GaryMrMets
01-02-2002, 11:47 AM
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/news/nym_news_story.jsp?article_id=nym_20010724_marshal l_news&team_id=nym
News
7/24/2001 8:14 pm ET
Â* Â* Â* Â*
Former slugger Mike Marshall finds happiness in minors
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
mets.com
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The paint on the cement block walls in the manager's office at Heritage Park is water-stained and peeling. The clubhouse just beyond the office is cramped, steamy and not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination.
The field itself is nestled between farmland and a graveyard, surrounded by steel bleachers and a small picnic area. And on a clear day, the mountains of upstate New York can be seen in the distance beyond the right field fence. It's certainly not where Mike Marshall figured he would be end up.
It's certainly not the place where one of baseball's most consistent sluggers of the mid-Eighties figured to find happiness.
But there is the 41-year-old Marshall, sitting in that office, camped out in front of the water-stained wall. He smiles and his eyes begin to light up when he speaks about the point in life he has reached. That's because the manager of the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs is as far removed from being a slugger for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Hollywood hills are from the mountains just outside the New York state capital.
"I needed to be humbled," Marshall said. "The majority of people in their forties and fifties have the attitude 'If I only knew then what I know now.' I made poor decisions at times but I can't dwell on the past. I have great memories and had a great career. But I made a lot of mistakes."
It's those mistakes that ultimately put Marshall on the path that would lead him to the Adirondacks. His big league career stretched from 1981 through 1991 and included stops in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Anaheim. He spent nine of those years with the Dodgers, earning a reputation as one of the most respected hitters in baseball. During one six-year stretch with L.A., Marshall averaged 21 homers and 72 RBI, helping the Dodgers to four playoff appearances, including winning the 1988 World Series.
But being a slugger in Tinsel town didn't make Marshall all that happy. Earning more than a million dollars a season for five straight years -- his last three years in the Majors plus two seasons in Japan -- didn't do much to make him a better player or a better person.
It took a while for him to discover himself. Judging from how he is handling life as the manager of a team in the independent Northern League, Marshall's journey was well worth the wait. He is finally content.
"The first three or four years I was in the big leagues, I didn't even know where I was," said Marshall, whose best season was in 1985 when he hit 28 homers, knocked in 95 runs and batted .293 for Tommy Lasorda's Dodgers. "When I was between 25 and 30, we went to the playoffs and won a World Series and I started to get it a little.
"I got married when I was 27, grew up and matured a little, but I was never really that happy. After we won the World Series, I signed a big three-year deal [just over one million a year] and I thought 'I don't have to worry now because I have the big contract.' I got a taste of being rich but I didn't have what I wanted. Then I went to Japan and made good money but it was like 'This isn't doing anything for me.'"
So Marshall walked away from the game, searching for answers. He knew his family was important to him. Mary, his wife, and his children -- son Michael (12) and daughter Marcheta (10) -- played a major role in whatever decisions Marshall made then and continue to do so today.
After leaving baseball, Marshall volunteered as the hitting instructor at Southwest Texas State and at Glendale Junior College in California. He even served as a Babe Ruth League team coach - he took his team to the Ohio State title one year. But when former big leaguer Ron Kittle called in 1999 and asked Marshall to play for the Schaumburg Flyers (outside Chicago) in the Northern League's Central Division, he jumped at the chance. At 39, he brushed off the cleats and went back to work.
"I lost a little power, but I led the league in hitting for about two months," Marshall said. "Kittle was managing, so I went as a player coach for him and got into the independent league that way."
Marshall had planned on playing for the Northern League's Quebec affiliate in 2000 before Diamond Dogs general manager Charlie Voelker gave him a call, asking him if he would like to interview for the vacant managerial position. Charlie Sullivan had been the Albany skipper in '99, leading the team to the Northern League crown. But he left after the season to join the Pittsburgh Pirates as the team's northeast director of scouting.
"I went through a lot of names from October to December," Voelker recalled. "We were looking at [former Major Leaguer] Aurilio Rodriquez but he took a position the Diamondbacks. Mike had played in the Northern League the year before and the president of the league recommended him.
"So we talked a few times and I realized I liked his philosophy about baseball and the way he prepared. There have been growing pains, but each game is better and better. We didn't make it to the playoffs his first year, but we learned a lot from the mistakes we made."
So much so that the Diamond Dogs posted a 27-19 record to win the Northern League's Eastern Division crown in the first half of this year, assuring themselves a spot in the post-season. Marshall, needless to say, beams when he talks about the success his team has enjoyed this season.
"I'm excited," Marshall said. "I feel I accomplished as much with that win in the first half of the Northern League as I did by winning any championship in the Majors.
"We get fives lines in the newspaper. Maybe we got a third of a page in the sports section when we won. It's a big accomplishment, though. I needed to get my feet planted back on the ground and I think I worked harder at this than I ever did when I was playing."
Marshall laughs a little when he's asked what he makes now, pointing out that it is "a lot less that six figures." None of that matters, though. He made tons of money when he was younger and wasn't happy. Now it's about his kids and his wife, about providing stability for them.
He knows he can be a hitting instructor in the minor leagues or even at the Major League level. Marshall says being a bench coach isn't beyond him either. He learned a great deal from his days with Lasorda, saying he has a cerebral approach to the game. But even if a Major League club comes calling now, Marshall may not listen.
The 6-foot-5 slugger isn't so sure that wants to go back to living a "true" baseball life, a life away from his family. Home during the off-season is still Chicago, but that's just for one more year until his son reaches high school. Then Marshall will decide what he wants to do -- perhaps move to a warm-weather climate or to Albany for a year-round position with the Diamond Dogs.
Don't be surprised if he's living in upstate New York at this time next year. Marshall said his clubhouse guy recently quit. So he's there after games with his wife, cleaning the spikes, washing the uniforms, sorting out balls for batting practice the next day. It's not glamorous by any means, but it clearly has taught Marshall what he values most.
"I've knocked my family around a lot and I don't want to do that anymore," Marshall said. "My wife and my children have to come first. I come third and fourth."
Only time will tell where the Diamond Dogs fit in.
"I don't know what his choices are, but he's an organization guy," Voelker said. "Mike would be a great organization guy because he loves to work with the kids and he loves to teach. I have no doubt he'd be a great catch for an organization. I also have no doubt that I would like to keep him."
Keep him in that cramped little office, water stains and all.
Kevin Czerwinski is the site reporter for mets.com
News
7/24/2001 8:14 pm ET
Â* Â* Â* Â*
Former slugger Mike Marshall finds happiness in minors
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
mets.com
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The paint on the cement block walls in the manager's office at Heritage Park is water-stained and peeling. The clubhouse just beyond the office is cramped, steamy and not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination.
The field itself is nestled between farmland and a graveyard, surrounded by steel bleachers and a small picnic area. And on a clear day, the mountains of upstate New York can be seen in the distance beyond the right field fence. It's certainly not where Mike Marshall figured he would be end up.
It's certainly not the place where one of baseball's most consistent sluggers of the mid-Eighties figured to find happiness.
But there is the 41-year-old Marshall, sitting in that office, camped out in front of the water-stained wall. He smiles and his eyes begin to light up when he speaks about the point in life he has reached. That's because the manager of the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs is as far removed from being a slugger for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Hollywood hills are from the mountains just outside the New York state capital.
"I needed to be humbled," Marshall said. "The majority of people in their forties and fifties have the attitude 'If I only knew then what I know now.' I made poor decisions at times but I can't dwell on the past. I have great memories and had a great career. But I made a lot of mistakes."
It's those mistakes that ultimately put Marshall on the path that would lead him to the Adirondacks. His big league career stretched from 1981 through 1991 and included stops in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Anaheim. He spent nine of those years with the Dodgers, earning a reputation as one of the most respected hitters in baseball. During one six-year stretch with L.A., Marshall averaged 21 homers and 72 RBI, helping the Dodgers to four playoff appearances, including winning the 1988 World Series.
But being a slugger in Tinsel town didn't make Marshall all that happy. Earning more than a million dollars a season for five straight years -- his last three years in the Majors plus two seasons in Japan -- didn't do much to make him a better player or a better person.
It took a while for him to discover himself. Judging from how he is handling life as the manager of a team in the independent Northern League, Marshall's journey was well worth the wait. He is finally content.
"The first three or four years I was in the big leagues, I didn't even know where I was," said Marshall, whose best season was in 1985 when he hit 28 homers, knocked in 95 runs and batted .293 for Tommy Lasorda's Dodgers. "When I was between 25 and 30, we went to the playoffs and won a World Series and I started to get it a little.
"I got married when I was 27, grew up and matured a little, but I was never really that happy. After we won the World Series, I signed a big three-year deal [just over one million a year] and I thought 'I don't have to worry now because I have the big contract.' I got a taste of being rich but I didn't have what I wanted. Then I went to Japan and made good money but it was like 'This isn't doing anything for me.'"
So Marshall walked away from the game, searching for answers. He knew his family was important to him. Mary, his wife, and his children -- son Michael (12) and daughter Marcheta (10) -- played a major role in whatever decisions Marshall made then and continue to do so today.
After leaving baseball, Marshall volunteered as the hitting instructor at Southwest Texas State and at Glendale Junior College in California. He even served as a Babe Ruth League team coach - he took his team to the Ohio State title one year. But when former big leaguer Ron Kittle called in 1999 and asked Marshall to play for the Schaumburg Flyers (outside Chicago) in the Northern League's Central Division, he jumped at the chance. At 39, he brushed off the cleats and went back to work.
"I lost a little power, but I led the league in hitting for about two months," Marshall said. "Kittle was managing, so I went as a player coach for him and got into the independent league that way."
Marshall had planned on playing for the Northern League's Quebec affiliate in 2000 before Diamond Dogs general manager Charlie Voelker gave him a call, asking him if he would like to interview for the vacant managerial position. Charlie Sullivan had been the Albany skipper in '99, leading the team to the Northern League crown. But he left after the season to join the Pittsburgh Pirates as the team's northeast director of scouting.
"I went through a lot of names from October to December," Voelker recalled. "We were looking at [former Major Leaguer] Aurilio Rodriquez but he took a position the Diamondbacks. Mike had played in the Northern League the year before and the president of the league recommended him.
"So we talked a few times and I realized I liked his philosophy about baseball and the way he prepared. There have been growing pains, but each game is better and better. We didn't make it to the playoffs his first year, but we learned a lot from the mistakes we made."
So much so that the Diamond Dogs posted a 27-19 record to win the Northern League's Eastern Division crown in the first half of this year, assuring themselves a spot in the post-season. Marshall, needless to say, beams when he talks about the success his team has enjoyed this season.
"I'm excited," Marshall said. "I feel I accomplished as much with that win in the first half of the Northern League as I did by winning any championship in the Majors.
"We get fives lines in the newspaper. Maybe we got a third of a page in the sports section when we won. It's a big accomplishment, though. I needed to get my feet planted back on the ground and I think I worked harder at this than I ever did when I was playing."
Marshall laughs a little when he's asked what he makes now, pointing out that it is "a lot less that six figures." None of that matters, though. He made tons of money when he was younger and wasn't happy. Now it's about his kids and his wife, about providing stability for them.
He knows he can be a hitting instructor in the minor leagues or even at the Major League level. Marshall says being a bench coach isn't beyond him either. He learned a great deal from his days with Lasorda, saying he has a cerebral approach to the game. But even if a Major League club comes calling now, Marshall may not listen.
The 6-foot-5 slugger isn't so sure that wants to go back to living a "true" baseball life, a life away from his family. Home during the off-season is still Chicago, but that's just for one more year until his son reaches high school. Then Marshall will decide what he wants to do -- perhaps move to a warm-weather climate or to Albany for a year-round position with the Diamond Dogs.
Don't be surprised if he's living in upstate New York at this time next year. Marshall said his clubhouse guy recently quit. So he's there after games with his wife, cleaning the spikes, washing the uniforms, sorting out balls for batting practice the next day. It's not glamorous by any means, but it clearly has taught Marshall what he values most.
"I've knocked my family around a lot and I don't want to do that anymore," Marshall said. "My wife and my children have to come first. I come third and fourth."
Only time will tell where the Diamond Dogs fit in.
"I don't know what his choices are, but he's an organization guy," Voelker said. "Mike would be a great organization guy because he loves to work with the kids and he loves to teach. I have no doubt he'd be a great catch for an organization. I also have no doubt that I would like to keep him."
Keep him in that cramped little office, water stains and all.
Kevin Czerwinski is the site reporter for mets.com