Marty Dobrow examines baseball's brotherhood

Local author shares the stories of major league prospects By Mike Briotta, PRIME Editor The day that sportswriter Marty Dobrow sat down to speak with PRIME Magazine was, appropriately, a sunny afternoon on the cusp of a new Major League Baseball season. In the budding days of a fresh season it seems as if anything is possible. One could imagine the Boston Red Sox going all the way this year. Of course, those fleeting first moments gradually unfold into 162 grueling major league games, and reality sets in for most baseball fans. But Dobrow's writing is an encouragement to keep hoping, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable odds. The start of the new season is always a moment of wonder for the author of "Knocking on Heaven's Door: Six Minor Leaguers in Search of the Baseball Dream" (University of Massachusetts Press, 2010). Dobrow is a sportswriter for the Boston Globe and a professor of communications at Springfield College. His latest book recounts the stories of six young men on the verge of making the major leagues — something they desperately want, but may never obtain. Four of those players are from the Bay State, three from Western Massachusetts. Springfield's Doug Clark, Pittsfield's Matt Torra, former Red Sox pitchers Manny Delcarmen and Charlie Zink, along with slugger Randy Ruiz and Brad Baker share the spotlight of the book with agents Steve McKelvey of Belchertown, and Jim and Lisa Masteralexis of Amherst. On the subject of the title, Dobrow said, "It equates Major League Baseball to reaching heaven; something you want, but might not get." Amazon.com reviewers laud the book as "literary journalism" and a statement of American values as much as it is simply a baseball tome. Praised for both its vivid descriptions and subtle metaphors, the book offers an unvarnished view of the reality of life in the minor leagues. Originally from Long Island, Dobrow grew up a New York Mets fan, but living in New England for much of his adult life, the 50-year-old writer has adopted the ways of the Fenway faithful. "I definitely follow their story now," Dobrow said. "There's a strong Red Sox presence in the book." Dobrow saw many common threads when weaving together six distinct baseball stories. "With this cast of six players, I've drawn a connection between them. These are great human interest stories — that was paramount. I had a very high level of access, so it was important to really win these guys' trust. I built strong relationships, and interviewed them over several years." Shackled by Bonds Fittingly, the day Dobrow sat down to speak with PRIME Magazine also happened to be the day that one of his articles featuring Springfield's Doug Clark was picked up by the online content provider Yahoo. It's the tale of a Barry Bonds understudy who labored in the San Francisco organization for years — giving it his best shot, despite a very slim chance of ever earning a roster spot with the Giants. "Doug Clark had one major league hit," explained Dobrow. "I juxtapose that with Barry Bonds, who played left field with the Giants." Bonds is, of course, a baseball superstar: a 14-time Major League All-Star player boasting more than 500 career home runs. The 46-year-old owns the major league records for most home runs in a season and in a career. However, the slugger left baseball in 2007 under a cloud of suspicion. He was back in court this spring, facing perjury-related charges for lying under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. The contrast between the allegedly juiced-up Bonds and the overlooked but squeaky-clean Clark is certainly not lost on Dobrow. Clark is a graduate of Central High School in Springfield who was stuck in the minors for eight years behind Bonds. At age 29, he finally got his first call-up to the major league. "Doug Clark had a heartwarming call-up story in September of 2005," Dobrow said. "When the roster expands [each year] from 25 players to 40, it's an opportunity for minor leaguers to get their taste of the big time. He had been playing in Triple-A ball, one step below the Major League, and was back in Springfield, substitute teaching at his alma mater, Central High School, well into September." Dobrow continued, "There he was teaching American History class in sweltering heat when his dad rushed in and said, 'Douglas, you've got to call the Giants!' A couple of hours later he was flying first class, for the first time in his life, to San Francisco. He went from making $75 a day as a substitute teacher to $2,000 a day in the bigs, which was the pro-rated Major League Baseball minimum salary." According to the author, Clark spent the last three seasons playing in South Korea. A few weeks ago, the outfielder was headed down to play the 2011 season in Mexico. He started the season in the Mexican Baseball League, playing for the Quintana Roo Tigres. In seven minor league seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A ball, Clark has yet to make $15,000 in a year. Baseball fans will certainly recognize another star of the book: Manny Delcarmen. For those who aren't card-carrying members of "Red Sox Nation," Delcarmen was a member of the Boston squad that won the World Series title in 2007. The right-handed pitcher spent 10 years in the Red Sox system, five of them in the Major League. He's currently with the Seattle Mariners Triple-A team. "He had that Boston dream of growing up and playing for the Red Sox," Dobrow said of Delcarmen. "The dream never comes true. but in his case it did. So I wanted his story not to be so much about stats, or how much money he's making. I told the story of when he got called up to the big leagues in 2005 through the eyes of his best friend, a bus driver with the MBTA, who was listening to the game on the radio." Dreams Deferred What really struck the author while interviewing all the subjects in his book was the great disparity in pay between professional baseball players at the Triple-A level and the lowest-paid major leaguers. There's a wide chasm in terms of pay, but the difference in talent can be minute. The current minimum salary for major league players is $414,000 according to Dobrow, though the average pay is closer to $3.3 million each year. Dobrow chose two nondrafted, non-local players to round out his book: knuckleball hurler Charlie Zink and first-baseman Randy Ruiz. The former player had his best-and worst-moments with the Sox. It just so happens that Zink's greatest triumphs and tragedies all came in the same game. "Charlie Zink was the son of two Folsom State Prison guards. He went to a Division 3 school and played ball there," recounted Dobrow. "His coach at Savannah College of Art & Design was [former Red Sox pitcher] Louis Tiant, who people remember from his crazy delivery." Dobrow continued, "Zink was not drafted, but he eventually signed with the Red Sox organization for $850 a month, the minimum Minor League salary at the time in 2002. He messed around with the knuckleball. One of the first ones he threw shattered the Oakley sunglasses of the strength and conditioning coach. It was a 'shazam' moment." Zink was the subject of what Dobrow calls a "meteoric rise and calamitous fall" in baseball. The author sat in the stands at Fenway Park for Zink's one major league call-up in 2008. Replacing injured knuckeballer Tim Wakefield, the young pitcher struck out three of the Texas Rangers' best batters: Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and Josh Hamilton. The Red Sox went up by the seemingly unbeatable score of 10-0. With a slight breeze blowing through the historic ballpark that evening, it should have been a perfect debut for Zink. But his knuckleball stopped dancing. Zink fell apart, giving up 11 hits that scored 8 runs, and he was pulled from the game. In an odd twist, the Red Sox would come back to win by the preposterous score of 19-17. By the end of his crazy roller-coaster ride, Zink realized his first major league game would always be viewed as a bust. "He was sent back down [to the minors], and could not have been more gracious," Dobrow said. After only about four innings on the mound that fateful game at Fenway Park, Zink's major league stats would show an inflated earned-run average of 16.62. In baseball, the lower that number, the better. Another of Dobrow's subjects, South Bronx native Randy Ruiz, offers a cautionary tale about performance-enhancing drugs — a common theme in the modern era of baseball. "He was a Section Eight kid, raised by his grandmother," the author said of the first-baseman. "I've been to their apartment; there are four locks on the door. He stocked shelves at a grocery store, third-shift in the offseason, to support his baseball habit." The writer continued, "He won the batting title that year, but unfortunately failed a steroids test." In this way, he brings the book full-circle, from Doug Clark being stuck on the farm behind Barry Bonds, who was "extending his career pharmaceutically," to Ruiz, who ultimately made it to the big leagues in 2008 even though he was shadowed by a failed steroids test. "Ruiz was with the Blue Jays for parts of 2009 and 2010 and he then played in Japan," said Dobrow. "He still bitterly disputes the drug test results to this day." Ruiz labored for 11 years trying to reach the major leagues. His most recent big league experience has been as a designated hitter, where he's found success for the past three seasons. Dobrow said that local sports agents represented all six of the players in the book at various times. However, much like what happens on the field, hard work and talent don't always pay off. Local agents have a tough time holding onto star players, despite putting in the time and money grooming them. "The scale is so tilted toward the big guys," Dobrow lamented. "It's a labor of love, and it's hard for the little guys to make a profit. They can work hard and not see any real money. In a way, they are just like the players, slogging away for many years at their own baseball dream." PRIME Marty Dobrow will be appearing at the PRIME booth of the Life Enrichment Expo at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield on April 28.