Mengden family is used to the big stage
When Daniel starts for A’s, sister Rachel will be dancing in the ballet 2 blocks away
HOUSTON — On Saturday night, the Mengden family has dual events.
Oldest son Daniel is starting for the A’s against his hometown team, the Astros.
Just two short blocks away, middle daughter Rachel is dancing in the ballet “West Side Story” with the Houston Grand Opera.
“It’s less than a five-minute walk,” Rachel Mengden said. “We’ll be right next to each other.”
The Mengdens’ parents, Joe and Beth, could dash back and forth between innings if they wanted to do so, but because they’ve seen a few of the ballet performances already, they’ll probably stay at Minute Maid Park to watch Daniel, who is thriving after starting the season in Oakland’s rotation for the first time.
Daniel, 25, is the only one of the five Mengden siblings who didn’t focus on dance — older sister Victoria was the first to take classes, then Rachel and her twin brother, Michael, followed. Michael studied with the Bolshoi ballet in Russia for a year and is now a dancer with the Cincinnati Ballet. Youngest sister Gabrielle, like Rachel and Michael before her, attends the Sarasota Cuban
As a child, A’s starter Daniel Mengden took ballet lessons with his siblings.
Ballet School in Florida.
“Daniel is the black sheep of the whole family,” said Parker Ray, Daniel’s former Texas A&M teammate and current offseason roommate. “His brothers and sisters are so coordinated and can do anything with their bodies. He’s a 6-2, 220-pound rhino who isn’t that limber.”
At the age of 9 or 10, Daniel did take dance classes for a year or so at the behest of his mother; his siblings delight in watching the VHS tapes of his performances.
“He was actually pretty good,” Rachel said.
“I’m in tights, a nice ballet routine, tap and jazz,” Daniel said. “It was fun. … It probably helped as a family and siblings to really hate each other and love each other at the same time, being around each other 24-7. We were always going, always moving.”
Learning dance probably helped Mengden with some coordination, he figures, and Rachel said it might have helped her brother in other ways, too. “You have to be more disciplined,” she said. “You have to listen and follow instructions.”
Daniel scores high in that category. Derrick Spivey has coached him at Performance Edge, a baseball training facility in Houston, since Mengden was a sophomore in high school.
“Daniel is very organized in everything he does in life — preparing for games, even preparing his mustache,” Spivey said. “What really makes him stand out is his ability to outwork everyone else. He just attacks whatever it is he’s doing. He doesn’t take coaching as criticism; in fact, he’s always pushing me to push him. He wants to be a Hall of Famer. He wants it all.”
The organization, the planning, the work ethic all make for a good roommate. Ray said that if someone leaves a dish out, Mengden will clean it. Mengden, though, didn’t make the best first impression when he arrived at Texas A&M: Despite failing to get drafted that June (“A little embarrassing,” Mengden said, “a punch in the gut.”), he walked in like he owned the place.
“If you want the truth, he showed up on campus really cocky, thinking he was really good,” Ray said. “It took a couple of weeks of piling onto him before we were able to bring him down a notch.”
Mengden said, “My friends always tell me I’m the kid if you’re ever messing around and kind of punch someone or tap someone, I’m the one who hits you a little too hard. It’s more a confidence I always brought with myself, I’m me all the time. ... People make fun of me for being homeschooled. They say maybe it’s from that. I always feel like I’m confident, ready to throw some smack back and forth if someone’s coming at me.”
In a sport that tends to squelch individuality, Mengden is utterly unafraid to stand out, from his handlebar mustache to his herky-jerky double-pump delivery. The windup isn’t just for show, though. It’s practical.
In 2016, the season after Mengden was traded from the Astros to the A’s, he was throwing to minor-league hitters. He went over his head once, then twice. “Ryan Healy and Matt Olson were like, ‘Could you stop doing that? I don’t like that,’ ” Mengden said. “Healy told me, ‘I hate when you do that, I can’t get my timing.’ And I was like, ‘OK, well, if you don’t like it ...’ and I started doing it a little bit more and it started working.”
Mengden came up to the big leagues that summer and made an immediate splash, with a 2.81 ERA in four starts, but after some inconsistent results, was sent back to the minors. Injuries, including a broken foot, interrupted some of his 2017 season, but he finished with a strong final month, going 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA after being recalled Sept. 5. He’s now the A’s No. 3 starter — which makes him unavailable to see Rachel Mengden’s performance this weekend, much as he wants to attend.
“I’m really happy for Rachel. It’s her first big job — she’s worked really hard and I’m so proud of her because she kept grinding, kept going,” he said.
Her brother won’t be there, but he remains a positive force in her life.
“To me, at least, Daniel was always a little intimidating because he’s two years older, but he’s a big inspiration,” Rachel said. “He’s always fought through every challenge to get where he wants and that’s how I feel I’ve tried to approach my life, especially after finally getting my first professional show.”