Jun 8, 2006
By KEVIN GRAY, Staff Sports Writer
Londonderry High School's Mike Chambers had no trouble finding a Red Sox cap for yesterday's celebration. Drafted in the 32nd round by his favorite team, he already had an assortment of gear in his closet - not to mention the blanket on his bed.
"I don't have to go out and buy anything because I've already got more Red Sox stuff than you can imagine," he said.
A second baseman who starred at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, Chambers will make a dreamy transition from Red Sox fan to Red Sox employee when he signs a contract the next few days.
Like many other pro hopefuls, Chambers followed the draft on his computer the past two days. Family members at his home on Currier Drive erupted when MLB.com announced the 973rd overall pick.
"I saw my name on the list, and I was in shock. Everybody else in the room was screaming, and I was sitting there looking at my name to make sure it was real," Chambers said. "I couldn't ask for anything better than this."
A gifted hitter with good speed, Chambers led Franklin Pierce with 26 doubles while fashioning an impressive .347 average during his team's 46-win season. Red Sox scout Ray Fagnant had been eyeing the 6-foot infielder the past two seasons.
How could scouts not take notice?
No stranger to Fenway Park, Chambers has homered and tripled in college all-star games played at Fenway. He played twice in the Division II national championship tourney in Montgomery, Ala.
As a high schooler, Chambers earned four varsity letters for the Lancers and battled back from a knee injury (torn ACL) suffered prior to his senior season. Highlights during his American Legion baseball seasons were countless. As member of Londonderry Post 27, he once beat Nashua with a walk-off grand slam and went 5-for-7.
In his first year with Franklin Pierce, he celebrated a Northeast-10 tournament championship on the diamond at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass. - home of the Red Sox-affiliated Lowell Spinners.
Chambers, 22, may wear a Spinners uniform while making his pro debut in the New York-Penn League this summer.
"I feel like I'm going to perform well. I'm ready. Hopefully, I'll be playing there in Lowell and getting a lot of playing time," he said.
The son of Mike and Susan Chambers spent last night at home with his proudest supporters.
"My Dad taught me this game, and he always thought this was possible when I was a young kid. "I think he knew there was something special about the way I played when I was young."
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Chambers was the fifth member of the record-setting Franklin Pierce team to be selected in the first-year draft.
Ravens standouts Garrett Olson (Twins), Daniel Fournier (Diamondbacks) and Shane Presutti (Athletics) were drafted on Tuesday. Conant High's Elliot Shea (Cubs), an outfielder for Franklin Pierce, was drafted in the 45th round yesterday.
For Shea, his dial-up Internet service at home in Jaffrey made for an excruciating two days listening to the draft.
"It was awful. Terrible. It was such a long wait," he said. "We had very, very slow Internet service and the signal kept coming in and out. I was listening all day today and yesterday just biting my fingernails.
"Now I'm just excited and anxious and nervous at the same time. I don't really know much about the Cubs and their farm system, but I'm just going to try my best and work hard. We'll see what happens."
Franklin Pierce coach Jayson King, whose Ravens came within two wins of the Division II national final, has been busy making congratulatory phone calls the past two days. And he spent Tuesday in Norway, Maine, to celebrate with Olson, drafted in the fourth round.
"I'm psyched for all those guys," King said. "When you're young, you dream about things like this. I'm just happy a bunch of guys can have been able to experience this."
