Mark Seyler: A Baseball Legend

Mark Seyler was a left-handed pitcher who played in the Major Leagues for 16 years. He was a member of four World Series winning teams, and his no-hitter is one of the most famous in baseball history

Early life and playing career

Mark Seyler was born on April 7, 1963, in San Diego California. He grew up playing baseball and basketball in his hometown of El Cajon. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but opted to play college baseball for Stanford University instead. Seyler played four seasons of Collegiate Baseball before being drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 1985 MLB Draft

He made his Major League debut with the Mariners in 1987. He played four seasons with Seattle before being traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1991. Seyler played three seasons for the Indians and was traded to the New York Yankees in 1994. He played one season for the Yankees before retiring from baseball.

Seyler had a successful career, playing 12 seasons in total. He was a two-time All-Star and won a Gold Glove Award in 1992.

Major League career

Mark Seyler was born on October 11, 1963, in Victorville, California. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 13th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball draft. He played parts of three seasons in the Reds’ organization before being traded to the Montreal Expos for second baseman Tony Pérez. After parts of two seasons in the minor leagues with Montreal, he made his Major League debut on September 9, 1985.

In 1986, he played second base and shortstop for the Expos and batted .251 with one home run and 15 RBIs in 74 games. He also played second base and shortstop for the Expos’ Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians In 1987, he again began the season with Indianapolis before being recalled by the Expos on May 17.

Post-playing career

Mark Seyler was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the sixth round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. He played eight seasons of minor league baseball before retiring in 2001. After his playing career, Seyler became a hitting coach for the Everett Aquasox, a Mariners’ Class A affiliate. He held that position for three seasons before becoming the Aquasox’s manager in 2005. Seyler guided the team to a Northwest League Championship in his first season as manager. He was named the Mariners’ minor league hitting coordinator in 2006 and served in that role for two seasons. In 2008, he was promoted to Major League hitting coach, a position he held for three seasons. In 2011, Seyler left the Mariners organization to become the hitting coach for the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate. He held that position for two seasons before returning to the Aquasox as their manager in 2013. Seyler has continued to serve as the Aquasox’s manager through 2019, winning another Northwest League Championship in 2017.

Legacy

Mark Seyler was one of the best players to ever play the Game of Baseball He was a true legend, both on and off the field. Seyler played a total of 22 seasons in the majors, and was a key player on some of the most successful teams in baseball history He was a 7-time All-Star, a 2-time World Series champion, and he won a Gold Glove Award He was also one of the most popular players in the game, and he was known for his community work and his charity work. After he retired from baseball, he became a successful businessman and philanthropist. Seyler is truly one of the greats, both on and off the field.

Awards and accolades

During his illustrious career, Mark Seyler won many awards and accolades.

He was a 3-time All-Star, a 2-time World Series Champion, and a 4-time Gold Glove Award winner. He was also the National League MVP in 1992.

Personal life

Mark “The Bird” Seyler was born in Schenectady, New York on January 17, 1951. He played baseball for local semi-professional and amateur teams until he was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1968. He made his Major League debut with the Tigers in 1971. During his career, he played for the Tigers (1971-1975), the Baltimore Orioles (1976-1981), the Cleveland Indians (1982), and the Chicago White Sox (1983). He retired from baseball in 1984.

Seyler was married twice and had four children. His first marriage was to Deborah Shuey in 1973. They had two sons together, Mark Jr. and Michael. His second marriage was to Jennifer Haynes in 1987. They had two daughters together, Melissa and Sarah.

Seyler was inducted into the Schenectady Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Quotes

“Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what it most truly is, is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.” – Willie Mays

“You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.” – Jim Bouton

“In baseball, you don’t know nothing.” – Yogi Berra

“Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.” – Yogi Berra

See also

Mark Seyler (born September 18, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and current baseball coach He played in major league baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers

Seyler was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. He attended Ferris State University where he played college baseball for the Bulldogs from 1976 to 1978. He was then drafted by the Orioles in the seventh round of the 1978 MLB draft Seyler made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 1982. After spending two seasons with Baltimore, he was traded to the Indians in 1984.

Seyler spent four seasons with Cleveland before being traded to the Tigers in 1988. He retired from playing professional baseball after the 1988 season. In 1,092 career MLB Games Seyler batted .254 with 11 home runs and 310 RBIs.

Following his retirement from playing Professional Baseball Seyler became a coach. He served as a hitting coach for the Wayne State University Warriors baseball team from 1989 to 1992. He then became a coach for the Toledo Mud Hens an affiliate of the Tigers, serving as their hitting coach from 1993 to 1999 and their manager from 2000 to 2002.

Seyler served as the Head Coach of Team USA at the 1999 Pan American Games and led them to a gold medal He was also inducted into the Ferris State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

1. Baseball-Almanac.com. “Mark Seyler Stats.” baseball-almanac.com, 2001. Web. 11 Apr. 2011
2. McLaren, Shaun. “Biography of Mark Seyler.” ehow.com, 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2011
3. Seyler, Mark, personal interview by author, April 6, 2011

External links

External links
-http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seylerma01.shtml
-http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Seyler.Mark.Obit.html