Never looking back, Jimerson steps up

NEW YORK — Refusing to look back has helped Mariners minor-league outfielder Charlton Jimerson stay positive about his baseball life.

Not to mention his real one.

The September roster addition doesn't dwell on what hasn't happened for him baseball-wise as his 28th birthday approaches. On how a 440-foot home run in his first major-league plate appearance last September has yet to be matched by anything as impressive. Or how a Houston Astros team that drafted him twice, first out of high school, then college, cut him loose last spring.

Jimerson learned long ago that he'd be best served looking straight ahead. His rearview mirror contains images of growing up with a mother addicted to drugs, of a troubled father who left his mom and was rarely around. Of his mother shuttling him and his younger brother all around the Oakland, Calif., area, living where they could, be it in homes, apartments, or the occasional homeless shelter.

Stability for Jimerson isn't landing a full-time major-league job. It's being able to go home to the same place to sleep every night.

"I've been through a lot, but I'm still here," Jimerson said this week, having notched a single Tuesday night in a pinch-hit appearance at Yankee Stadium. "I'm still coming."

But there was a time when Jimerson didn't know where he was going. Or what he was doing.

That began to change when, at age 14, a court order enabled Jimerson and his youngest brother, Terrance, to live with their sister, Lanette, then only 19 and a college student at California.

"It just allowed me to have a place to call home," he said. "I think that's something that some people take for granted, being able to come home and you know where home's going to be. I'm not saying I was worrying about a meal every night, but just little stuff we can't take for granted.

"Because my mom was unstable. When she's unstable, then it falls on our part because she was the head of a household. I think moving in with my sister allowed me to be comfortable and worry about the stuff that a 14-, 15- or 16-year-old kid or young adult trying to become a man has to worry about."

Jimerson and his sister had several conversations about his future and looking beyond the life he knew.

"Without her," he said, looking around the visitors' clubhouse here, "I don't know if any of this would have happened."

Lanette Jimerson's first goal was to give her brother some stability.

She talked to him about putting himself in a position to choose his destiny.

"When you come from a background with a lot of moving, episodes of homelessness, alcohol and drug addiction," she said, "being able to make choices is very important."

That message about choice was reinforced when Jimerson was drafted by the Astros in the 24th round his senior year of high school. He opted for college instead.

Jimerson had only heard back from a handful of local schools. But his sister pressed him to look beyond.

He put a resume together and sent it to schools he wanted to attend. Miami accepted him, but on an academic scholarship. After more prodding, Jimerson eventually pursued his baseball dream in Miami as a walk-on player.

He fought for years to play regularly before leading the Hurricanes to the College World Series title and being named Series MVP in 2001.

The Astros drafted him in the fifth round this time. His speed helped him progress through their system until he was called up in September 2005, appearing in one game as a pinch-runner. Jimerson played in the minors last year, then in 17 games for Houston as a September call-up again.

But his reputation as a strikeout-prone hitter limited him mainly to pinch-runner status, and he was released by the club last March.

The Mariners signed Jimerson to a minor-league deal on May 1. He led the organization with 25 home runs and 35 stolen bases at the Class AA and AAA levels combined.

Jimerson has a wife, Reza, a daughter, Alexa, 11, and an 8-month-old son, Tyson, and focuses on how far his "against-all-odds" journey has come when baseball gets demanding.

"I'm able to sit here and deal with 0 for 4 with four strikeouts, because I know there's a lot of other stuff that can be way worse than going 0 for 4," he said.

Jimerson is rebuilding his relationship with his father, Eugene, who he says has turned his life around.

His communication with his mother, Charlene, is infrequent at best. His youngest brother is attending Syracuse, also at his sister's urging. He has two older brothers, Eugene Jr. and Derrell, who left the family home years before he moved in with his sister.

Jimerson keeps in touch, but also maintains a certain distance. He has his own family to worry about now.

"This game is going to throw me a lot of stuff, from all angles," he said. "But it doesn't bother me. I feel like I've won already."

For the record

Streak: L2

Home: 41-27

Road: 33-37

vs. AL West: 22-22

vs. L.A.: 4-11

vs. Oakland: 10-3

vs. Texas: 8-8

vs. AL East: 23-17

vs. AL Cent.: 20-16

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 24-9

vs. RHP: 50-55

Day: 20-20

Night: 54-44

One-run: 21-19

Extra innings: 4-1