The Moose
Have you ever seen a player and thought to yourself, this guy is going to be a huge star? Outfielder Mike Marshall was that for me. Mike was born on January 12, 1960, in Libertyville, Illinois. He graduated from Buffalo Grove High School. Mike was drafted by the Dodgers in the…
Have you ever seen a player and thought to yourself, this guy is going to be a huge star? Outfielder Mike Marshall was that for me. Mike was born on January 12, 1960, in Libertyville, Illinois. He graduated from Buffalo Grove High School. Mike was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round of the June amateur draft out of high school.
He was assigned to Lethbridge at the rookie league level in 1978 at the age of 18. He showed considerable promise and pop, hitting .324 with 12 HRs and 70 RBI’s in 65 games. He had an OBP of .395 and an OPS of .934. At 19 he was assigned to Lodi of the California Class A league. He was an even better .354 with 24 HRs and 116 RBI’s. He added 22 stolen bases and only struck out 15 more times than he walked. His OBP was .431 and he OPS’d 1.005.
They moved him to AA in 1980 at San Antonio in the Texas League. He again did very well hitting .321 with 16 HR’s and 82 RBI’s He struck out 11 times more than he walked. He only stole 6 bases, but his OBP was,423, and his OPS was .917. So naturally, his next stop was going to be AAA. You do that well your first 3 seasons and a team is going to notice you.
It would have been hard not to notice the 6’5″ 215 pound Marshall anyway. So in 1981, he went to the Dodgers AAA team in Albuquerque and believe it or not, had his best season yet. In 128 games he hit .373, had an OPS of 1.120, and OBP of .445. He slugged over .600. He hit 34 HR’s and drove in 137 runs. That earned him a call up to the Dodgers who were on their way to winning a pennant and a World Series. It was not an earth-shattering debut, as he hit .200 in 14 games with no HRs and one RBI.
Back at Alb to begin 1982, he played in 66 games, hitting .388 with 14 HRs and 58 RBI’s. He was called up to the Dodgers and hit .242 in 49 games. 5 HRs and 9 RBIs. He did have elevated K numbers, but stuff like that is expected at that age. He was 22 years old… and he would not return to the minors the rest of his career as a Dodger.
1983. He became the primary RF for LA. He played in 140 games, hit a solid .284 with 17 HRs and 65 RBI’s. His OBP was .347. He hit .133 in the playoff loss to the Phillies with 1 HR. In 1984, Mike hit. 257. His HR output increased to 21, but he had only 65 RBI’s again. He dropped his K’s to under 100, and his OBP dropped a few points. But he made what would turn out to be his only All-Star nod.
1985. His statistics across the board got better. .293 BA, .342 OBP, OPS of .857. 28 HR’s, 95 RBI’s. But he struck out 137 times. He would never top 100 again. His playoff performance against the Cardinals was a little better. He did hit 2 HR’s in the losing effort. 1986. The 26-year-old battled some injuries and only played in 103 games. His stats nose dived accordingly. .233 Avg. He did manage to hit 19 HRs. But his OBP and OPS dipped a lot.
1987. Mike rebounded nicely. But still only played in 104 games. But his BA improved to .294. He hit 16 HR’s and drove in 72. 1988, the Dodgers World Series year. Mike’s BA dipped a little to .277. But he hit 20 HR’s and drove in 82 for the champs. He hit .233 against the Mets and drove in 5 runs in the playoffs, and then hit .231 against the A’s in the series and had a HR and 3 RBI’s.
1989: Mike again battled some injuries, and played in only 105 games. His HR and RBI production went way down to 11 and 42. He hit only .260. So after the season, the Dodgers traded Mike and Alejandro Pena to the Mets for Juan Samuel. And I must admit at the time, I hated that trade.
Mike struggled with the Mets and was traded mid-season to the Red Sox in a deal involving minor leaguers. He fared a little better with Boston in 30 games hitting .286 with 4 HRs. He started the 1991 season with Boston but was released in July. He signed with the Angels, but played in only 2 games and was released in August. In 1992 he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese League. He played 66 games there and retired from baseball.
Mike played 9 years for the Dodgers hitting .271 with 137 HRs and 484 RBIs. He played the outfield and some first base for them. He was one of those guys I kept waiting on to have a real bust-out year. It never happened. He had been one of their best minor league hitting prospects in years. Of course, in 1993, Piazza showed up and blew past them all.
Marshall got into managing in 2000 managing for 3 years in the Northern League. He then managed El Paso in the Texas League for 2 years. He was manager, team president, and general manager of the Yuma Scorpions of the Golden Baseball league in 07 and 08. After working as a manager and team president of the Chico Outlaws in 2010 and 2011, he was named manager and vice president of field operations for the San Rafael Pacific’s club for 2012.
Mike currently is the commissioner of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. He is married with 2 children, Michael A. Marshall Jr., and Marcheta Kay Schroeder. He briefly dated Belinda Carlisle of the band the Go Go’s. He has 2 World Series rings. 1981 and 1988. Always thought the Moose would be the next coming. But he was pretty good when you get down to it. Injuries took their toll and he was done at 31.
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Discussion (116)
Disagree, not disagreeable
DODGERS ACTIVATE EVAN PHILLIPS
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Evan Phillips from the injured list and optioned right-handed pitcher Mitch White.
Phillips, 26, has been sidelined with a right quad strain since August 20 and has appeared in one game for the Dodgers this season, recording the win in 2.1 innings of relief on August 19 against the Mets. On the year, he is 1-0 with a save and a 3.38 ERA (2 ER/5.1 IP) in two Major League games. He has spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues, going a combined 2-3 with a 7.13 ERA (47 ER/59.1 IP) and 71 strikeouts for Atlanta (2018), Baltimore (2018-2020), Tampa Bay (2021) and Los Angeles (2021). In his minor league career, he is 19-20 with a 3.76 ERA and 306 strikeouts in 187 games. He was originally drafted by the Braves in the 17th round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of UNC Wilmington.
White, 25, suffered the loss yesterday, allowing three runs in 3.1 innings against the Rockies. On the season, he is 1-2 with a 3.49 ERA (15 ER/38.2 IP) and 41 strikeouts in 18 games for the Dodgers. The former second rounder out of Santa Clara University is 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA (12 ER/41.2 IP) in 20 career MLB games.
Parece que los Giants perdieron 2 abridores por covid, por lo tanto tendran juegos de bullpen conta cerveceros, creo que si nosotros nos aplicamos contra Atlanta podemos ir a San Francisco 1/2 juego arriba. El corral de ellos ha sido muy efectivo este año pero con esta situación del covid quedará muy agotado para el resto de la temporada regular y si no aprovechamos esto para alcanzarlos, ya no lo haremos este año.
Brewers jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Giants who are having a bullpen game tonight.
Well, the good news is Tony and Clayton supposedly had great sessions during the sim game today. It sounded like Tony needs to do a bullpen session then go make a 3 inning minor league rehab start before he’s activated. Clayton needs a pen then a 2 inning sim game before he bullies Doc into taking him off the IL. Smash them together and you have a starter. Smash Price and White together and you have another.
Doc gave himself some wiggle room regarding Belli and lefties saying that he might not do it every time we see a lefty and “for now” this is how it is. He says he can use those days to get stronger and work on his mechanics. This is good motivation for Belli. Hit or sit. Hopefully CT3 can crush those lefties while Belli’s out.
No sooner than the words got out of Joes mouth, Muncie is 2 for 32
AND BOMBA
Mookie bobble head BOMBA !!!
And kudos to Will the thrill, I like that Bear
A few years back I had an opportunity to ask Mike a number of questions at a public event. He was owner/field manager/general manager/groundskeeper/consessionaire/ etc, etc… of the San Rafael Pacifics, a new independent league team at the time.
Mike was surprisingly very open and he expressed remorse about how he was perceived as a player but admitted that he could have given a better effort and played through some of the injuries. I found him to be a very personable fellow and he spoke with positivity about the Dodger organization and the Lasorda years.
He had just given a presentation to area residents about the new league and was marketing the game and his team to a crowd made up of primarily Giants fans. He loved the Giant-Dodger rivalry and he talked a lot about it and the the dust up he had with them during the ‘88 season. If I remember correctly he homered in extra innings after Roger Craig had twice walked Pedro Guerrero intentionally to face Marshall. Mike took umbrage and after hitting it out, gesterured quite vociferously at Craig as he circled the bases. It is seen periodically on Giant-Dodger rivalry video clips.
I’ll have to dig up my notes on that event. I believe it was in 2012. I’d have to disagree with Mark though because I actually found Marshall to be quite quit witted and knowledgeable of the game. I think he would be quick to admit he was a bit of a rock head when he played, but maturity hits us all at different times I suppose.
I also chatted with his wife as well and gave her a photo I had of Mike, Shelby and Steve Sax celebrating an NLCS win against the Mets after Shelby caught the final out of game I believe. About a week later I received the photo back in the mail and it was signed by Marshall with a very nice note. It is framed and now displayed in my office.
The energy is biiiiig different
Ya think the Dodgers are reading this column.?
NOT!
Timmons, COVID didn’t diminish your sense of smell! Especially with the Dodgers! Can you please start sniffing around my investment portfolio!
Before anyone wants to blame Roberts or Muncy, it doesn’t matter, Urias isn’t going to pitch more than 5, or possibly 6 innings anyway.
This is the 5th Inning, 1 out
The home plate umpire tonight is an embarrassment. His strike zone is atrocious. A couple of those calls against Mookie bordered on being only a strike to a snake. Pitiful, His evaluation at the end of the season would be something I would like to read. HR’s biting LA in the butt tonight. Braves have a ton of power on their team.
Seventh inning …. If the braves tie or win the game, don’t blame Roberts for taking Urias out of the game please !!
2 days in a row reading a lot of nonsense about blaming Roberts
Hopefully Dodgers can hold on to this one as Giants lost.
Was that a save or a scare Treinen just got? 1.5 GB, let’s go.
Whew!!!! That’s all I can say, very exciting game
Definitely puckered me up, to say the least
Nice that Mookie’s mom was sitting in the front row, to see him Homer on his bobble head night.
Great win. Treinen had to wiggle off of the hook and he did it! All the scoring on HR’s. 30 games left. 1.5 behind the Giants who have one more game to play than the Dodgers do and it will be Thursday against Milwaukee,
Can you imagine this Brave power lineup with Ozuna and Acuna! Another base running blunder tonight! Fundamentals not a strength for us! Let’s hope the Giants finally run out of magic!
Keibert Ruiz 1 for 4 today
Mark, thanks for the kudo. Alas, no, I am not related to DBM. I sure wish I’d had the chance to meet her.
OKC lost to Las Vegas 6-4 Bibens-Dirkx got the loss. Lux, Beaty and McKinstry had one hit each. Lux drove in a couple of runs. Tony Wolters hit his 2nd HR. None of the other minor league teams were in action. Keibert Ruiz went 1-4 in his DC debut. Josiah Gray got knocked around by the Phillies, giving up 6 runs in 4 innings and lost his 2nd game. DJ Peters went deep for the Rangers. He was 2-4.