PITTSBURGH — For all of the undrafted, unclaimed and unwanted players who float through independent baseball looking for a break, meet Justin Christian. You’ll find him sitting there, pulling on his road grays, four lockers down from Derek Jeter.

Four years ago he was playing ball in O’Fallon, Mo. Now he calls the Bronx home.

“It’s definitely been an arduous road for me,” Christian said Thursday afternoon while getting ready for the New York Yankees one-night stand at PNC Park. “ Getting here hasn’t been easy.”

A former River City Rascal, Christian, 28, is on his second callup of the season and he started in left field for the Yankees on Thursday. He went 1-for-3, but helped key the Yankees only rally and helped bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of a 4-2 loss. Christian singled and scored in the seventh, and he worked one-out walk from Pirates reliever Damaso Marte before stealing second.

That’s what he does. He uses his speed.

It doesn’t take him long to get from base to base, just took him awhile to get from level to level.

Christian moved from school to school while playing college ball, leaving Auburn one year and landing eventually as an All-American with Southeast Missouri State University. He stole 18 bases and scored 55 runs as a second baseman for SEMO, but he went undrafted that June 2003. A few months, a friend got him a chance to play for the Rascals, in the Frontier League.

“It could be that nobody wanted to take a chance on me, or nobody thought I was good enough — there’s any number of things,” Christian said. “Or, I could have just been overlooked.”

The Frontier League has been known to propel others who have been overlooked.

On the league’s official Web site, there is a list of Frontier alumni who are in organized professional baseball, and who are in the major leagues. River City boasts three players currently on big-league rosters. Lefthanded pitcher Joe Thatcher is on his fourth promotion of the season with San Diego. Christian is filling in for Johnny Damon with the pinstripes, and Cardinals righthanded reliever Josh Kinney continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Kinney was a face for the Frontier following his star turn on the 2006 World Series, as part of the Cardinals rookie-laden Play ‘Pen. Now, the Frontier has George Sherrill, the Baltimore closer just named to the American League All-Star team. 

Of the six players listed as Frontier alum in the majors, only two are position players.

Only one has played this season in the big leagues — Christian.

“It’s fun (in the Frontier League) if you’re just trying to play baseball and have fun,” Christian said. “For me, it was I wanted to play in the major leagues. That’s why I’m away from my family. that’s why I sacrificed so much. I travel. I’m on the road. I don’t see them. I’m away from them. … It’s a sacrifice that’s made. It’s something that I’ve always believed in and never doubt even when things were extremely rough.” 

Christian played well in 2003 for River City, but again went unsigned for the 2004 season by any major-league club. So it was back to being a Rascal. In his first 30 games of the season, Christian hit .450. Baseball America took notice. The Yankees made an offer. A few years later, he was in Double-A and moved to the outfield. In 2006, he stole 68 bases, setting a team record in Trenton and leading the entire Yankee organization. He tiptoed onto the top prospect lists.

Rung by rung, 90 feet by 90 feet, he climbed toward the majors, debuting this season.

He took the scenic path, but still reached his destination.

“I didn’t take the direct route, I’ll tell you that,” Christian said. “I’ve been tested many times. … I felt like I was going to play the game hard, try to play the game the right way every time. If you continue to do that, if you contine to stick it out and be positive, then you cannot help but get your opportunity at some point. It may not be the opportunity that you want, but it wll be an opportunity.”

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Speaking of the ballpark in O’ Fallon … a congratulations to the 39 other Guinness World Record holders who were foolish enough to play a 32-hour-plus baseball game out there last October. The National Baseball Hall of Fame has accepted items from that game — including a bat signed by the 40 participants — into the permanent collection. First Guinness, now Cooperstown. Next: 48 hours of ball?

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Speaking of the Yankees … pitcher Sidney Ponson came to Pittsburgh flush with the success of his superb six innings the night before for the Yankees. This is his second time with the Yankees in his career, and the second time it has been the Yankees that have given Ponson his second chance on a season. He’s pitched well throughout this year, and his velocity remains as peppy as it was that day in Jupiter, Fla., when the Cardinals let him borrow a mound to show off for scouts.

Asked if he’s staying in shape and staying straight, having been ejected by the Rangers and landing with the Yankees already this season, Ponson said: “I have to be.”

A recent article in The New York Times described how Ponson is fitting in.

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Speaking of The New York Times … The paper’s Yankees beat writer Tyler Kepner wrote about what he heard on the radio during the Phillies-Cardinals game the other day: Broadcasters completely baffled by the Cardinals batting the pitcher eighth. We talked about the “Crazy 8″ lineup for awhile yesterday because, get this, Pittsburgh has been using it. Paul Maholm started, pitched exceptional Thursday night, and batted eighth.

Manager Tony La Russa has in the past challenged the reporters who cover his team on a daily basis to track how often batting the pitcher eighth truly costs the team. If it breaks even, La Russa said, he’s going to continue doing it. But his bet is that it works out better — creates more scoring opportunities for his team. We did that with the Pirates game last night.

• In the second, two on, two outs, pitcher up. Maholm strikes out. MINUS.

• But, in the third, nine spot leads off, keys rally with double. PLUS.

• In the fourth, runner on first, two out, Maholm strikes out. No change.

• In the fifth, nine spot leads off, singles, part of rally. PLUS.

• In the sixth, three up three down, No. 8 is out three. No change.

• In the sevevnth, nine spot leads off, walks, scores go-ahead run. PLUS.

If you fixate on the second inning, which many will, than having the pitcher bat eighth was a costly move for the Pirates on Thursday. But, three times the No. 9 hitter started the inning, and all three times Jack Wilson reached base. It helps that the Pirates use the double-leadoff lineup and do so with Nate McLouth as the leadoff hitter. Following the La Russa logic, it means that McLouth starts a game but then appears as damage in the No. 2 spot if the lineup turns over. Which it did Thursday.

McLouth’s homer in the seventh provied the difference.

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Speaking of the Pirates … Marte has taken over as closer with Matt Capps on the disabled list. He was impressive in the role Thursday night. The lefty, one of several that the Cardinals have eyed as a possible addition for their bullpen, consistently threw at 92 mph and 93 mph. He touched 97 mph with a fastball that Jason Giambi could not catch. Marte threw two pitches to Giambi that buzzed the radar gun at 95 mph or better. He got the final out of the game when Jeter bounced a 86-mph slider to first base.

The Pirates appear willing to deal Marte, but it’s apparent in this notebook what the Pirates are going to want: young, rising pitching prospects. Post-Gazette Pirates beat writer Dejan Kovacevic also makes the savvy point that the Pirates are aware that Marte, should he leave for free agency, would probably net a good compensatory draft pick or two in next summer’s draft through baseball rules. Any deal would have to take that into account.

As would the team that lands Marte, because those picks would belong to it if it cannot sign Marte this offseason.

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