This guy Ian Kennedy was born ready

Jim Baumbach

September 2, 2007

Ian Kennedy wasn't allowed in the Yankees' dugout or clubhouse Friday because he wasn't officially on their active roster yet, so the 22-year-old rookie had to scout the Devil Rays' hitters elsewhere. His parents' midtown hotel room seemed as good a place as any.

So with anxious family members by his side, Kennedy watched the Devil Rays' 9-1 victory on television, taking mental notes on each hitter.

"He was doing his homework," his mom, Teri, said yesterday. At one point, she asked if he wanted a pen and paper. He said no. "It's all up here," he told her, pointing at his head.

They've always known him to be calm under pressure, but even his closest family and friends were impressed by how he handled this eventful week. Just sitting in the first row behind the Yankees' dugout and looking at the enormous crowd behind them was enough to get some of his family nervous. They couldn't even imagine pitching from that mound.

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But Kennedy did it yesterday - rather impressively, too. Asked to make his major-league debut with the Yankees in the middle of a pennant race, he did more than anyone could have expected. He allowed one earned run and five hits in seven innings, and Joe Torre said he "showed a great deal of poise."

His family definitely would agree. Simply staying cool around them Friday night was a chore. "He did a great job of keeping me calm," said his fiancee, Allison Jaskowiak. She's a basketball player at USC, which is where Kennedy was playing baseball as recently as 14 months ago. She got permission from her coaches to leave school, flew here Friday with Ian's sister, Kandice, and wondered how she'd handle herself. "I thought I was going to need the paramedics," Jaskowiak said.

The moment when she just about lost it yesterday came before the game while Yankees assistant GM Jean Afterman led Kennedy's family on a tour of Yankee Stadium. "The first time I saw the field was right when the fans were starting to come in, and I thought, 'Ian is going to be pitching here!"' she said.

She wasn't the only one feeling that way. Regarding Afterman's tour of Yankee Stadium, Kennedy's mother said, "I don't even remember what we saw."

Twenty-three family members and friends representing four states made the trip, including both sets of grandparents. A cousin, Alex Rivers, drove 10 hours through the night from North Carolina. Said Rivers, "I would have sold my soul to watch Ian pitch this game."

Their first glimpse of Kennedy in pinstripes came when he walked back to the dugout after his warm-ups. He has never made eye contact with his family from the field when he is pitching, but he made an exception here. Kandice was waving furiously from their seats behind the dugout, and he looked up and smiled.

They weren't surprised he didn't seem nervous, even though everyone else was. "That's Ian," his mother said.

Kennedy threw only six pitches in a perfect first inning, which he called "an out-of-body experience." But he struggled in a 36-pitch second, giving up a two-out, two-run double to Josh Wilson after Alex Rodriguez dropped a routine foul pop, which made the runs unearned.

An inning later, he got out of a two-on, one-out jam by getting Delmon Young to hit into a double play. That began a streak in which he retired 13 of his final 14 hitters. He needed only 34 pitches in his final four innings.

There already were 15 text messages on Kennedy's cell phone about 30 minutes after the game. "And right now, I can feel it vibrating with more," he said. But before he returned those messages, he had 23 family members and friends waiting in the lobby.

Just how were they going to celebrate? Said Teri, "Whatever Ian wants."