Hot-shot right-hander Joba Chamberlain is the subject of the rookie rendition of Yankees Entertainment & Sport Network's new series, YESterdays.
The show, taking a look back at the formative years of select high-profile members of the New York Yankees and other athletes, will debut with an examination of Chamberlain -- who starred in a set-up relief role for the club last season -- in his younger days in Nebraska on April 11 at 11 p.m.
Taped in front of a live studio audience and hosted by YES’s Michael Kay, YESterdays' featured guest is joined on-stage by family members, childhood friends, and current and former teachers, coaches and teammates. The audience and viewers will hear stories about the guest’s early years in sports, anecdotes about on-field and at-home endeavors, and what set the athlete out on the path to fame.
The initial YESterdays figures to have a strong lead-in: It will immediately follow the regional sports network’s coverage of the Bronx Bombers’ meeting with their nemesis, the 2007 defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
On tap: Alex Rodriguez, whoseYESterdays installment, which has already been taped in Miami, will air in May. A network spokesman said YES plans to air another episodes of the new series sometime later this eason.
ARod will also be the subject of profile show Yankeeography this July. The month before Yankeeography will turn its lenses and the clock back to the 1998 Yankees, the World Series champion and the winningest team in Major League Baseball history.
In August, the House That Ruth Built, which is giving way to a new Yankee Stadium in 2009, will be the star of the show.
The upcoming YESterdays telecast was taped in Chamberlain's hometown of Lincoln, Neb. earlier this year. Among the guests: the pitcher's father, Harlan; his sister, aunt and uncle; his fifth-grade teacher; high school prom date; his school classmates and teammates; youth league baseball coaches; teammates from youth leagues and college; next-door neighbors; and the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs.
