Craig Kimbrel stood at his locker in the Braves' clubhouse last Thursday afternoon, answering the question he had answered dozens of times before.
"If it happens, that's fine. If it doesn't, that's fine. I'll go home and see my family," he said when queried about the possibility he'd receive a late invitation to the Major League All-Star Game.
Kimbrel's trip home to Huntsville has been cancelled. The late invitation came through.
The 23-year-old Kimbrel, barely three years after being drafted into pro baseball, was named Sunday as a replacement pitcher for the National League All-Star team.
Kimbrel is filling in for the Giants' Matt Cain, who started for San Francisco Sunday night it its win over the Mets and would thus not be ready to pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game in Phoenix.
The Braves' rookie reliever, who played at Lee High School and then at Wallace State (Hanceville) before Atlanta drafted him in June 2008 in the third round, has 28 saves this season, the most ever by a rookie reliever before the All-Star break.
Kimbrel is 2-2 on the season with a 2.35 ERA. His 70 strikeouts lead all relievers and his 28 saves are tops in the National League. He has not allowed a run in his last 14 appearances and has allowed only three hits and three walks in his past 10 save opportunities.
He is the first Huntsville native named to an All-Star team since Jimmy Key, the former Butler High player, who was four times an American League All-Star (1985, 1991, 1993 and 1994). Key was the starting pitcher in the 1994 All-Star Game.
Don Mincher, who also played at Butler, was a two-time American League All-Star, in 1967 and 1969.
Kimbrel is joined on the All-Star team by his bullpen mate Jonny Venters, typically the set-up man to carry the game to Kimbrel's ninth-inning work when the Braves have the lead. Chipper Jones was originally selected but won't play because of knee surgery.
Brian McCann is the starting catcher and speculation is that Jair Jurrjens will be announced Monday as the NL's starting pitcher.
In other locally-related All-Star news, former Huntsville Star Ryan Braun, voted onto the NL team as a starting outfielder, will not be on the team because of a calf injury. However, two other Brewers, first baseman Prince Fielder and second baseman Rickie Weeks, are in the National League starting lineup.
Detroit's Alex Avila, a former University of Alabama catcher, will start for the American League.
