Mike Marshall: The Moose

In the 6th round of the draft in 1978, the Dodgers picked a 6’5″ outfielder from Libertyville, Illinois named Mike Marshall. He would go on to play on two World Champion teams, the 81 and 88 squads.

Michael Allen Marshall was born in Libertyville Illinois on January 12th, 1960. His parents were Frank and Sandy Marshall. His dad had been a farmer, but went into the printing business. He has an older sister, Terri.

When he was selected in the sixth round by the Dodgers, he was just finishing up his senior year at Buffalo Grove High. Buffalo Grove is about 10 miles south of Libertyville and 30 miles north of Wrigley Field.

Mike later said:

“I used to skip school once in a while and take a bus down to see the Cubs. It was a different world down there. You never expect to play in the majors and then it happens so fast.”

Once the L.A. Times did a profile on him in October of 1985. The subtitle reflected his serious approach to the game.

“If He Smiled More and Struck out Less.”  Well Maybe just Smiled More.”

He evidently was a serious young man, dedicated to the pursuit of a career in sports.

He was signed by Guy Wellman and Glen Van Proyen with a bonus of just under 30,000 dollars. He was sent to Lethridge in the Pioneer League, (Rookie Ball). He had a very good year, .324/12/70 in 70 games.

He was sent to Class-A Lodi in the California League in 1979. He would play in 137 games. He would play first base and DH exclusively. His line was .354/24/116 and he was named the MVP of the league. He was already being considered as the replacement for Steve Garvey.

He moved to AA San Antonio in 1980. He hit a solid .321 with 16 long balls and 82 RBIs. At the end of the season there was some talk of a trade with the Red Sox that would have brought Fred Lynn to LA for Marshall and a couple of other players. It, of course, never came to fruition.

In 1981, Mike went to AAA Albuquerque. He began making his own headlines and pushing the other Mike Marshall, who was a union rep in the strike shortened season, aside.

The Dukes went all the way that year under Del Crandall, and Mike won the triple crown, becoming the first player to do that in the PCL in 25 years. His line, .373/34/137. He also scored 114 runs and stole 21 bases. He was the league’s MVP.

The Dodgers called the star slugger up for a look-see in September. He saw his first game action when he pinch ran for Garvey in the bottom of the first inning on September 7th. In his first at bat in the third against the Giants, Ed Whitson, he doubled off the top of the wall in left-center field. When Cey followed with a homer, he scored his first run.

He was primarily used as a pinch hitter. He had 5 hits, 3 were doubles and he drove in one run. He was on the playoff roster and earned a World Series ring. But he only had one AB in the playoffs and struck out. That winter he was named Minor League Player of the Year by the Sporting News.

He started the 82 season at AAA Albuquerque hitting .388 with 14 homers and 58 RBIs in 66 games. He was recalled to LA on June 27th. On June 29th he hit his first MLB homer, a solo shot in a loss to the Padres. In 49 games he hit .242 with 5 homers but only 9 RBIs.

He became a regular in 1983. Learning a new position, he played RF in 109 games and 33 at first. Both Garvey and Cey had left. Garvey as a free agent and Cey in a trade to the Cubs.

Greg Brock took Garvey’s job at first, and the Dodgers moved Pedro Guererro to third. Marshall found a home in RF. He had been beaned in April and then suffered being knocked unconscious in a collision with Duane Kuiper on the basepaths, so he was only hitting .224 by the end of May.

But he finished at .284/17/65. He hit .311 after the All-Star Break. The Dodgers won the west, but lost the NLCS 3 games to one to the Phillies. Marshall was 2-15 in the series.

Moose changed positions again in 84, moving from right field to left. Despite spending 21 days on the disabled list after foot surgery in May, he was selected as an All-Star. He had a 5 hit game in April with 2 homers and 6 RBIs in a 15-7 win over the Padres. He also learned he needed to have surgery on his right patella tendon,an old basketball injury from high school. He only hit .257, but had 21 homers to lead the team and matched his 65 RBIs from the year before. He was named the Dodgers MVP by the Southern California baseball writers.

In 1985, the Dodgers again won the NL West. Marshall again missed time, this because of an emergency appendectomy. But he hit .293/28/95. He drove in 13 runs in his last 11 games of the season, including 3 in the October 2 division clincher against the Braves. He also homered in that game.

“Nobody believed in this team except Lasorda and the 25 guys in the locker room.” He said. ” Nobody expected us to do anything, but we didn’t give up, Tommy wouldn’t let us.”

The Dodgers would lose in six games to the Cardinals. Down three games to two in the bottom of the 8th inning, Marshall hit a tie-breaking homer off of Todd Worrell to put the Dodgers ahead, but Jack Clark’s three run shot in the top of the 9th clinched the pennant for the Redbirds.

In 1986, Marshall and the Dodgers struggled badly. Bothered by back pain and stiffness, he appeared in only 103 games. He hit only .233 with 19 homers and 53 driven in. The Dodgers fell to a 73-89 mark and 5th place.

One of the criticisms of Marshall was his penchant for striking out and his lack of base on balls. In 85, he struck out 100 more times than he walked, 137-37. In 1987, he had 428 plate appearances and only walked 18 times.

Mike had avoided arbitration with the Dodgers and signed a one year contract. But again, he had issues which limited his playing time, surgery to remove a wart, recurring back issues and a thigh strain. Then there was a dustup with Pedro Guerrero who accused him of malingering.

Then in September, he had a confrontation with teammate, Phil Garner. Dodger Stadium crowds even began booing him. But he finished with a career high, .294 average, 16 homers and 72 RBIs.

Once again he was the subject of trade talk in the offseason. But he was back with LA in 1988. He also had an injury free season. For him, that made all the difference. He had a good year with a .277/20/82 line. The 82 RBI’s led the team. But Gibson was the catalyst. He would hit .230 in the postseason, with 1 homer and 8 driven in. The homer and 3 of the RBIs came in the World Series on his three-run shot off of Storm Davis in game two.

But the media and even some of his teammates were questioning his ailments. They felt he wasn’t tough enough and would not play through injuries. Still, after the 88 Series was over, LA signed him to a three-year three million dollar deal. They hoped the added security would help him.

But 1989 was another injury-plagued year. His ongoing back problem prompted another suggestion that he did not play hurt, this time from Al Downing, who was working for KABC at the time. He played in 105 games, hit .260 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs.

That was enough for the Dodgers to cut bait and trade him and Alejandro Peña to the Mets on Dec 20th for Juan Samuel.

He won the first base job with the Mets, but ended up playing in only 53 games for the Mets. He did get a measure of revenge against LA with a 6 RBI game against them on May 22nd. 4 of those came on a grand-slam homer. But by mid-June, he felt he did not fit in with the Mets. He also had a confrontation with manager Bud Harrelson over playing time.

He ended up in the hospital with gastro-intestinal duodenitis. (Inflammation of your stomach lining).

Replaced at first by Dave Magadan, he asked the Mets for a trade at the end of the season.

They didn’t wait that long, on July 27th, he was traded to the Red Sox for three minor leaguers.  Ed Perozo, Greg Hansell and Paul Williams. He was hitting .239/6/27 at the time. In 30 games for the Sox he hit .286/4/12. He would go 1-3 in the playoff loss to the A’s.

He started the 91 season with the Sox, but he wasn’t playing much. He hit .290 in limited action with 1 homer. He asked for a trade, and he was offered around with no takers, so the Sox released him. The Angels signed him hoping for some offense, but in 7 at bats, he did not get a hit and he was released.

Mike was 31, but not ready to retire. But his MLB career was over. His line, .270/148/530. If you look at his 11 year career, he did not even average 100 games a season, 1035. Injuries were a huge part of his career, and in my opinion, his numbers reflect that. When he was healthy, he was a productive bat.

Mike signed a two-year deal with the Nippon Ham Fighters for 1992. He played in 67 games, mostly as an outfielder, and hit .246/9/26. He suffered a groin pull and was sent to the DL for the 9th time in his career and then sent to the minors to rehab.

In 1993, he signed a minor league deal with the Mariners, and received an invite to spring training. He also confided to writer, Ross Newhan, that he had been his own worst enemy. “When you’re 22 and a big leaguer, you think you know it all. I should have been more open to input from others. On March 17th, 1993, Marshall announced his retirement from baseball.

He coached at Glendale Junior College in 94, and was the hitting instructor at Southwest Texas State in 95-96. He said he wanted to stay home with his wife, Mary and their two young children. His son, Michael jr. and his daughter, Marcheta both eventually graduated from Stanford University.

Mike gradually re-engaged with baseball. In 1999, he signed with the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League Central, as a player-coach. He appeared in 33 games driving in 21 and hitting his last two professional homers.

He became manager of the Albany Diamond Dogs in 2000 and held that job until the team folded in 2002. In 2005-06 he managed the independent El Paso Diablos. 2007-08 he did pretty much everything as the GM-manager of the Yuma Bullfrogs/Scorpions in the independent Golden Baseball League.

Marshall also traveled to Germany and Slovenia to run baseball camps for the kids. They toured some Army bases in Germany during the Iraq war. In 2010-11, Mike was the President and field manager of the Chico Outlaws. He then was VP and manager for the San Rafael Pacifics in 2012 and led them to the Championship.

In 2013, Mike was the commissioner of the four team, Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. For 15 years he had worked in almost every aspect of independent baseball in hopes of showing affiliated baseball that he now understands toughness and teamwork.

Marshall realized that maybe sometimes he should have tried to play through his malady’s. He always thought the team would be better off with someone at 100 percent. Maybe he should have taken the lesson players learned from Kirk Gibson in 88.

Marshall moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico and became the Associate Head Coach of the New Mexico Highlands baseball team from 2015-2020.

Since then, Mike has kept a low profile and maintained his privacy. I always liked Marshall. I also thought he should have been a better player than he was. But like most fans, I haven’t a clue what went on behind closed doors in the clubhouse. But during the 80’s, I saw him hit a few when I went to see the Dodgers play. I thought, if this guy was ever healthy a full season, he could hit 50 easy.