Baseball Beginnings

Posted By John Klima on August 14, 2009

Jack Marder grabbed the bat and threw the cell phone in his bag. He went to the ballpark on the final day of the draft and figured that playing college baseball at Oregon would be worth more than signing out of high school.  

Instead, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a flyer on Marder in the 30^th round. He played this summer for Conejo Oaks, in the wood bat California Collegiate League, and ran his average up to .390 after a slow start. Facing a steady stream of older pitchers, some who have already been drafted, and whose fastballs do business in the low 90s, Marder showed that he was not overmatched.

The official Baseball Beginnings prediction is that Marder will play college baseball at Oregon and hit from the start.

He’ll eventually find his way to the Cape where the hours of dead time to hit with wood will suit him just fine. When he does, it won’t be the first time he’s faced good pitching with a wood bat.

He’ll never be the kind of player with astounding tools, but he’s got the bat, the tool that counts. The organizations that like college players who become more affordable because they lack either premium power or premium athleticism, but whose ability to perform the nuts and bolts duties of fielding and running and to consistently create deep counts, will find Marder to their liking. Some of those guys find their way to the big leagues because how you play the game isn’t a physical tool scouts grade for. You have to be careful not to miss the guys who can hit and play the game with just enough athletic ability. Small market teams are populated with players like this. 

Marder has understood for several years that he’s not going to be for every scout or every organization. He believes in himself more than some people believe in him.  Baseball Beginnings caught up with Marder before his Conejo Oaks team headed to Wichita for the NBC Tournament.

Baseball Beginnings: So you were almost certain you were going to get drafted at some point. Who were the teams that were interested, what teams did you work out for, and how did this unfold?
Marder: I worked out as Dodger Stadium a day before the draft, which was a lot of fun. I worked out with the Tampa Rays at Pomona College. There were other teams that were talking to me, but the only workouts I had were the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Rays.

Baseball Beginnings: What were you thinking going in?
Marder: I kept hearing that I would be a 7^th to the 12^th round kind of guy, but I also heard that I shouldn’t be expecting much because of the kind of money I was asking for. I started to think that it wasn’t going to happen at all. When the draft got past the 12^th round, I just said, ‘forget it this year, it won’t happen.’ When the 25^th round came, I started getting calls again, asking if the number was the same. I heard ‘If it drops, we’re going to take you, if it’s the same, we’ll see.’ We said it wasn’t changed at all. When the 30^th round came, Hal Kurtzman (Arizona’s area scout) called and said they were going to take me in this round. He asked if the number had changed. I said, no, and he said, ‘well we’re going to take you anyway.’ And that’s how it worked out.

Baseball Beginnings: It sounds like you were still surprised.
Marder: Once it happened, I was leaving to come to one of these games. We heard from somebody who was watching for their kid. It was an eerie feeling, to be honest.

Baseball Beginnings: Why?
Marder: Because once the projected rounds passed, I just thought it wasn’t going to happen. Growing up playing baseball, you always want to get drafted. I just thought it wasn’t going to happen anymore. Whether I signed or not, I always wanted to be able to say that I got drafted out of high school. From an ego standpoint, yeah it would be kind of cool to say. Even if I broke my leg and never played again, at least I knew I could always say that.

Baseball Beginnings: So I imagine you decided to take the wood at-bats this summer and wait for the phone call a few days before the August 17^th deadline.
Marder: Yeah. This week I had a call that they were coming in to watch. I don’t pay attention to who is in the stands. I zone in on the game. I always play the game the same, but I’m expecting the phone to ring on the morning of the 15^th or the 16^th or the 17^th.

If it doesn’t work out then I have the great option of going to play college baseball at Oregon. I think it’s the best college atmosphere and best college coaches you can ask for.

Baseball Beginnings:  When you say that you were hearing that you had round 7-12 talent, I would think you would have to be pleased with that based on a lot of the things we talked about last time. Were you surprised that the buzz was that high? You’re kind of a yes or no guy for a lot of scouts, where the guys who like you think you can hit and the guys who don’t think you lack the body type and athleticism.
Marder: Right. I had guys who wouldn’t consider drafting me, but the core guys that did like me, liked me. The seventh round was the highest I heard, and that came from the A’s. The core guys that liked me liked the way I played, liked the way I hit, liked the way I went after the game and liked how hard I played. They liked the knowledge that I have for the game. They thought I was going to make it.

Baseball Beginnings: Are you resigned to the idea that ‘I’m not going to be for everyone,’ especially as you get older?
Marder: Yeah. It’s always been that way. I was always the smaller guy. There was always the guys who loved me and the guys who would never consider me. There was never any middle ground. That’s the way I grew up. I like being the underdog, because I’ve always had to be the underdog. But I always knew there was someone watching me hit saying, ‘You know what? I love this guy.’ That’s the way I played. I play for myself, I play for my team, I play for my coaches, and I play for that scout sitting there who loves me.

Baseball Beginnings: You’re 19. Do you wonder if that played against you?
Marder: I don’t think so. I stayed back a year when I was younger, because I had diabetes. Ninety percent of the people who see me play wouldn’t even know that I have it. The only people that know are guys on my team and people close to me. It’s not one of those things I make a big deal about.

Baseball Beginnings: Has this been a good summer for you?
Marder: Yeah. This league probably doesn’t get the same attention, but you play the Forresters, and you get a guy throwing 92. You play the Blues, you see 88-90 and a guy touching 92. That’s what we see out here. I wasn’t really expecting it. I thought it would be like good high school players and guys throwing 85-86 and that was it. Sure you see that, but you also see a lot of guys who aren’t throwing that and have good arms.

Find out more about Jack Marder

Categories: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Jack Marder, Oregon