Their fathers’ sons
Sons of five former major-leaguers playing together in Futures League
BROCKTON, Mass. — Brockton Rox general manager Tom Tracey didn’t intend to build a summer league team that had five sons of prominent former major league players on the roster.
“It just happened that way,” he said. “One call led to another. It was not something we planned to do.”
Now the Rox have a team that includes the sons of David Ortiz (D’Angelo), Pedro Martinez (Pedro Jr.), Manny Ramirez (Manny Jr.), Gary Sheffield (Jaden), and Keith Foulke (Kade).
That’s an extended family with two first-ballot Hall of Famers, eight World Series rings, and 40 All-Star appearances.
The Rox are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, which has eight teams in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They play a 62-game schedule through the first week of August. Connecticut’s team include the New Britain Bees and Norwich Sea Unicorns.
It’s a lot of baseball and not a lot of comfort. There are long bus rides for one game, meals on the go, and living with roommates in apartments or college dorms.
“It’s a grind,” Tracey said before a recent game. “There’s no special treatment because of who your father is. That was the one thing I was worried about, how they would fit in with the other players. But it hasn’t been a problem.”
None of the big-league scions are prominent prospects at this point.
Foulke, Ortiz, and Ramirez are recent high school graduates who will play at junior colleges next season. Martinez, an infielder and outfielder, is a backup player at Division 2 Lynn University. Sheffield had only 17 at-bats as a freshman at Georgetown.
But they all harbor dreams of playing professionally and leagues such as the FCBL are where you get that chance.
“This seems like the right move,” said D’Angelo Ortiz, an infielder who turns 18 next month. “My whole life has been about taking the next step. Playing with older guys, that’s perfect. It’s better competition and you’re going to have bad days and learn how to come back from there.
“Playing every day, there’s nothing better than that.”
Brockton has had baseball teams at Campanelli Stadium since 2002. There was an independent league team for 10 years before switching over to college summer leagues.
The connection to the Red Sox started last season when Martinez played for the Rox. That led to Ortiz, Ramirez, and the others coming aboard. The FCBL is one of the few college leagues that allows incoming freshmen.
David Ortiz has been an avid supporter of his son’s career, working with him on the side and attending high school games. But there’s no pressure.
“D has to lead his own life,” David Ortiz said. “If that’s in baseball, great. I just want to see him enjoy it.”
The younger Ortiz has hit .364 with a .960 OPS through 10 games with the Rox. At 6 feet 1 inch, 200 pounds, he’s a different player than his father, more athletic and versatile. Some of that comes from his mother, Tiffany, who was an athlete growing up.
“I was there. I saw how hard my father worked,” D’Angelo Ortiz said. “I know it will be tough, but I want to get to the big leagues. But I’m not him. We’re different people. My mom raised me because my dad was always away.”
Is it hard being Big Papi’s son?
“There’s people who want to make it more than it is,” he said. “There’s pressure. I love baseball because I love baseball. I believe if my dad worked at FedEx I’d still love baseball. I know I’ll always be recognized as his son. But use my first name.”
Martinez Jr. understands the pros and cons of having a famous father.
“It’s a fun experience playing so close to Boston,” he said. “People here love him and I understand that. For me, it’s about getting ready for my college season and enjoying the game.”
Ramirez Jr., who bears an uncanny resemblance to his father, is a soft-spoken outfielder with a smooth swing. He will attend Tallahassee
(Fla.) Community College next season.
“I work with my dad all the time. He still hits all the time,” he said. “He walks around the house holding a bat. I try to take from his approach to the game and learn from that.”
Kade Foulke was a baseball and hockey player growing up in Florida before focusing on baseball in high school. He plans to play for Galveston College, a junior college in Texas.
He recently took in a game at Fenway Park with his father.
“It’s amazing how many people still recognize him. It was fun,” he said. “People always want to ask him about the 2004 team. It’s fun playing somewhere where he has such good memories.”
Jaden Sheffield, an outfielder with speed and power, needs at-bats after playing sparingly as a freshman. He acknowledged there is pressure when your father spent 22 years in the majors and hit 509 home runs.
“Being the son of a major leaguer brings positives and negatives,” he said. “It’s a thing we all have to embrace. We know we’re going to have people looking at us with a fine-toothed comb. They’ll look at us and see if we match up to our dads.
“We’re just here to be us and play baseball. Maybe we’re held to a certain standard, but I’ve talked to the other guys about it and none of us were pressured to play baseball. It was something I put on myself.”