Martins invited guests for Johnny Mac Father’s Day HR
*Don Martin (above) and his son Kirk, so much of a father-and-son combo they were invited to John McDonald‘s Father’s Day homer in 2010.
By Alexis Brudnicki
Baseball is a game of fathers and sons.
Not to be exclusionary of course. Baseball is also a game of mothers, daughters, wives, husbands and many others.
But who wasn’t rooting for the father-son team of Jose and Robinson Cano at this year’s Home Run Derby, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jose’s smile and happy to see Robinson run into his father’s arms when he won? Who wasn’t touched by the game of catch between Ray Kinsella and his father at the end of Field of Dreams? How could anyone not have been affected by the story of John McDonald on Father’s Day 2010?
Two days following his father’s passing, McDonald, who currently has a grand total 21 home runs in 13 seasons, hit a pinch-hit homer after promising his dad he would “hit his next one for him.”
Among the fans in attendance for that special moment was a group hosted by McDonald himself. They were there as part of a tradition he and his father started when he was with the Cleveland Indians, and later brought to Toronto. Contest hopefuls submitted short essays on what their fathers mean to them and why they wanted to be a part of the Father’s Day event.
One of the 25 pairs of winners was another father-son baseball duo. Kirk Martin, baseball director of Cardinal Sports Management and assistant director of the Winter Baseball School (WBS) in London, Ont., submitted an entry about his father Don, and the two were welcomed to the event.
Don Martin, the owner and director of WBS, has almost 50 years of baseball experience, as a player, scout and as a coach. The southpaw played his entire career in London, starting on a junior team and ending up with the Majors. He was scouted by both the Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles, and though it didn’t go anywhere, he was proud to be looked at.
When he later started taking his son to a baseball school in Sarnia, Don got in touch with, Rick Birmingham, a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Birmingham wanted his old friend to join him as a bird-dog scout, and so Don took on the local area of south-western Ontario, recommending players for the Dodgers.
“There was a fair amount of talent,” said Don, of his area. “At that time though, it was a lot harder to get into, than with all the teams there are now. And your opportunities now are a little bit better as a Canadian. When I was scouting, I believe there were only 25 working visas for a club and that was right straight down through [the system]. So for Canadians, it was tougher for them to get in at the time, and over the last 10 years I think it’s improved a lot there.”
There’s also been a significant improvement in the level of play and competition for high-school aged Canadian ball players since the Martins were first involved at that level together. Don was a part of the development of the Lower Great Lakes Seahawks, a team on which Kirk played and Don was the pitching coach when they won the Michigan State Regional and were consolation champions in the World Series in 1994.
“The Seahawks were like the pioneers for an elite program,” Kirk said. “The Seahawks were the first original group of guys collected from anywhere in Ontario to play at an elite level across the border. We played teams all the way down the States. So all the teams now like the Terriers and the Mets and all these other programs, I like to think that the Seahawks were kind of the first team to actually do that.”
At the time however, the concept wasn’t as popular or as accepted as it is now, though it still had its own success.
“We were actually classified an outlaw team because at that time, Baseball Ontario wouldn’t recognize us and wouldn’t let us play in the OBA at all,” Don said. “That’s why we played all our games in the States and they came to us in Courtright. Don Gardiner was the head man of that and his son Mike went on to play for Seattle and Boston.”
Don’s own son went on to play in college, first at Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, and finishing at Division I Eastern Michigan University. Kirk then signed with the Madison Black Wolf out of the Northern League but sustained an injury right before spring training. When he came back, he spent about a decade playing ball with the London Majors and helped his dad out with the baseball school he’d started.
The elder Martin set out to start the school in 1991. At first it just seemed like a good idea, something that would keep him from driving his wife crazy. Don thought it would be great if he could get a dozen kids or so in Ingersoll and help them out with the fundamentals of the game. Much to his surprise, he had about 80 enrolled in the first year of what would become the WBS.
More than 20 years later, Don now travels to different gymnasiums in Ingersoll, London, West Lorne, Brantford, Woodstock, and Norwich almost every night of the week. His business functions solely on word of mouth, and has had continued success over the years.
“It’s been a popular program which is great,” Don said. “And I think we give more than just instruction. Myself and my staff, and I know Kirk’s the same way, I take a personal value on each student that’s in my ball school. I want each student to do the best that they can in their skill and yet try to give them some life skills too. I feel we give more to our program than just trying to improve your skills.”
Added Kirk: “It’s not just a baseball workout. It’s developmental, as an athlete and a person through the years. And dad is one of the only guys I know, not being biased, but if he’s got 240 kids in his ball school he knows them all by name, he knows their parent’s name, he knows what’s going on with them. And well I could have a tough time doing that. That’s a testament to him that he does take on that personal investment in the kids.”
With other baseball programs in the area, including but not exclusive to those run by Adam Stern and Mike Lumley, WBS stands out because it takes on not only boys, but also girls, from all ages and all levels of development in the sport. But whether they’re in his school or another, Don and Kirk are just happy when kids have a chance to play baseball.
“You’re not going to beat Centrefield Sports for their facility,” Kirk said of Stern’s baseball complex in London. “I’ve travelled across Canada and seen indoor facilities and it’s bar none the best in the country. And I sat down with Adam last week and we talked about our two different businesses and how we’re more than happy to share clients with him … because he teaches the right stuff. That’s the bottom line. As long as they’re getting the right teaching and the right skill development then that’s all that really matters.”
While Don carries a certain level of pride for everyone who comes through his program, his most recent highlight is having two players come back who have found pro success. WBS now includes instruction from program graduates Shane Davis (Belmont, Ont.), signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 42nd round of the 2011 draft and Brandon Dailey (Brantford, Ont.), drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 34th round of the 2010 draft. Both players approached the school about coming back and helping out and just enjoy giving back to the program that they took part in.
“They had a good experience with the ball school and they realize it’s a good grass-roots level for these guys to develop,” Kirk said. “And by no means are we saying that we got Shane Davis or Brandon Dailey to the professional level. But from the ages of nine through 13 they were always with us. And that’s where they honed their skills to be able to get to those elite teams and programs.”
Since joining Cardinal Sports Management, Kirk has made a full-time job out of getting baseball players to elite teams and programs. He started the baseball division of CSM from the ground up and in his first year, made the prestigious Top 100 Most Influential Canadians in Baseball list, an accomplishment he takes much pride in.
“I was ecstatic about it,” Kirk said. “I was surprised because of how fast we came out of the gate with Cardinal. But it was a year of hard work and we did a ton of legwork with it. And Justin Bye, my Western representative, he came through the ball school and is now working for me out west and we both put a lot of time and effort towards it. So it was nice to have that recognition and it was a nice feather in the cap for sure.”
Through CSM, Kirk acquires clients and markets them to their appropriate region of schools based on their athletic and academic ability and financial status. Instead of sending out profiles of a player to every school in the nation, Kirk and Cardinal try to hone in on where that player will get the most playing time, the greatest value of their education, and the best experience. Each player that comes through CSM is offered a scholarship of some sort to play baseball at a college.
After two years, CSM is keeping the pace they set in their very successful first year, though there are some challenges that come with the business.
“There’s a stigma about recruiting firms in the baseball world,” he said. “I understand that and I appreciate it because I’ve been through that process before. So I think getting over that stigma at first to let people realize that we are different from the other recruiting firms and we do have the players’ best interests at stake, that’s a hurdle to get over through the parents and some of the coaches. But when they start working with us one-on-one they start to realize the difference.”
Part of that difference that Kirk believes he brings to the table is his experience. He’s assisted players through WBS, and has also sat on the other side of the table himself.
“I’ve done college exposure through the ball school for years so it was a pretty comfortable transition to be honest with you,” Kirk said. “It was working for a bigger entity. So I had no problem sitting down in front of a family talking baseball because I’ve been there and done that. And I’m not just a person with a pen and paper. I’ve actually gone through the experience.”
Through all of the experiences Kirk has had in baseball, joining his father at WBS has been one of the greatest, though his gratitude for the school extends beyond baseball.
“We get a chance to talk and see each other every day,” Kirk said of working with his father. “Not many father-sons get to have that opportunity. We have a great relationship father-son-wise but we also have a great business relationship where we can talk to each other about strategies and what we want to do with work. I feel very grateful for the fact that the ball school is there to enable that because a lot of father-sons don’t get to have that opportunity.”
With the two eldest of Kirk’s three children already enrolled in WBS, he will have a chance to continue the tradition of baseball through another generation of the Martin family, should it be something they would like to pursue. And for all the reasons Don and Kirk have to run and maintain WBS, neither of their lives would be the same without it.
“It’s my life,” Don said of WBS. “You know, it really is. I should have started it probably 30 years ago. And I didn’t but I have no regrets, it’s all I do. And I think I’ve got a fantastic life.”
