Mike Marshall

Nicknamed “Moose” because of his 6-foot-5, 215-pound stature, Mike Marshall spent the bulk of his 11-year (1981-1991) major-league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Batting and throwing right-handed, he was primarily a right fielder, but with a number of games at first base and in left as well. During his nine seasons with the Dodgers, the team reached the postseason four times and won two World Series. Marshall was the RBI leader for L.A.’s 1988 champions.

Marshall debuted the same year that former Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall (no relation) wrapped up his own 14-year career with the Mets. They never faced each other.

Michael Allen Marshall was born in Libertyville, Illinois, on January 12, 1960. Libertyville is a northern suburb, about 35-40 miles north of downtown Chicago. His parents were Frank (Frances) and Sandy (Sandra Kay Brown) Marshall. Frank’s father had been a farmer in Dixon, Illinois, then went into the printing business. Mike had an older sister, Terri.

When he was selected in the sixth round of the 1978 first-year player draft, Mike was finishing up at Buffalo Grove High School, a community about 10 miles south of Libertyville and 30 miles northwest of Wrigley Field. Mike once reflected: “I used to skip out of school and take the bus down to see the Cubs. It was like another world down there. You don’t think you’ll ever play in the majors, and then it happens so fast.”1

A lengthy profile of Marshall appeared in the Los Angeles Times on October 8, 1985. The subtitle reflected his serious approach to the game: “If He Smiled More and Struck Out Less…Well, Maybe Just Smiled More.”2 He was apparently a very serious young man in high school, dedicated almost solely to the pursuit of a profession in sports.

Credited with Marshall’s signing were Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Glen Van Proyen and Guy Wellman. Marshall’s signing bonus was just under $30,000.3

Marshall was sent to rookie-league ball in the Pioneer League in 1978, playing first base and right field for the Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Dodgers. He had a very good year, driving in 70 runs in 65 games and batting .324 with 12 homers.

His 1979 season was a superb one. Playing exclusively at first base and as designated hitter for the Lodi Dodgers in the Class-A California League, he drove in 116 runs in 137 games, hit 24 homers, and led the league with a .354 batting average. He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.4

After turning 20, Marshall spent 1980 in the Double-A Texas League with the San Antonio Dodgers. By mid-year, he was already being touted as the possible successor to Los Angeles first baseman Steve Garvey.5 Although he wasn’t named to the league’s All-Star team, Marshall hit a solid .321 and drove in 82 runs (with 16 homers), putting himself in position to move up another rung on the ladder. At year end, there was talk of a trade that would have brought star Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn to the Dodgers, with Marshall and a couple of other players going to Boston.6

In 1981, Marshall played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) for the Albuquerque Dukes. He began earning his own headlines in newspapers, edging the relief pitcher (and union rep during the strike-shortened season) named Mike Marshall aside.7 As the Dukes went all the way – winning their division and the league playoffs under manager Del Crandall – Marshall earned PCL MVP honors by winning the Triple Crown; leading the circuit in batting (.373), homers (34), and RBIs (137). The Sporting News reported that he was the first PCL player to win the Triple Crown in 25 years.8 Marshall also led in runs scored (114) and stole 21 bases.

Marshall also enjoyed his major-league debut in 1981, on September 7. He entered the game in the bottom of the first inning at Dodger Stadium, as a pinch-runner for Garvey. In his first at-bat, facing San Francisco Giants pitcher Ed Whitson in the third, Marshall doubled off the top railing of the wall in left-center field.9 When, the next batter, Ron Cey, homered, Marshall scored his first run. “That was more than a thrill,” Marshall said after the game. “It was a relief. I just wanted to get it over with.”10

Primarily used as a pinch-hitter, Marshall accumulated 27 plate appearances over 14 games, including four starts. He hit .200, with three of his five hits being doubles. He drove in just one run, in San Diego against the Padres on September 14, a seventh-inning single to center off Danny Boone that drove in Mike Scioscia with the Dodgers’ sixth run in a 10-5 win.

Marshall was on the playoff roster and earned his first World Series championship ring, the Dodgers beating the New York Yankees in six games. His only postseason appearance came in Game Two of the NL Division Series against Houston. Pinch-hitting for Davey Lopes in the top of the 11th, he struck out against Joe Sambito.

That fall, Marshall was named The Sporting News 1981 Minor League Player of the Year.11

Marshall began the 1982 season with Albuquerque by hitting .388 with 58 RBIs in 66 games. He returned to the Dodgers on June 27, and his first major-league home run came two nights later, a solo shot in a 7-5 loss to the Padres. His bases-loaded walk and solo homer drove in two of the runs in a 4-1 win over the Mets on July 5. Two days later, his two-run homer made the difference in a 3-1 victory over the same team.12 In 49 games, Marshall hit .242 with five home runs but only nine RBIs.

He became a regular in 1983, largely learning a new position by playing 109 games in right field versus 33 at first base.13 Both Garvey and Cey had left for other teams, and the Dodgers moved Pedro Guerrero from right field to third base, put rookie Greg Brock at first, and Marshall found a home in right.14 After getting beaned on April 9, then being knocked unconscious in a serious base-running collision with Duane Kuiper on May 27, Marshall was hitting only .224 by the end of May. He finished at .284, though, with 17 homers and 65 RBIs. (He hit .311 after the All-Star break.) One noteworthy game was on August 3 against visiting Cincinnati, when he not only homered twice and drove in three, but also impressed with “two spectacular running catches that saved at least four runs” in the Dodgers’ 7-4 victory.15 Marshall’s grand slam in the bottom of the 10th on September 7 defeated the Reds, 7-3. The very next evening his three-run homer beat Cincinnati, 5-2. The Dodgers finished first in the N.L. West but lost the NLCS to the Phillies, three games to one. Marshall went 2-for-15.

Marshall changed positions again in 1984, moving from right field to left. He won L.A.’s second game of the season with a three-run, walk-off homer in the 12th inning. On April 27, he delivered five hits (two homers) and six RBIs in a 15-7 win over the visiting Padres. Despite spending 21 days on the disabled list following left foot surgery in May, he was selected an All-Star.16 Later in the season, he learned that he needed right knee surgery for a loose patella that hampered him (worsening from a high school basketball injury.)17 His average dropped from .284 at the end of June to .257, but he led the team with 21 homers and matched his production from the year before with 65 RBIs – second on the club behind only Guerrero’s 72. The Southern California baseball writers voted Marshall the Dodgers MVP.

In 1985, the Dodgers won the NL West. Marshall hit for a .293 average, and his 95 runs batted in led the team – despite him being out from June 20 through July 17 due to an emergency appendectomy – and his career-high 28 homers ranked second only to Guerrero’s 33. In his last 11 games of the season, Marshall drove in 13 runs, three in the October 2 division clincher against the Braves in which he also homered. Marshall said, “The only ones who believed in this team were [manager] Tommy Lasorda and the 25 players… Nobody expected us to do anything. But we didn’t give up. Tommy wouldn’t let us.”18

The Dodgers fell to the Cardinals in a six-game NLCS in which Marshall was 5-for-23 with three RBIs. With L.A. down, three games to two, in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game Six. Marshall’s tie-breaking solo homer off Todd Worrell gave the Dodgers a 5-4 edge. But Jack Clark’s three-run blast in the top of the ninth helped St. Louis prevail.

The following year, 1986, was a struggle for Marshall, despite his personal-best 16-game hitting streak through May 30. Though he was only on the disabled list once, he had recurrent back stiffness and pain (appearing in only eight July games) and saw action in just 103 games overall. He had zero plate appearances in September; he simply couldn’t swing a bat.19 He homered 19 times and drove in 53 but hit just .233 for the season. The Dodgers fared poorly, too, finishing 73-89 and in fifth place.

The criticism of Marshall as a batter was that “he never met a pitch he didn’t like.”20 In 1985, for instance, he struck out 100 more times than he walked, 137 to 37. In 1987, he had 428 plate appearances but only walked 18 times.

Avoiding arbitration, Marshall signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers for 1987. In 104 games, he hit a career-high .294, driving in 72 runs with 16 homers. Back problems cropped up again and he was on the DL for most of May.21 In June he returned with a vengeance, hitting .370 to bring his average up to .304. But there was also an unfortunate controversy with Guerrero shouting at him, basically accusing him of malingering. Marshall had already missed time with the back problem, surgery to remove a wart, and then a thigh strain.22 In early September, Marshall and infielder Phil Garner scuffled before a game.23 Even Dodger Stadium crowds began to boo Marshall.24 And yet, he finished second on the team in both average and RBIs.

Following trade talk that offseason, Marshall was with the Dodgers once more and had a solid year in 1988. In 144 games, he produced 20 homers, a .277 batting average and a club-leading 82 RBIs. The Dodgers were in first place for most of the season, but only by narrow margins until mid-August when they began to pull away from the pack. It was a relatively injury-free season for Marshall “and for that offense, that made all the difference.”25 They won the NL West, beat the Mets in a seven-game NLCS, and then defeated the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, four games to one. In Marshall’s only World Series, his highlight was a three-run homer off Storm Davis in the bottom of the third inning of Game Two, a 6-0 win. In Game Two of the NLCS, he had driven in the first and fifth runs in a 6-3 victory.

The Los Angeles Times’s Bill Plaschke later wrote that, when Marshall said he was unable to start Game Four of the World Series, “Marshall was ripped by the media and public for not playing hurt. He was attacked by his teammates for not being tough. He was even ridiculed by the Dodgers’ media relations department when it was announced that he had been sidelined by, of all things, “general soreness.”26 Plaschke quoted Lasorda as saying of Marshall generally, thinking perhaps of the 100-plus games that he had missed in 1986 and 1987, “It was frustrating because this guy had all the ability in the world and didn’t utilize it to the extent he should have.” Marshall did have eight RBIs in 12 postseason games, though, and the article also quoted 1988 NL MVP Kirk Gibson: “I consider him an outstanding teammate, and I could not have accomplished what I did that year without him.”

Years later, Marshall reflected, “Some of my injuries, did I handle them perfectly? No, that was something I always regretted. I always wanted to be 100%.”27

Marshall signed a new three-year deal with the Dodgers, who hoped the additional security would help him.28 The 1989 season saw him play in just 105 games, however, similar to his injury-plagued years. His ongoing back problem cost him another stay on the DL in June and prompted another suggestion that he didn’t play hurt – this time from former pitcher Al Downing, then a talk show host for the Dodgers’ KABC radio affiliate.29 After Marshall hit .260 with 11 homers and only 42 RBIs, he was traded to the Mets on December 20, along with Alejandro Peña, in exchange for speedy center fielder Juan Samuel.30

At age 30, Marshall won the first-base job in spring training, but he played only 53 games for the Mets, batting .239 with six homers and 27 RBIs. His grand slam and six RBIs in an 8-3 win over the Dodgers on May 22 no doubt felt good, but by mid-June he was saying, “I don’t fit in here.” On July 13, he got into a heated confrontation with manager Bud Harrelson over playing time and ended up in the hospital with gastro-intestinal duodenitis.31 Replaced at first base by Dave Magadan, he said he’d requested a trade after the season.32 The Mets didn’t wait that long. On July 27, Marshall was traded to the Boston Red Sox for three minor leaguers.33

When Boston acquired Marshall, there was some question about where he might be utilized, but manager Joe Morgan said he would DH and play first base or the outfield. The team was looking for more power.34 First, Marshall headed to Triple-A Pawtucket for six days of rehab.35 For the 1990 Red Sox, he appeared in 30 games, batting .286 with four homers and a dozen RBIs. The year ended with his last postseason appearances, pinch-hitting in Games One, Two, and Three of the ALCS against Oakland. He went 1-for-3, a single in Game One, but the Athletics swept the series in four games.

The 1991 season was Marshall’s last in the major leagues. As with the Mets, he hadn’t been playing much, and even during the 1990 ALCS he had talked about requesting a trade or perhaps playing in Japan.36 Red Sox GM Lou Gorman apparently offered him around but found no takers.37 Late in spring training, Marshall suddenly took an “intentional walk” – he went AWOL for a day – because despite his .464 average in the exhibition season, he wasn’t playing regularly.38 In 1991, he appeared in 22 games for the Red Sox; some starts in the outfield, at first base, or designated hitter, and occasional pinch-hitting assignments. He hit quite well in limited opportunities (.290) but served as a utilityman. “I’m insurance,” he told a writer.39 And there was really no place the Red Sox needed him. After playing only three times in June (in part due to toe surgery) and pinch-hitting just twice the following month, he was released on July 21. Marshall was diplomatic in his comments afterward.40

Six days later, he signed a minor-league deal with the California Angels who were hoping for a little more offense. Initially, they placed him with Palm Springs in the Class-A California League, but he was brought up a week later for a very short stay. He had had seven plate appearances without a hit in two games for the Angels before requesting his release. It was granted on August 7 – only 11 days after he had signed.41

Marshall was still just 31. He wasn’t ready to retire and signed a two-year contract to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japan Pacific League. He played in 67 games in 1992, primarily in the outfield, batting .246 with nine homers and 26 RBIs, but suffered a groin pull and his ninth career trip to the disabled list. He was sent to the minors to rehab.

In 1993, he signed a Triple-A contract with the Seattle Mariners and was invited to spring training. He told writer Ross Newhan that he had sometimes been his “own worst enemy.” Marshall said of himself, “When you’re a big leaguer at 22, you think you know it all.” Often, he said, he should have been more open to input from others.42 On March 17, Marshall announced his retirement from baseball.

Marshall coached at Glendale (California) Junior College in 1994 and was a hitting instructor at Southwest Texas State in 1995-96. He said he had chosen to stay closer to home to be with his wife, Mary, and two young children.43 Their son, Michael Allen Marshall Jr., and daughter, Marcheta Kay (Marshall) Schroeder, both eventually graduated from Stanford University.

After a few years, Marshall began re-engaging with baseball. In 1999, he was signed as a player/coach by the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League Central (an independent league) and appeared in 33 games.44 Most often playing first base, he batted .307, drove in 21 runs, and hit his last two professional home runs.

In 2000, he became manager of the independent Northern League’s Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs. He served in that role for three seasons until the team folded after the 2002 campaign. In 2005 and 2006, Marshall managed another independent club, the El Paso Diablos. In the two years after that he pretty much ran everything – from general manager to field manager – for the Yuma Bullfrogs/Scorpions in the independent Golden Baseball League.

A New Mexico Highlands University internet post informs us that “Marshall – in collaboration with other professional baseball players – traveled to Germany and Slovenia to run baseball camps for kids.”45 Pete Caliendo, vice president of the nonprofit International Sports Group which has offered coaches training programs for more than 25 years, recalled two trips with Marshall. In September 1999, journalist Jason Whitlock joined them to tour four or five Army bases in Germany during the time of the Iraq War. They visited hospitals, played some softball, and held a camp for kids. There was a later trip, to Slovenia in 2005. “In conjunction with the Slovenia Baseball Federation, we did a coaches weekend and coaches program where we instructed the coaches in gyms and classrooms in different fundamentals of the game.”46

Caliendo said, “Mike Marshall, an All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers and a World Series champion, was great to have on the international coaches conference. He worked with all the coaches, took extra time to help them and loved what he was doing. I really enjoyed our travels together.”47

Marshall was both president and field manager for the independent Chico Outlaws in California for 2010 and 2011, and then VP and manager for the San Rafael Pacifics in 2012, leading them to a division title.48

In 2013, he became commissioner of the four-team Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. One article described that Marshall, after his playing career, had “spent the last 15 years working in all areas of independent baseball in hopes of showing affiliated baseball that he now understands toughness and teamwork. From Albany, N.Y., to Yuma, Ariz., he has done everything from washing jocks to raking fields to managing teams to, finally, running a league.” There were stops in El Paso, Chico, and San Rafael, too.49 Marshall said, “Man, I just really love this game.”50 It also seemed as though he had regrets that he hadn’t tried harder to play through some of his maladies. “I know I was not very well-liked,” he said. “I wish I had been tougher. … I always thought the team was better with someone else if I wasn’t 100%. But, in hindsight, there are times I should have just rolled myself out there.”51

With the Chico Outlaws in 2010, Marshall signed knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida – “the first female pro baseball player since Ila Borders.”52 It was said that he experienced some pushback for signing a woman; he himself said, “I think this is a no-brainer. I don’t think there’s any way you can stop it right now. Somebody’s going to find a woman who can play second base, and it’s going to create and rejuvenate interest in the game.”53

In 2014, Marshall managed the Fort Worth Cats of the independent United League Baseball.54 Starting in 2015 through 2020, he lived in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and worked as Associate Head Baseball Coach at New Mexico Highlands University.55

For the last couple of years before this biography was written during the 2022 baseball season, Marshall kept a lower profile and chose to maintain his privacy.

Last revised: December 15, 2022

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Malcolm Allen and Norman Macht and fact-checked by Kevin Larkin. Thanks also to Charlie Bevis for helpful information.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, SABR.org, and the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball.

Notes

1 Robert Markus, “Dodgers definitely aren’t blue about finding Buffalo Grove’s Mike Marshall,” Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1983: NW3.

2 Gordon Edes, “Mike Marshall,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1985: C1.

3 Markus, Both Cubs and White Sox scouts had attended all of his high-school games, but neither team drafted him. Marshall said, “I was disappointed. I think after the first couple of rounds they must have thought I was going to college and they couldn’t sign me. If it wasn’t the Dodgers, I probably wouldn’t have signed. I don’t think they’d have offered me the money to stay away from college that the Dodgers did, I was a sixth-round draft choice but still got almost $30,000.”

4 For the rookie of the year vote, see “Lodi’s Marshall Top Rookie in Cal League,” The Sporting News, September 1, 1979: 65. He tied with Les Pearsey for MVP honors. See “Marshall and Pearsey Share Cal MVP Title,” The Sporting News, September 8, 1979: 65.

5 Jeff Cohen, “Big Foot Puts Imprint on TL,” The Sporting News, July 26, 1980: 41.

6 Lynn would not agree to a multiyear deal with the Dodgers, however. See Ross Newhan, “For Four Hours, Fred Lynn was a Dodger…Sort Of,” Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1980: OC-B1, and Ray Fitzgerald, “The Lynn trade – act of desperation,” Boston Globe, January 24, 1981: 1.

7 See, for instance, Paul Scherr, “Maldonado, Marshall Climb Fast on Dodger Ladder,” The Sporting News, July 25, 1981: 38, and Peter Gammons, “The best team in baseball,” Boston Globe, July 25, 1981: 28.

8 Gordon Verrell, “Protecting Kids is Vital to L.A.,” The Sporting News, November 28, 1981: 61. Through 2022, no one has won it since.

9 Richard Hoffer, “Dodgers, Young and Old, Beat Giants, 5-1,” Los Angeles Times, September 8, 1981: D1.

10 Hoffer. It had been manager Tommy Lasorda’s plan to bring in Marshall as soon as Garvey made his first appearance, playing in his 920th consecutive game. Garvey said, “Gosh, we did up-grade the position, didn’t we? He’s bigger, taller and handsomer.”

11 Carlos Salazar, “Slugger Marshall Honored,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1981: 41.

12 For a more on the home run and comments from and about Marshall, see Mark Heisler, “Fernando Wins No. 12 on Marshall Home Run,” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1982: E1.

13 On beginning to play in right field, see Gordon Verrell, “Marshall fits in Right Field,” The Sporting News, May 2, 1983: 23, and Verrell, “Marshall & Brock,” The Sporting News, May 23, 1983: 3.

14 Columnist Jim Murray suggested the Dodgers had not had the respect for Marshall they should have. See “Marshall Owes It All to Himself,” Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1984: C10.

15 Dan Hafner, “Marshall Catching On, Also Hits Two Homers,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1983: E1. That he was beginning to shine defensively was important.

16 He did not play in the game. It was the one time he was named to the All-Star squad.

17 The need for foot surgery was described by Gordon Edes, “Marshall Goes Out with Injured Foot as Mets Defeat Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1984: SD-B12.

18 He added, “We wanted to prove everyone wrong, and we did. When you’re the favorite and you win, it’s great. But this is even better than 1983.” Gordon Verrell, “Dodgers Make Believers of the Skeptics,” The Sporting News, October 14, 1985: 15.

19 Gordon Edes, “Marshall Declares His Season Over,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1986: C6.

20 The phrase was used by Jim Murray, “After All the Others Failed, He’s Finally Getting Garvey’s Job,” Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1988: E1. Murray argued that The Dodgers had never played Marshall consistently at the position for which he was best suited – first base. “They schlepped him around the infield and outfield like a bargain rack of dresses.” Beginning with 1983, after Garvey left for the Padres, the Dodgers turned to “almost everyone else but Mike Marshall.” Murray listed eight different Dodgers “and a cast of thousands.”

21 See Gordon Verrell, “Dodgers Set Back by Marshall’s Back,” The Sporting News, May 25, 1987: 16. There was a brief bout with food poisoning and a bruised shin later in the season, both of which took him out of the lineup. An article from the beginning of March discussed what he had been through in 1986. See Sam McManis, “Back in the Swing,” Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1987: D1.

22 Ross Newhan, “Marshall is ‘Shocked’ by Guerrero’s Outburst,” Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1987: B1.

23 Sam McManis, “Extra Hitting Doesn’t Help Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1987: E1.

24 Sam McManis, “Few Fans, But Marshall’s Critics Are Many,” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1987: D2.

25 Sam McManis, “It Wasn’t All Part of the Dodger Plan, But It Worked,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1988: D3.

26 Bill Plaschke, “Ex-Dodger Mike Marshall tries to repair his reputation,” Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2013.

27 Plaschke, “Ex-Dodger Mike Marshall tries to repair his reputation.”

28 So said GM Fred Claire a few years later. See Ross Newhan, “Marshall Plan,” Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1993: OCC3.

29 Gordon Verrell, “Criticism Greets Marshall’s Return,” The Sporting News, July 17, 1989: 16. Marshall’s wife, Mary, phoned into the station to complain.

30 Bill Plaschke, “Dodgers Trade Marshall, Pena to Mets,” Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1989: C1. The Mets players declined to grant Marshall a share of their second-place earnings. See Murray Chass, “Baseball Notebook,” New York Times, October 21, 1990: A3.

31 “Marshall Is Finding Life with Mets A Pain,” The Sporting News, July 30, 1990: 14. See also “Marty Noble, Marshall Ill, Mad – and Out?” Newsday, May 31, 1990: Sports/5, and “Ex-Dodger Marshall Hospitalized After Clubhouse Shouting Match,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1990: SDC8.

32 “Around the Majors,” Washington Post, June 22, 1990: B5.

33 The trade netted infielder/outfielder Ed Perozo, pitcher Greg Hansell, and a player to be named later, who was catcher/first baseman Paul Williams. Hansell was the only one to make the majors, in 1995.

34 George Whitney, “A Two-Month Lease?” Diehard, August 1990. See also Nick Cafardo, “Sox deal for Marshall,” Boston Globe, July 28, 1990: 29. The Hartford Courant’s Sean Horgan worried about his history of physical problems and wasn’t really sure the Red Sox had a place to play him. Sean Horgan, “Marshall’s presence may create problems,” Hartford Courant, July 29, 1990: D6C.

35 Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe wrote that he didn’t want to shake Marshall’s hand when he first introduced himself because he was afraid the injury-plagued Marshall would get hurt. Bob Ryan, “Breaking the spell? Marshall hopes for better luck this time,” Boston Globe, August 26, 1990: 51.

36 Nick Cafardo and Steve Fainaru, “Marshall eyes Japan in ’91,” Boston Globe, October 10, 1990: 47.

37 “Boston Red Sox,” The Sporting News, March 25, 1991: 46. It seemed from the start that there was really no place for him, and that both the team and Marshall knew it. See Dan Shaughnessy, “…there’s no place in it for Marshall,” Boston Globe, February 21, 1991: 61, and Steven Krasner, “Mike Marshall fidgets,” Providence Journal, February 28, 1991: C-01.

38 George Kimball, “Marshall leaves on sour note,” Boston Herald, March 29, 1991: 74. He was assessed a $250 fine. He had a .422 average at the end of spring training, but no starting slot.

39 Howie Newman, “The Reluctant One,” Diehard, July 1991: 17.

40 David Cataneo, “Marshall makes his final exit,” Boston Herald, July 21, 1991: B6. See also Steve Fainaru, “No parting shots as Marshall finally gets released,” Boston Globe, July 21, 1991: 30.

41 Helene Elliott, “Marshall: Two Games Enough as An Angel,” Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1991: C6.

42 For more thoughts of Marshall’s looking back on his career in early 1993, see Ross Newhan, “Marshall Plan.”

43 Reid Hanley, “Veteran Eager for One More Cut at 39,” Chicago Tribune, May 26, 1999: 16.

44 On signing, he said, “It’s exciting to play for a new team, it’s going to be a beautiful stadium and the front office is first class. I’m happy to be able to play back where I grew up and to play for a guy like Ron Kittle. I’m looking forward to playing every day and helping the club be successful.” See “Schaumburg Flyers Sign Ex-Dodger Marshall,” Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois), November 13, 1998: 2.

45 https://nmhuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/mike-marshall/686

46 Author interview with Pete Caliendo on October 26, 2022. Caliendo is last president of Caliendo Sports International. https://caliendosportsinternational.com/

47 Caliendo email to author October 28, 2022.

48 John Shea, “San Rafael Team to Join New League,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 2013: 18.

49 He managed the El Paso Diablos in 2005-2006, was manager, GM, and president of the Yuma Scorpions in 2007-2008, and both manager and president of the Chico Outlaws in 2010 and 2011, and manager and VP with the San Rafael Pacifics in 2012.

50 Bill Plaschke, “Baseball: The Last Ring’ Marshall Plan,” Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2013: C1.

51 Plaschke, “Baseball: The Last Ring’ Marshall Plan.”

52 Patrick PInak, “Meet Eri Yoshida: The Female Knuckleballer Who Broke Baseball Barriers,” fanbuzz.com, July 7, 2022. https://fanbuzz.com/mlb/eri-yoshida-baseball-career/ Accessed September 29, 2022.

53 Nathan Fenno, “Just Home Far can Mo’ne Davis Go?” Times-Picayune (New Orleans), August 24, 2014.: 69.

54 Marc David, “McMurry grad Henjy (sic) getting help with new position,” Abilene Reporter-News, June 5, 2014: 20. The graduate was Fort Worth pitcher Charlie Hejny.

55 https://nmhuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/mike-marshall/686