| Cuban star Chapman says no drama in defection

Cuban-star Chapman-says-no-drama-in-defection NEW YORK - Aroldis Chapman simply left his room at the Domina Hotel in Rotterdam last July and went down to the lobby.

The Cuban pitchers defection during a tournament in the Netherlands lacked any of the drama a movie scriptwriter would want.

It was pretty straightforward, he recalled. I just walked out of the hotel, got in the car and left.

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Separated from his parents, sisters, girlfriend and an infant daughter hes never seen, the 21-year-old left-hander with a 100 mph fastball embarked for a career in the major leagues.

He is being courted by the New York Yankees and Mets, the Boston Red Sox and likely other clubs. Team executives say figures of $15 million to $50 million have been mentioned, but no one really is sure of a possible price for a pitcher who has never been on a U.S. professional team.

Hes a once-every-40-years player, says Chapmans agent, Edwin Mejia.

Chapman was all blinged out during a 45-minute interview Thursday at the office of The Associated Press, wearing a large, shiny watch and gleaming earrings.

He gained attention during the World Baseball Classic in March, when he pitched well against Australia and badly against Japan.

Then he contacted a friend from Cuba before the World Port Tournament, an event that included the national teams of Cuba and the Netherlands, and Japanese and Taiwanese teams that mixed minor leaguers and industrial players.

Afraid of leaks, he didnt tell any of his family members — not even pregnant girlfriend Raidelmis Mendosa Santiestelas — that he intended to defect.

I only spent one hour at the hotel thinking about what to do. I made the decision, stepped away from the hotel and got into the car, he said. Everything was planned from a few months before the tournament. I discussed the idea with a friend and made the decision to do it — never thought about doing it during the Classic. It was something that I was seeking before the Classic, but I didnt want to do it in the Classic.

He spoke by telephone with his family within a day of his defection, and hes spoken with them frequently. His daughter, Ashanti Brianna, was born a few days before he walked out of the Rotterdam hotel and started a journey that led him through Spain and to tiny Andorra in the Pyrenees, where Chapman established the residency that allowed him to become a free agent under baseballs rules. If he had become a U.S. resident, he would have become subject to the amateur draft.

Cuban pitchers have been successful in the major leagues, although none has risen to the elite group in recent years. Half-brothers Livan Hernandez, with a record of 156-151, and Orlando Hernandez , and Jose Contreras have achieved the most fame in the past decade.

When asked which pitcher he most resembles, Chapman didnt pick one of his countrymen but instead said 6-foot-10 left-hander Randy Johnson.

Chapman got a short taste of what the major leagues are like when he sat in the stands last month for Game 6 of the AL championship series at Yankee Stadium.

I would think of what pitch would I throw this batter and things of that sort, he said. There were many that were the same as what I was thinking. There were a few that werent, but not all pitchers are the same and some think differently. I can maybe depend on my fastball a little more than some other pitchers.

He showed a raw talent at the WBC, where he was 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA over two appearances. He struck out eight but walked four in 6 1-3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits.

While his stats were mediocre, he fastball impressed. He says he also throws a curveball, slider, changeup and splitter.

My best pitch is my fastball, he said confidently. Its probably the most difficult pitch to hit. In my case, batters have very little reaction time.

Yet, he knows there is work to be done.

I feel that I need to improve a bit my control, but not so in the execution of the pitches, he said. I feel that I have sufficient repertoire to pitch in the major leagues. I dont foresee problems to play in the major leagues.

Yet, he knows hell have to prove himself again on the spring training fields of Florida or Arizona.

If a team wants me to go to the minors to get ready and prepare, thats what Im going to do and I will show that I should be pitching in the major leagues, he said.

He was a first baseman primarily until he was 15 or 16, when a school pitching coach suggested a change. By the 2005 season, he was 18 and pitching for Holguin in the Cuban national league.

Chapman is expecting one very big difference in the major leagues — one hes already noticed while in New York the past few weeks.

I dont like the cold, he said. But as along as you warm up properly and you build up a nice sweat and keep your body warm, your arm warm and loose, you should be fine.

As far as the fans, he says theyre pretty much the same, except for the language.

Theyre loud. They yell things at you, he said. I just dont know what theyre saying here.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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} - | Cuban star Chapman says no drama in defection |

| Space junk buzzes station while crew sleeps

Space-junk-buzzes-station-while-crew-sleeps A small chunk of space trash made an uncomfortably close pass by the International Space Station late Friday, but not close enough to force the astronauts aboard to take shelter in their Russian lifeboats.

NASAs Mission Control woke the six astronauts on the station from their sleep late Friday as the space debris approached, but ultimately decided not to send the crew into their Soyuz spacecraft to ride out the orbital trashs near miss. The astronauts were told they could go back to sleep.

Sorry we had to do it that way, and we had to wake you up in the middle of the night, the stations Russian Mission Control radioed the crew. The debris was projected to fly within 1,640 feet of the orbiting laboratory Friday night at 10:48 p.m. ET.

Sending the astronauts into their Soyuz lifeboats would have been a precaution only. Earlier Friday, NASA officials said the space junk posed no threat to the station or its crew, but news of its close approach came too late to steer the massive orbiting lab clear using its Russian thrusters.

Its pretty unusual, Kirk Shireman, NASAs deputy station program manager, told Space.com Friday. I wouldnt be surprised if the need to do it for this goes away.

That is exactly what happened. A closer analysis of the object by NASA Friday found it to be a small, 2-inch piece of space trash that would not hit the space station.

Good news, NASAs Mission Control told the station crew. The tracking data has come through, and shown that the conjunctions no longer a threat to station.

The object was very small, making it difficult to track initially, NASA spokesperson Rob Navias told Space.com. Station astronauts thanked Mission Control for the news and said they were looking forward to grabbing more shut-eye. They headed back to their sleeping quarters at about 4:30 p.m. ET and were due to begin their Saturday in space after the debris passed by.

Ill get around to all my crew members here, and we can go back to sleep, said station commander Frank De Winne, a Belgian astronaut representing the European Space Agency. Thanks a lot for working all this tonight, Houston.

The space station is currently home to two Americans, two Russians, a Canadian and De Winne, who commands the teams Expedition 21 mission.

This is not the first time a piece of wayward space junk has come close enough for astronauts to consider taking refuge in their Russian lifeboats.

A close pass by an old rocket engine remnant sent three station astronauts into their Soyuz spacecraft in March. Since then, however, the space stations crew size has doubled to six astronauts, so two Soyuz vehicles are currently docked to the station.

NASA also delayed the departure of a Japanese cargo ship from the space station last week because of a space debris threat.

NASA typically prefers to move the space station when the odds of a space debris impact are within a 1-in-10,000 chance. Astronauts take shelter when debris is expected to fly within a so-called red zone and the space station doesnt have time to dodge, Shireman told Space.com.

There is also a pizza box-like buffer around the station that mission managers prefer to keep free of any debris. That safety zone extends about 15 miles around the space station, as well as about a half-mile above and below it. The station flies in an orbit about 220 miles above Earth at a speed of about 17,500 mph .

But a debris avoidance maneuver – as dodging space junk is known at NASA – can take days to plan. The space stations Mission Control team did not have that opportunity because of the short lead time, Navias said.

Space debris has been a growing threat for manned spacecraft and other satellites in orbit.

The collision between two communications satellites earlier this year brought the issue to the forefront. That smashup, as well as Chinas intentional destruction of a satellite during a 2007 anti-satellite test, have sparked a renewed push to better track, and possibly reduce, the more than 20,000 pieces of space junk currently watched by various agencies.

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