Independent League T-Bones pitcher joins A’s

Justin James’ season began with the independent league Kansas City T-Bones, where the schedule took him everywhere from Fargo, N.D., to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Now he’s at Yankee Stadium. That’s where James, a right-handed reliever, joined the A’s after getting promoted from Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday along with reliever Ross Wolf. His first major league call-up came 12 days shy of his 29th birthday. “It’s really unbelievable,” James said before the A’s 4-3 loss to the Yankees. “I didn’t expect that this would happen this year, coming from independent ball. I’m as happy as I’ve ever been.” A fifth-round pick by Toronto in 2003, James was dealt to Cincinnati after the 2007 season. After an arm injury sidelined him for most of 2008, he was released during spring training 2009. He latched on with the T-Bones — the closest independent league team to his home in Yukon, Okla. “It was a battle being there knowing you’re on the bottom end,” James said. “You’re not in organizational ball, but I think it kind of makes you work a little bit harder.” The A’s signed him to a minor league contract June 19, and between Double-A Midland and Sacramento, James had a 1.83 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 391/3 innings. — Oakland Tribune