BY MITCH ABRAMSON
“Ethan was the youngest player ever invited to the workout,” said Ian Millman, who ran the practice and coaches the Cardinals senior team. “When Ethan was pitching, all the guys stopped what they were doing to watch. They wanted to see what he could do.”Liederman, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound freshman who can throw 80 mph, is ready for the scrutiny as baseball season gets underway.”I'm excited,” said the Hollis Hills resident. “At first, I was a little nervous, but the guys on the team are so nice and they made me feel comfortable. There's a lot of joking around, and everything is pretty loose. Personally, I don't feel like there's a buzz around me. I'm just trying to go out and have fun.”Obviously, Liederman didn't see the stragglers watching from behind the fence when Francis Lewis played Van Buren in a non-league game Saturday. In three innings of work, Liederman struck out seven, walked two, gave up four runs and drew more fans to an exhibition game than is common. He also hit a home run in his second at-bat and drove in five runs in an earlier game against Thomas Jefferson.”There were people outside the fence watching him,” Francis Lewis coach Randy James said. “That doesn't really happen so early in the season. There was a lot of attention on him.”Liederman has drawn comparisons to Jonathan Lewis, a former pitcher from Francis Lewis who is a senior at Stony Brook and is expected to get drafted this year. James coached both players and claims that Liederman's stuff is better than Lewis' was as a sophomore, although that could be James' enthusiasm coloring his better judgment.As someone who knows about high expectations, Lewis is familiar with what Liederman is going through. “The biggest thing that I would say he has to be aware of is to not try and do everything right away,” said Lewis, who won the Iron Horse award as the PSAL's top player his senior year. “He can't get caught up in all the hype even though he might be winning.”Helping temper the excitement is Liederman's father, Arthur, who works as a lawyer in Manhattan and was a former baseball player at Queens College. Arthur videotapes his games, and Ethan breaks down his performance at home, spending hours in front of the mirror working on his mechanics. He is an honor student with a 95 average, and he reads books on Sandy Koufax and tries to emulate the work ethic of Roger Clemens. “He's not out there until 3 a.m. practicing, but he works on his craft,” Arthur said. “He even asks his pitch count because he doesn't want to overwork his arm. Neither my wife nor I want to be overzealous parents. I go to the games and sit way off in the back, so he doesn't see me. I try not to get involved. I don't manage or talk to the umpire. You're there to be a fan.”Millman has seen parents physically remove kids from games. He saw one parent rip off his son's jersey because the coach benched him. Summer league baseball seems to attract the fanatics. “I don't want to set the bar too high,” Ethan said. “I have four years to play. That's more than enough time to accomplish what I'm going to accomplish. My dream is to play in college and then, like any kid, play in the major leagues. But we'll see what happens.””I hope people don't put too much pressure on him,” said Neil Rosenblatt, his coach on the Team New York Cardinals' 16-and-under-team and the head coach at Newtown High. “Physically, he's over six feet, but it's tough for a freshman to come into a situation where everyone's watching him. You don't want it to be like Danny Almonte, where people are hovering around him like vultures on a dead carcass. The kid should be handled with tender loving care.”Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by E-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
