By Joe Miegoc
Record Sports Writer
August 15, 2010
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction.
After a solid debut with the Seattle Mariners' Arizona League affiliate in 2009, Mark Angelo went to work during the offseason on his body and his game. The former East Stroudsburg University standout, selected by Seattle in the 44th round of the MLB draft in June 2009, added 15 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-2 frame to get up to 210 pounds. Angelo also saw his game grow, developing more power, more bat speed and hitting the ball hard on a consistent basis.
Throughout spring training, Angelo worked on his defense with former Mariners outfielder Jay Buhner, who did a two-week stint with the team as an outfield instructor, and was among a group of Mariners farmhands to take part in a hitting clinic given by Ken Griffey Jr. and current Phillie Mike Sweeney.
It all seemed to add up to more experiences to carry over into his second professional season, but that wasn't the case. On April 1, the last day of spring training, the Mariners informed Angelo that they were releasing him.
"It was tough," said Angelo, who played three years at Bucknell and as a graduate student at ESU. "They basically told me that I had a good bat, good power, good speed, a good arm, but nothing great. They didn't see me as a prospect. That was basically their explanation. I was on a plane ride home, back home in 10 hours."
It couldn't have been about statistics.
Angelo was an All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East first-team pick, made three All-Region teams and earned third-team All-American status from the American Baseball Coaches Association during his lone season at ESU. He set single-season school records that year in hits (77), extra-base hits (34), home runs (12), doubles (21) and total bases (136).
That success carried over during his time with the Arizona Mariners, who Angelo helped win the Arizona League championship. In 39 games, Angleo hit .272 (34-for-125) with two doubles, one triple, one home run and 14 RBIs.
"I was pretty upset because I felt I never got a fair shake to prove myself and I had a good year for the rookie team the previous year, won a championship, but reflecting back on it I have no regrets," said Angelo, who turned 24 on July 16. "Every day in spring training I showed up to the park, worked my butt off and left it all out on the field and that was their decision."
It wasn't the first time Angelo faced adversity in baseball.
He only played three years at Bucknell because he got cut as a freshman. That made him work harder and by the end of his career, Angelo was an All-Patriot League second-team selection who helped the Bison win the league title as a senior. After going undrafted in 2008, Angelo came to ESU and saw his game rise to a new level, ultimately giving him a chance to chase a career as a professional baseball player.
"For the first 23 years of my life my dream was to be a Major League Baseball player, and I got pretty close," Angelo said. "Now I just have to change my dream to being a teacher, a coach and be a good dad some day. That's kind of what it's become."
No other major league team came calling after Angelo's release. A few independent league teams contacted him, but he would have had to try out just to make those teams.
"I've known guys who played independent ball and I know it's hard to get signed out of those leagues," Angelo said. "I kind of started looking more at the bigger picture and I realized that if I went and played independent ball, while it would be fun and while it would be continuing my career, it's kind of like a hamster on a wheel. You're kind of having fun, but you're not getting anywhere."
Resigned to the fact that his professional baseball career "is over," Angelo is already moving on with his life.
He'll take classes this fall at ESU, continuing the process of getting his certification to teach mathematics in secondary education. That should be complete by May 2011. He'll also put his experiences on the diamond to use to help others, joining the ESU baseball team as a volunteer assistant coach under head coach John Kochmansky.
"Coach K offered me an assistant coaching job and I think that's going to be a real cool experience for me because I've never been on that side of the game," Angelo said. "I've always been playing. Now I get a chance to pass on what I've learned and what has worked for me and what hasn't worked for me to kids that in reality I'm kind of jealous of, kids just starting their competitive baseball careers, freshmen coming in.
"I'm going to tell them from Day 1 that I'm going to be a player's coach. I'm there for them. They want to take extra BP or pick my brain about hitting or anything I'm there for them 100 percent. I'm really looking forward to it."
Angelo is still playing baseball.
He's a member of the Hellertown Royals of the Blue Mountain League and he's doing quite well. Angelo leads the league in RBIs (30), tied for first in homers (8), second in slugging percentage (.747), fourth in batting average (.391) and tied for fourth in hits (34) and runs scored (26). A good game with the Royals, only to know he may not play again for a few days, leaves Angelo frustrated at times, but it's all part of the process of getting over the Mariners' decision.
"I'd say I'm not totally over it yet, but it's the type of thing you've got to roll with it," Angelo said. "It's not something I'm new to. This game has shut me down a bunch of times, getting cut and even in high school (at Quakertown) I had to claw my way to being an All-League player. You've got to kind of look for new things in life to get excited about and passionate about. I think coaching and teaching is definitely something that I'm cut out for and I'm excited to get going with, but it still doesn't mean that I'm over getting released.
"It was only about four or five months ago. It still kind of lingers, but it will get better with time and it has."
