The Journey of Mark Shorey

Baseball 2009, Game 79: Nashville Sounds 4, Memphis Redbirds 3

Nashville Sloppiness: 7
Memphis Sloppiness: 7
Most batters in one inning: 6
Hitter of the Game: Shane Robinson, Memphis (rating: 54)
Pitcher of the Game: Ryan Houston, Nashville (rating: 64)
Time of Game: 3:27
Mid-game temperature: 80 degrees
Attendance: 8,176 (Level II sporting event)

Mark Shorey isn't a name that many baseball fans know, as is the case with nearly every athlete in Small Time Sports. Shorey is from the north suburbs of Boston, which is known as a breeding ground for baseball fans, but not players in this cold weather region. From 2003 to 2006, Shorey played for my school, High Point University in North Carolina. When Shorey played for High Point, HPU's baseball facilities were among Division I's worst. The fieldhouse where offices and locker rooms were located were falling apart, having been built for the long-defunct football team back in the late 1940s. The stadium was a concrete ampitheater ten rows deep 50 feet behind the home plate back stop that theoretically seated 800 but in reality far less than that. No night games were played, as HPU's Erath Field did not have any lights. Attendance for Shorey's home games at High Point ranged from 100 to 200 fans typically, with several games having under 100 fans. In four years of college ball, Shorey never played in front of a home crowd of 350 or more fans. Shortly after Shorey graduated, HPU built a new baseball park which is a solid Small Time Sports venue, and home games usually now have between 300 and 400 fans.

Even by High Point standards, Shorey was an average recruit who did not start his career well. Playing both pitcher and outfield, Shorey struggled to find a groove doing either. In his freshman season in 2003, Shorey batted .232 (a very weak aluminum bat average) with only 1 home run. In his sophomore year, coach Sal Bando Jr. moved him primarily to pitcher, where he struggled with a 7.90 ERA. Shorey only had eight hits his entire sophomore year in just 31 at-bats as his team slumped to a horrendous 11-44 record.

Shorey's junior year was much better after moving mostly to the outfield again. Shorey batted .328 with a modest 5 home runs. Yet he never batted against lefty pitching, as coach Sal Bando Jr. wanted to play matchup games versus opposing pitchers.

But his senior year Shorey took off to a new level. His line drive shots began to carry further and he became an extraordinarily tough out. He batted .408 with 20 home runs, including two walk-off shots to beat North Carolina A&T and UNC Asheville. Per game, Shorey was 9th in home runs in Division I and 15th in batting average. By Adjusted OPS, Shorey was the nation's 2nd best college hitter and was #1 at various points late in the season according to college baseball statistician Boyd Nation.

Yet most scouts passed on Shorey despite his hitting surge. But the Cardinals went ahead and drafted Shorey in the 31st round. As low as this pick was, few going into the 2006 season could have conceived of Shorey's monster season and the potential to play minor league ball. Shorey would spend the summer with Johnson City of the Rooklie level Appalachian League. There he would hit 13 home runs (tops in the Appy League) on a .265 average.

Shorey would start in 2007 in Class A, but his solid performance combined with Cardinal injuries moved him up to AA quickly, which very few 31st round picks are able to make. Shorey would have a respectable .263 average in AA with 11 home runs. While he would eventually move down to High A Palm Beach, Shorey was back at AA Springfield for 2008. There he would bat .304 (8th in the Texas League) with 11 home runs.

Now Mark Shorey is one step away from Big Time Sports. His journey has been remarkable and shows how your average Small Time Sports athlete can have a chance at making it big. With AAA Memphis, Shorey played in front of over 8K fans tonight in Nashville and has seen even bigger crowds on occasion in the PCL. Shorey is batting .311 with the Redbirds, a very good minor league batting average. His power numbers have unfortunately dropped as he only has three home runs so far. Without great speed, his power totals need to come back to the level it was in 2006. If that happens, Shorey could become yet another great Cardinal outfield prospect and give HPU its first athlete ever to reach the highest level of pro sports.

Yet Redbirds manager Chris Maloney has taken Bando's lead and has platooned Shorey's playing time with first baseman/outfielder Joe Mather. Shorey as a result only starts when Memphis faces a righ-handed pitcher. Last night against Nashville, lefty Chris Cody pitched and thus Shorey only played as a defensive sub. Shorey's platoon partner, Joe Mather, was drafted in the 3rd round out of high school in 2001 and had a promisng season last year shut down by an injury after batting over .300 with Memphis and reaching St. Louis. But now Mather is batting .176 and has been an easier out than the pitcher. Yet Shorey must continue to fight for playing time with him. Tonight's lineup card initially had Mather starting over Shorey again, but it would be Shorey who started tonight against righty Tim Dillard.

Shorey played a respectable ball game, but couldn't get a ball up enough to get the kind of hits he needs to move on to Major League Baseball in St. Louis. He did get 1 hit off Dillard when in the 6th inning Shorey poked a bunt past the right side of Dillard and hustled out Nashville SS Alcides Escobar's throw for an infield single. Later he picked up his second steal of the season on a double steal where Allen Craig lept over Sounds' third baseman Adam Heether. But he also had a flyout and a groundout, as well as two strikeouts in a 1 for 5 outing.

The only Redbirds however to hit well tonight were 5-9 CF Shane Robinson who went 2 for 4 (drove in all three Memphis runs with a home run and a stolen base) and SS Donovan Solano who went 3 for 5.

The Sounds couldn't take advantage however, as Redbird starter Clayton Mortensen pitched a respectable game and Dave Johnson struggled in relief. But Erick Almonte had another big pinch-hit single, driving in Hernan Iribarren to win the game in the 10th.

Good fan support by the Sounds' fans tonight as well. Desperate Housewives actor James Denton sat just down the row from me, and the crowd was very enthusiastic. A lot of stadiums with smaller crowds have good fans, and that is what makes Small Time Sports great. Greer Stadium may be an old deteriorating ballpark that is among the worst facilities in AAA, but the quality of the fans and the players is what makes Small Time Sports great, not the quantity of fans. Of the 79 baseball games I have attended in 2009, tonight was the highest attended by two fans over the South Carolina-Georgia game on May 16. My dad's sister and her husband came tonight after initially planning on going last night instead. Had they gone last night instead, tonight's game would have only been tied for the highest attended ball game of 2009.

Good luck to Shorey, hopefully he can reach the majors soon and make all of us High Point baseball fans proud. He represents the best of Small Time Sports, a player who comes from out of nowhere to the cusp of making the big time. This is it from Tennessee, the next couple weeks we'll be in SC again.