Samuel R. Marsonek (born July 10, 1978) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Professional career

Sam Marsonek was a 6'6" right handed pitcher out of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Sam was a graduate from Jesuit High School (FL) and was drafted as the 24th overall pick in the annual

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

First Player Draft in 1996, by the Texas Rangers. At the conclusion of the '99 season with the Rangers, Sam was traded to the New York Yankees in a trade deal with Brandon Knight for outfielder Chad Curtis. On July 8, 2004, after his sixth year in the Yankees organization, Marsonek was called up to the majors. Marsonek's

debut was July 11, 2004 where he came in to pitch in relief against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

, his hometown team. In this outing, Marsonek pitched 1.1 innings, giving up no earned runs on 2 hits. In 2007, Marsonek pitched in the independent Atlantic League for the Somerset Patriots. In 35 games (14 starts), he was 6-8 with a 5.03

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

and 59

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. Marsonek was released from the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in 2008, ending his 12-year professional baseball career.

Coaching career

After being released from his professional baseball contract, Marsonek was now searching for the next calling for his life. Sam eventually became a high school baseball coach, starting his career in Tampa, Florida at Cambridge Christian School. Marsonek spent the next four years coaching the Lancers, leading the team to two district titles, a regional championship and a state final four appearance. He was replaced by Sam Blackmon in May of 2013 after stepping down to work full-time with SCORE International. For the next few years, Score International baseball was a nationally ranked travel baseball program by Perfect Game USA. Marsonek, as the Director of SCORE International Baseball, was searching for a stable place to facilitate these outstanding players from across the world. In May 2016, Marsonek and his wife had the opportunity they were searching for; SCORE International took over Baseball Country, (formerly owned by Kenny and Angela Burns). Prior to the new position, Marsonek and his SCORE team had been bringing in missionaries along with carpentry teams to help out the area, using Baseball Country as their hub for what was already 10 years. Although there may be a change in scenery, the impact of Marsonek's coaching and directing under SCORE International baseball marked a great foundation for Baseball Country. Associated to Marsonek's coaching career is rosters filled with players from Florida, Canada, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the Bahamas, assisting over 85 of these players to attain a college scholarship and 27 to sign professional contracts.

References

External links

Sam Marsonek
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsonek, Sam 1978 births Living people Baseball players from Florida Major League Baseball pitchers Charlotte Rangers players Gulf Coast Rangers players Savannah Sand Gnats players Greensboro Bats players Tampa Yankees players Norwich Navigators players Columbus Clippers players Gulf Coast Yankees players New York Yankees players Somerset Patriots players Jesuit High School (Tampa) alumni