■ White Sox reliver Evan Marshall finishes degree.
Reliever Marshall finishes degree from Kansas State
When Chicago White Sox reliever Evan Marshall enters a game, his mindset is one pitch at a time.
He carried an approach of one class at a time while working to graduate from Kansas State.
Marshall completed the goal this week, earning a degree in business management with a minor in marketing.
“First off, I’m extremely proud,” Marshall said Wednesday during a conference call. “It’s been hard, first one in my family, so I owed it to them to follow through with this. I didn’t do anything for five or six years, so it made going back even harder, one or two, three classes at a time, first semester quietly getting them done.
“I really have my wife (Allison) to thank for most if it because she has been the motivator behind a lot of this. I’m glad it’s over but very proud.”
Marshall earned All-Big 12 second-team honors as a freshman and sophomore at Kansas State in 2009 and 2010. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected the right-hander in the fourth round of the 2011 draft.
He played four major-league seasons before returning to pursue the degree after the 2017 season.
“When you finish and are drafted they put the remaining amount of school money aside for you and Kansas State has a special fund where they want their athletes to graduate,” Marshall said. “So whatever Major League Baseball didn’t cover, they were eager to pick up for me just to help me get along. Little bit of time, my counselor for the baseball team, Jamie Hamor, she didn’t have to help me, but I was one of her favorites. She took care of me every step of the way.
“For the last four years, spring, winter and summer semesters taking one or two (classes) at a time. I just took my last final (Tuesday in corporate citizenship and business ethics), so it’s been quietly happening in the background during all of baseball which has been difficult sometimes. I will say (during the pandemic) it actually got a little bit easier because they relaxed the proctoring protocols from my classes, so I got to schedule it a little better around my times instead of me having to schedule around their times, plus baseball.”
Sox manager Tony La Russa said Marshall “sets an example.”
“I definitely applaud him,” La Russa said Wednesday. “I congratulated him. That’s an accomplishment, deciding you want to do it and taking the time to do it. And it’s a very important credential to have. Win win.”
Marshall had his family in mind the entire time.
“The first one in my family really to accomplish this, whether they nudge me or didn’t, I knew it meant a lot to them, and that made it mean a lot to me,” Marshall said. “My mom and dad are very proud of both this and what I’ve accomplished in baseball. I would say equally for the degree, it’s been a lot of hard work. They firsthand witnessed the grind and the struggle that comes along with the time constraints that finishing a degree can put on you. And then my wife, she’s always supporting me and pushing me to be better and stronger. There’s no way I’d do any of this without them.
“My wife graduated in four years and she has been rubbing that in my face for a long time, and now I get to put my diploma next to hers and proudly tell my son. And we just found out we’re having another boy. I can tell my sons that their dad accomplished something.”
Marshall added that education is “something that I can’t wait to stress the importance of to both of my sons. That will be pretty important. I did it and I did while I was playing baseball. If that doesn’t serve as an example that it can be done, I don’t know what will.”
Marshall, 31, knows he can explore many options in and out of the game after his playing days.
“I’d love to play GM, but right now I’m on the other side of the ball,” Marshall said. “We have great leadership in this organization. It’s fun to talk to (general manager) Rick (Hahn) and (executive vice president) Kenny (Williams) and see the things that are moving behind the scenes. One day that could be something I’m interested in.
“I also don’t think I’ve ruled out coaching one day either.”