Path Was Prologue for Kemp

Matt Kemp’s ascent from raw Oklahoma high school kid to Dodgers phenom was so rapid and direct it’s as if he had a global positioning system attached to his brain.

Any time he contemplated straying from the map laid out by family, coaches and one particularly influential friend, a pleasant yet firm internal voice would remind him:

Please proceed to the highlighted route.

There were few wrong turns or roadblocks, and only one pothole to speak of -- when he got homesick his first year in the minors yet told only his father.

Kemp’s starting point was Midwest City, a suburb of Oklahoma City but a city in name only. Gangs were scarce, sports were plentiful and Kemp was surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. His parents, Carl Kemp and Judy Henderson, were strong figures in his life.

Once Kemp decided during his senior year at Midwest City High that baseball -- not basketball -- was his future, he hit the road and stayed the course, leaving minor league towns in his rearview mirror.

Destination: 1000 Elysian Park Ave., Los Angeles, 90012.

“A lot of people pushed me, everybody was behind me,” Kemp said. “I’ve been blessed that way. I’ve had a clear idea about where I want to be, and here I am.”

There might be no turning back. Kemp, 21, has four home runs, 10 runs batted in and two stolen bases in 33 at-bats since being promoted from double A on May 28. In addition to power and speed, he has an excellent arm and can play all three outfield positions.

“He is a special player,” Manager Grady Little said. “What he is doing with his opportunity and what he brings to the ballclub is hard to ignore.”

Little recognized his talent in spring training, telling Vin Scully that among the plethora of prospects in Vero Beach, Fla., Kemp was the most impressive. Little urged the front office to bring up Kemp after the Dodgers had gone with only four outfielders for weeks because of injuries.

Kemp called his mother, who was on a treadmill at the gym.

“I dropped the phone and started screaming,” she said.

Her vocal cords have gone through a workout. Henderson watches Dodgers games online.

“Every time he hits a home run I scream,” she said. “I can’t even explain the feeling when I watch him. You can tell he loves it. And he’s having fun. All I want for him is to enjoy what he’s doing.”

Henderson, a nurse at an acute care hospital, has always been there for her son, screaming for him but rarely at him. She still calls him by his given name, Matthew.

“He’s always been a good boy,” she said. “He never caused me any trouble. Matthew never wants me to worry about him. He’s always positive.”

A few weeks after signing with the Dodgers in 2003, Kemp had a period of self-doubt typical of first-year players. He was sent to the Gulf Coast League, where games are played in the sweltering afternoon sun.

“That first year I didn’t really care about baseball,” he said. “I was already tired from the school season. I was alone. I was ready to go home.”

He didn’t let on during nightly phone calls to his mom. Dodgers player development director Terry Collins didn’t know. Neither did scouting director Logan White, who had drafted him in the sixth round that year.

His father, however, detected something in his voice.

“I told him to keep his head up,” Carl Kemp said. “He started having fun, that’s when the homesickness went away.”

Kemp didn’t hit a home run until the last game. By the next spring, his enthusiasm had returned and he provided a glimpse of his potential at low Class-A Columbus, hitting 17 home runs and batting .288.

“I really grew up,” he said. “I could see how competitive everybody was. I could see the Dodgers had a lot of good young players.”

He was promoted to high Class-A Vero Beach by the end of the 2004 season and spent the entire 2005 season there, hitting 27 home runs, batting .306 and gaining stature as a prospect alongside Joel Guzman, Andy LaRoche, James Loney and Russell Martin.

Kemp was learning how to play. Next he learned how to work. While playing in the Arizona Fall League last year, he lived with journeyman infielder Junior Spivey, a fellow Oklahoman and noted gym rat.

“We wouldn’t work out for two hours a day, it was more like seven or eight hours,” Kemp said. “He told me not to complain about it, just get in there and bust it. He’s a great friend. He looks out for me.”

Said Carl Kemp: “When he and Spivey hooked up, it was like the light switch came on. After the fall league, I asked Matt, ‘You had that long season, don’t you want to take a month off?’ He said, ‘No dad, it’s time for me to really get to work.’ ”

Collins suggested that Kemp lose the baby fat he carried on his 6-foot-4 frame. He went from 250 pounds to 230, and his body fat decreased from 18% to 8%.

“He reshaped his body in a couple of months,” Collins said. “That just reinforced what I already believed. He’s not satisfied being in the big leagues. This kid wants to be a star.”

Collins, White and assistant general manager Roy Smith were sold on Kemp before spring training this year. New General Manager Ned Colletti and Little were skeptical of the praise heaped on the Dodgers farm system, wanting to see it for themselves.

A few days with Kemp, and they were converts.

“He’s blessed with special talent,” Colletti said. “The sky is the limit.”

Kemp began the season at double-A Jacksonville focusing on recognizing off-speed pitches and cutting down on strikeouts. His greatest learning experience, however, came during a brawl between the Suns and the Mobile (Ala.) BayBears.

The benches had already cleared twice when Kemp was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. He made a comment to the BayBears bench on his way to first base that triggered another melee. Mobile Manager Chris Cron accused Kemp of hitting him in the face and pulled his team from the field, saying the umpires had lost control.

Kemp’s version is that he simply removed Cron’s hands after Cron grabbed him from behind, and an internal Dodgers investigation exonerated Kemp of any wrongdoing.

Collins used the episode as a teachable moment, reminding Kemp that as a top prospect he had more to lose than most players.

“My role has to be to try to calm everybody down,” Kemp said. “I’m the guy who has to stay out of the pile. Other guys will follow my lead.”

He has been a model citizen in Los Angeles. Last week he spent a day at the Salesian Boys and Girls Club in Boyle Heights, playing video games and chatting with kids.

“They told me about murders in their neighborhood,” he said. “I wasn’t around that in Oklahoma. There weren’t really gangs and crime where I grew up. At least not that I was aware of.”

Kemp hasn’t faced much adversity on the field, either. And when he has, it hasn’t lasted long. During his debut at Washington, he struck out in his first three at-bats and misplayed a ball in the outfield. His parents had flown to the game and their hearts sank.

He salvaged the day by hitting a single in his last at-bat, though, triggering a seven-game hitting streak. He homered in his first three home games, is batting .417 with runners in scoring position and homered and singled against Pedro Martinez.

“I didn’t see Joe DiMaggio, but I think he must have been like that when he was that age,” Little said.

Clearly, expectations are growing. Every time Kemp homers, his father gets a call from White, the scouting director.

“Logan told me we’ll have 752 more of these,” Carl Kemp said.

Henderson might want to take care of her voice. That’s a lot of screams.

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Kemp’s fast start

Matt Kemp’s game-by-game record with the Dodgers:

*--* Date Opponent AB R H HR RBI May 28 Washington 4 0 1 0 0 May 29 Atlanta 3 3 2 0 2 May 30 Atlanta 0 0 0 0 0 May 31 Atlanta 3 0 1 0 0 June 1 Philadelphia 3 2 1 1 3 June 2 Philadelphia 3 1 1 1 1 June 3 Philadelphia 4 1 1 1 2 June 4 Philadelphia 4 0 1 0 0 June 5 N.Y. Mets 1 0 0 0 0 June 6 N.Y. Mets 4 1 2 1 2 June 7 N.Y. Mets 4 0 1 0 0 Totals 33 8 11 4 10 Batting average: .333

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