Cordero’s wild ride

DETROIT — He flew in from Philadelphia on a charter jet, courtesy of teammate Livan Hernandez. When the two landed in Detroit on Sunday night, a Hummer limousine was waiting to transport them to their five-star hotel.

By the time Chad Cordero sat down at his interview table yesterday afternoon, with a throng of reporters waiting to record his every word, the 23-year-old Washington Nationals reliever couldn’t stop smiling and giggling.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “Sitting in here and looking around and seeing everybody, it’s pretty weird. … My head is spinning.”

Welcome to the All-Star Game, kid.

What a wild ride it has been for Cordero. Two years ago, the unassuming right-hander from Chino, Calif., was closing out College World Series games for Cal State Fullerton. The major leagues, let alone the All-Star Game, was the last thing on his mind.

“Not at all,” he said. “Everything that happened that year, I never thought would happen. I never thought I’d be drafted in the first round. I never thought I’d be called up two months later. Everything that’s happened I’m just thankful for.”

Cordero has enjoyed a remarkable season with the Nationals. The league-leading 31 saves. The microscopic 1.13 ERA. The flawless June, which included 15 saves in as many chances. The perfectly flat bill of his cap pulled down to his eyebrows. The almost-nightly escapes from dangerous jams. Yet the Southern California son of a truck driver went from anonymity to the All-Star Game in about the amount of time it takes his fastball to reach home plate.

Cordero was highly touted coming out of college. He did, after all, record 34 saves and a 2.09 ERA in 111 career games at Cal State Fullerton. But a mere two weeks after getting drafted by the Montreal Expos, there was reason to doubt whether he would pan out as a major leaguer.

The site: New York’s Shea Stadium. The scenario: Cordero would throw a bullpen session in front of Expos coaches, front-office members and most importantly, manager Frank Robinson.

The pressure to perform proved too much for Cordero. He bounced pitch after pitch into the dirt. He estimates he hit the strike zone once in 40 attempts, leaving his manager shaking his head in disbelief.

“I figured I just blew any shot I ever had at making it to the major leagues,” Cordero said.

Turns out he got a second chance to make a first impression. After 19 solid appearances at Class A Brevard County, Cordero was called up to Montreal. On Aug. 30, 2003, he made his big league debut against Florida, an outing that was surely a sign of things to come: He retired the first two batters he faced, walked opposing pitcher Carl Pavano and then struck out Juan Pierre to end the inning.

Cordero wound up posting a 1.64 ERA in 12 appearances down the stretch, then saved 14 games in 2004, his first full season with the Expos.

The rest is history, much to the delight of the Cordero family.

“It’s unbelievable, to be honest with you,” said Edward Cordero, the father who drove his Wonder Bread truck nights so he wouldn’t miss Chad’s games as a child. “We never thought he’d be an All-Star. Even watching him on TV, it’s hard to believe that’s your son.”

Edward Cordero and his wife, Patricia, were just two of 11 family members wandering around Detroit yesterday awestruck by their surroundings. Dad missed only one of Chad’s games growing up; he certainly wasn’t going to miss this one.

“My dad’s real excited,” Chad Cordero said. “He said, ’I don’t care if you play. I just want to meet people.’”

Cordero met plenty himself yesterday. The second-youngest All-Star (behind only 22-year-old Marlins outfielder Miguel Cabrera), he became an instant celebrity. Everyone wanted to know about his consecutive saves streak, the Nationals’ surprising first half, even his favorite Southern California fast-food joint (In-N-Out Burger, for the record).

Thing is, Cordero still isn’t even a superstar in Washington. He shares a modest apartment in Alexandria with teammate Gary Majewski. He walks around town virtually unnoticed, especially without his trademark cap.

“If I don’t have my hat on, they have no idea,” he said. “They’ve never seen my face before.”

And that’s just fine with Cordero. Little about him screams “All-Star major leaguer.” As far as he’s concerned, he’s still the kid from Chino, the one who would rather hang out with his friends playing video games than party in the VIP room of some exclusive nightclub.

He still spends his offseasons back in California, where he and five others share a four-bedroom house in Fullerton. Fame and fortune haven’t changed him yet, and he doesn’t believe it ever will.

“I think I’ll always be this way,” he said. “There’s no reason to change. I feel like I’m still just a little kid playing baseball. I think I’ll stay the way I am. I like it.”