "There were also a couple of pitches that could have gone either way, but he really just needs to get back into his groove. He's been successful in working his way out of trouble in his first couple of starts."
Lannan had a rocky debut in Philadelphia, when he was ejected from the game in the fifth inning for hitting two consecutive batters. He bounced back nicely in his second start, at home in Washington, earning his first career victory against the Reds while pitching against his childhood hero, Ken Griffey Jr. It is hard to imagine a more thrilling first two weeks in the majors.
After graduating from Chaminade, Lannan played college baseball at Siena for three years before being chosen in the 11th round of baseball's amateur draft in 2005 by the Nationals. After two years of playing for Washington's minor league affiliates, the Vermont Expos and the Savannah Sand Gnats, he began 2007 on the Potomac Nationals in the Carolina A+ League, still three stops away from the majors.
From that point on, Lannan was on what baseball analysts refer to as the "fast track." He dominated the Carolina League, going 6-0, and was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators in the Eastern AA League. Shortly thereafter Lannan was bumped up another level, to the Columbus Clippers in the International AAA League. Pitching well in that league, Lannan - who was not expected to see the majors in 2007 - got the call up from the Nationals on July 26, to help out a pitching staff decimated by injuries.
Lannan, a left-hander who stands 6 feet 5 and weighs 200 pounds, was raised to be a pitcher. He played Little League in Long Beach, coached by his father and assistant Tom Behan, and was a member of four Long Island championship teams in the competitive Williamsport division, winning a state championship as well.
After pitching at Chaminade, he continued to hone his skills at Siena, and received professional training and conditioning at the All-Pro Sports Academy, under the tutelage of former Yankees and Mets pitcher Paul Gibson.
Watching the Giants game from his Long Island home, Gibson, who still works with Lannan in the off-season, wasn't surprised to see him confront Bonds. "He did exactly what I expected him to do," Gibson said. "Just before the game, I sent him a text telling him to trust his stuff. I told him to pitch the same way he always has."
Gibson has tracked Lannan's progress ever since his first game in the minors, and works with him in the off-season on his conditioning as well as reinforcing what he is learning in the Nationals system.
While he acknowledges that the rookie still has lots of room for improvement, Gibson noted the intangibles that have made Lannan the pitcher he is today. "It's the combo of his mental toughness and his physical abilities that make him special," Gibson said. "He also likes to identify his weaknesses and work on them, while too often players only focus on improving their strengths."
Lannan's mother, Florence, a registered nurse, has also been one of his biggest supporters, and is still grappling with the reality that her son is a professional baseball player. "It's a mixture of feelings, mostly excitement," she said. "I'm overwhelmed, and just so proud of what he's accomplished at this point."
Though she attended all of her son's college games, the change in atmosphere at his first big-league game quickly became apparent to Florence. "I was a wreck," she said. "We're trying to embrace the whole thing, but sometimes the emotions are too strong to contain."
Gibson, who pitched in the major leagues for eight seasons, can attest to the challenge of the transition Lannan is facing. "He's in an environment that is very different, where the business part of the game will become very important," Gibson said. "It's important for young pitchers to keep both their aggressiveness and focus, and not get caught up in the hoopla. Getting to the majors is one thing; staying there is another thing altogether."
In his solid seven-inning stint Monday night, Lannan faced Bonds four times. After walking him in the third inning, Lannan got him to ground into a double play in the fifth, and then had one final confrontation in the seventh. With two outs, Bonds approached the plate with the game tied 1-1. Later on, after the game, Lannan told his father what was running through his mind. "He told me he envisioned in his mind that he was going to strike him out," said Ed. "And he did."
As it happened, the Giants ended up winning the game in the 11th inning on a hit by Randy Winn, who bats just before Bonds in the lineup. By that point, however, Bonds, like Lannan, was already out of the game.
The following day, it was Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik, not Lannan, who made ignominious history by serving up Bonds's 756th home run.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
