DUGOUT - MARK MARTIN

Mark Martin, a celebrated figure in slow pitch softball, is interviewed on a program. He discusses his career achievements, including setting records and winning national championships. He talks about his passion for the game and his dedication to his teammates. He also opens up about his personal life, including finding love again after his wife passed away. The interview touches on his legendary moments in the sport and his mindset during competitions. Overall, it is a conversation about Mark's successful softball career and his journey in life. Welcome to the Dugout. Yeah, give us a thumbs up. That's where we start here. What a program we got for you today. Let me read what I got wrote here so I don't mess up like I usually do. On today's program we have one of softball's greats, Mark Martin. Big Mark, celebrated figure in slow pitch softball, renowned for his exceptional career achievements and leadership in the sports. Now in his 60s, he's accomplished a remarkable list of accolades including setting record-breaking performances, winning national championships, and earning multiple All-American honors. Mark has been a mentor to young players and a driving force in success with legendary moments and are still being discussed in some circles. And we're going to talk about those legendary moments today. His passions for the game and dedication to his teammates have cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats in slow pitch softball. But before we get started, just how big a boy are you, Mark? You know R.D. Mercer, Mark? I know who he is. How big a boy are you then, Mark? Well, I'm 6'4", and depending upon the day of the week, probably somewhere in the 240 range, but my goal is to always stay below an eighth of a ton. Boy, you're going to confuse our audience now. I know they've got some calculators out there. So, Mark, you're 60 years old. Plus. Plus. Oh, you're 65, right? I'll be 67 this year. 67? Yeah. What kind of 70-year-old ballplayer would that be? Man, if I had a 65 team, I'd be crying to get your butt out there. Don't cry too hard now, because I'm not coming. You're never going to play again? I don't think so. I really don't. Never say never. That's right. Never say never. But right now, I don't have any plans to. You're now in your 60s. You've accomplished so much, as we're going to discuss. But before we go on this softball journey, I want to talk to you about how are you now in your 60s and got your new life. Your wife passed, unfortunately. It's a sad time. And now you're moving on with your life. Tell us about where you are and where you're going. Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, it was tough times back before the pandemic, right? But God is good and God is faithful. And I just kind of leaned into him because I didn't know where else to turn. And it was within about 15, 18 months, he introduced me to my wife, Frances. She was in Texas. I'm in Florida. So the only way in the world I could have met her was if the Lord reached into one state, 1300 miles away, connected my hand to hers. And it's been a blessing. It's changed my life. And I'm just I'm ready to live again. So it's been a good thing. How does that work? I mean, there must have been a connection. It wasn't the Internet, was it? No, actually, Frances and my late wife, Shanna, were best friends. And so there was a time that Frances went through a really tough relationship and we were able to, I'm going to call it, rescue her and sent her back to Texas to be with her family. And I would say, I would say that the good news about her going back to Texas was she was able to reconnect with her sister and her mother and her father and her stepmother and and just life changing events from that. So it was really, really good. Plus, she entered. She stopped dancing. So she's she's a world class ballerina. And she went into the mental health arena. So now she helps people with depression that have either tried or or threatened to commit bodily harm. And so she works with them. So she's she's just she's wonderful. But one of the last things that Shanna said to me before she closed her eyes was promise me you'll look after Franny. And so I just made a covenant to call her every six weeks or so. And then after doing that for a year or so, we just we just yeah, we just felt actually the story is I just went to see a friend in Texas. I didn't have any idea that we would become more than that. But after getting to spend a day with her. Look, I didn't know how to date. I didn't want to learn how to date. And I wasn't sure I ever wanted to date. So I told him my prayers was like, if you're going to have somebody for me, you have to put it right in front of me. Well, he did. So we were married three months later. We're pretty honest here. So I'm gonna ask you a question. And we'll be totally candid with me. You're not playing softball, but you say your wife was a is a dancer, right? So are you dancing now? It's a great question, man. I've offered I've offered. Okay, I've offered to take ballroom dancing. We probably will do that. But when we got married for our first dance, I basically stood there and she danced around me. So well, that's what Dan does. Pretty much. I just said I'm just saying he hit the hell out of my face. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I love it. So you said a lot of records, man. I went through your resume and, you know, doing the research on you. And I've known you for a long time since you young man. I've probably known you since you were 20. Right? Yeah, we've known each other a long time long time. Yeah. And Martin family like famous in Orlando. And they were famous over here in Melbourne for my guys looking over there. Yeah, Mark. Mark was a joy to watch. That's for sure. And eventually we'll get into it. And Mark and I played together. That's one of the legendary players I've played with. I always check them off my list. Bruce me, Ray Fleetwood, Mike Nye, Mark Martin. Yeah, that's some four players now. I get Ryan Ford, unfortunately, almost. But listen, I think I want to turn it over here in a minute. I think we need Yeah, let's talk. You won four national championships. Actually, five, five. Yeah, five with Bell and then one others, but five with Woody and Pat. Yeah. Can you take us back to one of those championship games? What was it like to be in the heated competition at that level? It's funny you say he the competition because back then, unlimited home runs, it was hot. So our games would last two and a half, three hours. And I played a lot of right field and we were always in the third base dugout. So I was sprinting a lot back out. And then we didn't play five man back then we played a shifting outfielder. So when the righties came up, I would run all the way over play on the left side. And when the lefties came up, I'd run all the way back out to the right corner. So it was hot. But I think one of the things that would be maybe the most noteworthy would be our World Series victory in 93 and you triple essay and I think we may have been one of the very first teams to ever come out of the loser's bracket and win the World Series. So that was in Daytona, Jackie Robinson Stadium. Yeah, the pro the pro park. Remember how many games you played in one day? Well, I think we got on the field at eight in the morning, we probably got off the field at nine o'clock at night. And I think we missed. I think we didn't play one game. So it was a long day. I don't know how many games it was at least for guys to sub in and out. Well, back then we didn't we didn't sub too much. You know that we had a 11 man batting 11 man batting order and we had a DH but the DH was the DH. It usually didn't go on the field. Yeah, back in those days, man, there was always how we got to play with Ken so we get up more. Right? You know, guys, you know, really have Monty Tucker is your DH. Yeah, that's a dude there, buddy. monstrous. Monty Tucker. He just got in the hall. He did and well deserved. Mike Masenko got him in he worked it. He didn't Mike Masenko got Ray Fleetwood in there too. You know, and he was not in it yet. It's funny you say that because Mike was my sponsor to get me into the hall as well. Mike Mike and Pat Bell were my sponsors. Mike is a tremendous, tremendous ambassador. Maybe the greatest ambassador for the game of softball that I've ever known. He's he's an amazing man. done a lot for the game. Olympic Festival success, the 89 Olympic Festival, you led the East team with the 742 batting average. What was your mindset in that festival? And how did it feel to perform at that time? Yeah, it's funny because 89 was my second year playing at what they now call the super level, right? And I had I had Mike Masenko hit first. Bruce Meade hit second. We had Ted Cox from steel hit third and then me. Wow. And I'm looking at those three guys. I didn't know Ted very well, but he was on that team too. He was Terry Paramin was your Calvin linglebach was on that team. Mike Jacobs. Oh, Jacobs was there. Yeah, that's my dude. Yeah, he talks about himself more than I do. Right? Never met a stranger. I know. That's right. He never met a stranger. He could talk but but for me looking at Mike Masenko, Bruce Meade, probably two of the greatest hitters of all time and I'm backing them up. It was it was an honor to be you know, to be in in there with them and and to have a chance to play for the gold medal was an honor to do be honest with you, man. Ain't much difference pitching all three. I mean, I'd be honest with you. I mean, you, you know, Bruce and Mike. Yeah, they wanted to. But you're a younger guy. So you 10 years younger than boys. Yeah, you're in your in your class. You are in in the in the context of Bruce Meade or Mike Masenko. Well, thanks, man. I mean, you hit it. I've been around. You hit him as high and as far as anybody. And we're gonna talk more about that. In fact, we were we were waiting for a call from Big Cat. And I think he was supposed to call at one third. And I just look at my wife's and we started early, which is unusual. So we expect that Big Mike will be calling in here often because you know, this was the time we're talking about the festival. And he remembers it like it was yesterday. It was so much fun. It was I'll tell you one funny thing about the festival is we're walking through the opening ceremony in our, our regalia or warm up suits. Everybody thought we were coaches. Yeah, because we were so much older than the participants, right. So they can't say which sport you guys coach or participants. You guys are awful old to be participants. So it's kind of fun. Why do they call it Olympics? Like was it actually? Yeah, it was the senior Olympics. No, it's called the Olympic Festival. So in that festival, they were going to test men's slow pitch softball and women's fast pitch softball to potentially be an Olympic sport. And we failed on the first pitch of the first game, I think. But Mike was telling me a story. He was telling me some guy went ape shit and spit on the umpire. Who was it? Who was that? Probably it was one of the guys that it was tough. And they said just you have to respect umpires, right? So, you know, in slow pitch softball, how you doing, man? You're just talking about me. Absolutely. Oh, I don't know about that. So what's what's happening? Are we? Are we online? You're online right now. We're just talking about the Olympic Olympic Festival success. You guys. Yeah, we're talking about the mark. Mark was bringing up the fact that it was a tryout for the Olympics. A tryout is where they're going to accept it. Not like you told me yesterday. Who was the clown that ruined that for you? You're absolutely right. It was a festival. See, that's what they have every year or whatever those festivals. And they'll take those teams to the Olympics. Well, because of a couple of guys that had spit on the umpire and smashed the umpire into the fence. You know, we act like regular softball players. No way, Jose. That's right. I hate to say it, but that's basically what happened. That's pretty much it. Yeah. But me and but me and Mark, we had a great team there. We had we were the actually the yeah, we were the East team uniforms. Yeah. And the West Kings beat us for the championship, right, Mark? Yeah. Doug Flynn hit a walk off three run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Yeah. Mark Flynn, that little Doug Flynn. Doug Flynn. Doug Flynn. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was Belcourt shortstop at one time. Starpath and Belcourt, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, Doug. Doug had a tremendous baseball career, and then he became a tremendous softball player. Yeah, yeah. Hey, you know, Mike Jacobs was on your team, Mark said, and so was Calvin Langenbach. Remember those guys? Well, I tried to get them. I tried to remember them all, but I couldn't remember them all. But yes, Jake, Caleb, Mark. Caleb was on your team? No, no. Calvin. No, you meant Calvin. You meant Calvin. Calvin Langenbach. He played shortstop for us, yeah. Yeah, Calvin, Calvin. You're right, my bad, my bad. Terry Perryman was out there. It was a lot of fun. Yeah, Bull Kramer. Oh, the bully. Hey, hey, Mark, you remember them Choctaw Indians? Oh, yes, sir. That was so much fun. Hey, Mike, who are those guys? What are you talking about? Choctaw Indians. They're three of them. They're the Murphy brothers. The Murphy brothers, yeah. And they could play. They could play. They said they were Choctaw Indians, right? That's right, full-blooded Choctaw Indians. They were real dark. I mean, they were really good players. Yeah, they were really good. They were really good players. Yes, they were as dark as you could possibly believe. Let's put it that way, okay? They were as black as you could be. And I said, you're a Choctaw Indian. You got any pictures of those guys? I'm sure I can find one because Jerome told me about them. And I know that Jerome knew everybody. And I know Jerome, I think, pretty sure took some pictures of those boys for sure. When Jerome would like to put a, you know, he'd get a team together. He'd get them Choctaw Indians out of Oklahoma. That's funny. I'd forgotten about them, Mike, until you mentioned them. Hey, and Terry Pering, who was our player coach, right? Oh, yeah. Terry, T.P., awesome. He was so good. Terry, and then Randy Garreau was our manager. And, you know, how they separated those, you know, the 16 teams from the ASA the year before, or was it that year? No, it was the year before that you got those teams picked. You know, the 16 teams, Mark, they split them apart 4-4-4-4. Right. And the South, they had all the players with Roberson, and Plant, and Crusher, and Stockman. They're supposed to kill us. And we beat them the first game. I think we right ruled them. Yeah, I remember that. That was so much fun. Yes, it was. Hey, Mike, sorry to interrupt, but, you know, you're one of the most legendary players in softball history, and here we are talking to Mark. From your perspective, how did you see Mark as a player? Oh, Mark was a tremendous ball player. Mark was as good as they come. Mark was top of the heat, man. Mark was power hitter, base hitter, defensive, team leader. He could do it all. He said he was good looking, too. Yeah, he was a pretty good looking guy. Black hair, you know, kind of looked like he got that, uh, uh, what's his name, uh, Gregory Peck look like, or, uh, you know. It ain't so dark anymore, does it? Nah, it's, uh, yeah, there's more than a little. Somewhere. Mark, you still got your whole head of hair, right? I have a little bit of hair. Yes, sir, I do. That's what I'm saying. You always, uh, no, Mark, Mark was as good as they got, and Mark played for Belcour, and gosh, I can remember when Mark played with Lawsons, uh, out of, uh, Florida. That was a long time ago, because when we, our skills team would come down and play WWJ, Lawsons, and the teams that Mark was playing with back then. Yeah, I remember those days. Before playing with Belcour and a couple of, uh, well, Belcour mainly, but like I said, Mark, uh, had an outstanding career in the ASA Hall of Fame, National ASA Hall of Fame, like he should be, so. Well, you know, dude, I was heard from a little birdie that, you know, I was telling Mark that, uh, you helped, uh, Fleetwood get in, and you helped, um, oh, shit, who was the other guy? You helped to get in Fleetwood? Mike Nye. Mike Nye. Mike Nye. When that was Nye, Fleetwood, and who else was it? Oh, Doug Roberson, Ricky Huggins, uh, Cesar Whitehead. All those guys you helped, and Mark was one of them. Yeah, I mentioned, Mike, that you, you were, you were a big part of my being able to, to be considered as well, and I want to personally thank you for that. I haven't seen you much since then, but I can't appreciate all your work and help on that. Yes, it was my pleasure doing it. I enjoyed it, uh, and I, you know, I'm, I'm really glad that, uh, everything worked out just like it should, and now you're in the ASA National Hall of Fame, and, you know, that's the, that's the toughest Hall of Fame to get into, okay? There's no two ways about that. The guys that are, that are in that ASA Hall of Fame, they're, they're special, uh, you know, they're, they're the cream of the crop, you know, because, just because, just because it has some of your guys from way back when that created this game of softball really put it on the map, you know, as far as, uh, how you want to say it? Notoriety. Yeah, notoriety, exactly. That picture that you sent me yesterday of Jim Galloway, he was the one, the original guy, where people would say, I would pay to go watch him play. Wow, okay. Well, I heard about him when I was, like, 20 years old, that they, they, they, you know, they, there's this guy in New York playing for County Sports, they get bases loaded, they'll walk that guy. What? You know, and softball ain't walking him. No, and so guys like that created the game, and then like Mark and me, we came through in the 80s and the 90s, and we kept that flow going. And I try to play to these guys today, what they're doing, whether they know it or not, but you're carrying the torch. That's right. You know, I, I do, uh, I do kind of question you saying, well, that what the East team, you were guys on a West team. We were the East. Oh, yeah. So the West team had better team, but they had, uh, uh, no, no, who let off? You said nine and then, uh, yeah. For Mike let off for us. Oh, Mike let off for you then, then Bruce and Bruce. And then who? I think it was Ted Cox. Ted Cox, then you. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds pretty damn weak. So, you know, we were our best hitters. And so we put the best hitters up there so you can get them up there again. That's right. That's the way you do it, man. That's the way that, you know, that's the way, uh, where you had pyramid. All the guys you're talking about, Mike, Mike Jacobs, that's a hell of a player, dude. He belongs up there with, uh, I mean, he may not hit the home runs, but that guy could hit anywhere he wanted. Yes, he does. Cause he played with Warren motors when they were at 94 and two. And I saw him the next year, he went with Howard's and he played in Cleveland with Howard's in 1977. Well, he's not here, but he played with the 1977 Jacobs and Jacobs. Like I said, he was a phenomenal ball player, power, uh, base hitting, but the wild part about him was his, his defense. Oh, he's great. He's freaking great. He's quite anything you catch. Oh yeah. Well, he played on my forties team in the 40 and over world. He played, he come up to me and, you know, the rules of the home run, you know, you hit a home run, your home run hitter. And, you know, so he'd come up and say, do you want me to hit it out or keep it in? You know? Uh, and I tell him and, you know, I, I thought it was like bullshit to be honest with you, but I swear to God, he never made a mistake. And when he went and he hit it out, if you say he's going to hit it out, he hit it out. Oh yeah. No, Mike was a professional baby. First time I saw him in 77, I said to myself, who is this guy? And he probably told you, give him a second or two. No, no. I was watching from the other field. I mean, other diamond with Howard that night, I says, wow, this guy is, he's our best player. Meanwhile, here comes crusher and Stan Harvey and stuff. And I'm saying Mike Jake was his best player, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he was right there with him. I mean, it was all, all part of the job. And you know, our team in Oklahoma, like I said, we got beat by the West and we had beat the South and the South had all the players. And I can't remember who was on the North team, but they were all quality players because they were all part of the ASA the year before. So, well, listen, Mike, we're going to have to get on. Uh, I just wanted you to call and talk to Mark. Uh, you guys hadn't talked in a while. It's good to hear your voice, big man, to get back to the big dog here. Mark, it really is cool to get to talk to you here with Ed Rose and Dan and their program. They got a good thing going here. You know, so they're supposed to send you like a $15,000 check this week for doing this. I appreciate that. Thanks for negotiating that. It's a 20, but I guess he can go down to 15. So he wants 15. The last time goes to Mike. Oh, my gosh. The pleasure of you guys talking with you. How cool is that? Yeah, he was cool. Yeah. I gotta tell you, you know, Gary Deaton, right? Oh, yeah. And you know, Mike Jacobs? Oh, yeah. They were playing for me in Washington. We were I think we were in the 50s at that time. I sent Gary to pick up Mike Jacobs at the airport. That's a mistake, my friend. Well, I don't know you guys. Well, here's Gary Deaton is a talker and loves himself. Oh, he talks about himself more than I ever thought about doing. And Mike Jacobs, he loves himself, too. Both of them are good. But now, by the time that ride was over, they weren't much of friends. I never want to ride with that. I never want to ride with that guy again. That's funny. And then they got in some kind of squabble because Gary wanted to smoke a cigar in the van. And Mike would not get in the van with, you know, let's get back to my boy here. There's two guys. It's funny. And, you know, if you come up with any other guys that, you know, stories about guys, stuff like that, it's kind of interesting. Before we get on to the next section, there was a certain miniature home run that you hit that was five hundred and thirty five people in Las Vegas. But what the heck? What happened? All I can tell you is I swung. It's five thirty and I hit it. And I just some and probably can tell you this. I never watch them. When, you know, you hit it, you just turn around, go sit down. So I hit it and I took a couple of steps, turned and came back to the dugout. And when I got to the dugout, Kurt Hollis grabbed me and said, did you see where that ball landed? I said, no. Why? So you don't see where that ball landed. And I said, where did it land? And he said, see that tree out there? I said, yeah. He said, went over that tree. I said, wow. And I went and sat down. The next thing I know, they got people running out there and measuring things. I was in Lorenzo Park in Vegas, right? Somewhere in Vegas. Well, yeah, I think I think I was there that day. But listen, I got a huge problem with that. And I put a video out on this same subject because I have you and it's on one of our videos. Yeah. And when we were with Hollis in Clearwater. I remember that one. Yeah. Well, listen, there was a guy, another guy talking about somebody else. I forget the guy's name. He said, yeah, this guy hit five hundred and thirty five longest baller, not mentioning you. I thought it was you, but this was some other guy. And it was on the same park that you hit yours. And he was describing how you hit yours. Honest to God, he said, we're at any Seymour on this backfield. And it went, you go out of the ballpark and you go out of the parking lot, then you go out into the road, two lane highway into a church. And the ball went in the church. I said, dude, that's Mark Martin. And I had the video, but you hit me. And we put it in that memory video that I do remember that. Yeah. You did something with the swing where you did it like like a rap. I don't think it was his daughter. And you just looked and you just said, oh, yeah, I said, that's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. And that was five hundred thirty five feet. If he met me because you and look when he hits him, he puts that big, big old leg up. Did you send me some videos of you hitting? I wanted to put it. Yeah, there's some. I sent you some that I did with I think it's North Star Productions. Yeah. Where we did a hitting video. I find that. Yeah. Yeah. But he just said damn big leg up. And then he hits him like way, way high. Reminds me Bruce Meade. I tell you what, between Bruce Meade and and Mark and probably Mike, I didn't see Mike when, you know, in his older years, he he he had to struggle with, you know, things like, you know, like, oh, yeah, he had big operations and stuff and hurt his back and he can already stand up and you lose your legs. It's awful. Yeah. But there are many people who hit him farther and higher. So you talk about that. Did you have somebody that you modeled your style? No, not really. It's funny because if we if we go back to how I was a table setter, I mean, my job was to hit the ball by the pitcher and set the table for a guy named John Kobolinski that we called him Kong and my brother Tom. They were the home run hitters. And it just over time, I had a that was on Lawson, right? Before Lawson. Before Lawson. Yeah. So we had a guy named Dave Kelsey that did some work with Adair. You may remember Adair. Well, so Dave Dave said, I can teach you how to how to hit. And I think what you're already an established I was playing a lot, but I wasn't a home run hitter. I was I was I was a tall guy hit for good average. I hit a couple of home runs. But Dave said, I want to I want to change your swing. And you just if you stay with it. Well, we used to play in the winter season. So I remember in 10 games, I probably hit 41 hoppers to the third baseman. I don't think I got to hit the whole season. Because I just kept hitting one hoppers to third frustrating, trying to implement these changes. And then all of a sudden, it just like overnight, the ball just went in the air and it never and never changed. I would, they were literally something quick. I would say there were literally seasons that I would play where I would hit maybe like one ground ball a year, everything would be a line driver fly ball. I mean, I just never really missed it for for a while. And then you kind of just was what's the secret to that, my friend? I think it's just cutting it, right? Yeah. A little watching the bat hit the ball with good eyesight hit the bottom of the ball that kind of thing. Yeah, you definitely watch the ball hit the bat. Yeah. Yeah. Ain't nobody better. But let's move on here to what we call the second part impact and leadership. The question I have here is, your teammates often mentioned how you inspired them. This is data that I got. And the feedback was that all your teammates thought that you were inspirational to them. And I guess my question then would be, what do you think it takes to be a good leader? What do you want? And I guess that the follow up that would that be is, so they say that about you. And I guess, why do they say that? Yeah, I think it's because I had good role models. And I'm laughing because I'm going to say Calvin Lincoln was a good role model. And so a lot of folks are probably laugh about that. Not me. But I learned how to be a good teammate on Lawson Auto Parts and a bunch of unselfish guys that put winning. Guy Emerson was there, wasn't he? Remember Johnny? Yeah, Big E. Yeah. And matter of fact, shout out to Big E. Yeah. To this day, they still come together once or twice a year and have dinner together. We just had one a couple months ago. And it's just a great bunch of guys. They've maintained their fellowship for all these years. And it's just I learned how to be a good teammate. So what qualities? Play the game right. You take a two. Back then, it was a four, three count. So you don't swing a three and oh. You take a two and oh. You put being on base ahead of making an out. So you take a walk. If a walk is there, you take it. You just play the game. You take the outs as you get them. Don't give away any outs. Don't make any errors. Go to the right base. Encourage each other. Don't tear anybody down, but be there as an encouragement. I'll tell a little story. I took Tommy Russell's place. So remember, Lawson won the national title in 82. And I took his place halfway through 83. And he didn't sulk. He didn't quit. He stayed and he 100% the rest of the year. And you know what? In the bottom of the seventh in Waterloo, Iowa, he got to pinch hit for Johnny Emerson. And he hit the walk off home run to win the title. And we were so happy for Tommy because we won. Right. But also because it was him. Yeah. And he persevered through all that. And rather than sulk, he stayed right there. And I tell you, you learn to be a good teammate. Yeah. People like that. He was a sponsor. He wanted to win more than he wanted to. Tommy? Yeah. That was Larry Lawson. Oh, Larry. It wasn't Tommy. Yeah. I had a freaky question. I forgot what it was. You wouldn't have forgot that. It was about Calvin. I wanted to make a comment about Calvin. When he played with me, I think it was in the 50s. He was such a great guy. He had so much fun on the field. I think we had this conversation a little bit. And you said you agreed. And I said, Fleetwood was much like him. Really? Yeah. Fleetwood is... And you don't know these guys unless you're up close and personal. Until you get to play with them and spend time with them and get to know them. Yeah. I mean, if you play against Calvin and you never played with him, he's a tough guy to play against. He's very intense. Yeah. He's really intense. He's great. He's about six, what, three, four? Yeah. Yeah. Rangy. He could go all over and catch a ball. Now, what about mentoring players? Have you mentored any players? Yeah. Probably through the years, always have a chance to do that. But I think a couple come to mind later in my life. I was in Northwest Arkansas, and there's some really good players in Northwest Arkansas. So I'm playing local league ball with these young guys. And there was a young man named Jake Ennis, who now is playing in the conference, a guy named Reb Smith, played some in the conference. I don't know if Reb's still playing today, but I met a guy named Corey Briggs. Yeah. Corey was playing on a B team. And I'm watching this guy and I'm thinking, this is like the second coming of Todd Gerling. This guy is, I've never seen, other than Todd, this is one of the best all-around players I've ever seen. Is he a pitcher, too? No, he was a shortstop or an outfielder, but he wound up playing for Smash It and then was Mondo. And he's won lots of accolades. He's played third base. But I had a chance to just spend some time talking to him because he came to me and said, I have a chance to play and I don't know what to do. And you're the only guy that I know that's played at that level. So it was kind of fun to get to share some of my own personal thoughts about that and then watch him step up, play with a team like Smash It and literally smash it. He had a great year and he's had a great career. I think he's got a bad name down there. Probably does. He's that good. Yeah. Let me see. There's one more that I wanted to go. I guess we've got to kind of move on here. Are there guys, and we just talked about Calvin, are there any other guys that we haven't talked about that really will always resonate in your softball career? You'll always remember those guys. Yeah. Yeah. So besides me, besides you. Well, yeah, you're hard to follow. But I did. Yeah, probably in my earlier days, I would say, you know, guys like like Danny Williams, just an intense competitor. And he's controversial in some ways because of some things that may have happened later in his career. But for me, just a good friend. And we just we were we hit it off and a lot of mutual respect. You know, guys like Todd Gerling, Doug Roberson, two of the best players that I've ever, ever. I never played with Doug, always against him. But Todd, these guys are just tremendous players. Calvin, great athlete, great player. Dan Shuck, Jeff Arnold, Monty Tucker, just just Kim Seaman, just wonderful, wonderful guys that I'm friends to this day. Like Jeff Arnold and I, we talk a couple of times a year. It doesn't sound like much, but, you know, we stay in touch. The audience being well aware that Mark's an easy guy to be friends with. He's really got one of those pretty cool. Yeah, special, like like a Bruce Mead. Now, Bruce Mead, one of the things about him, why he's so good. That guy's the nicest guy in the world. Well, I don't know Bruce very well, but I hope to get the chance to spend some time with him. He's always somebody I looked up to. That was really my dream, playing with him and really playing with you, too. Well, you know, it's funny. And then later on, it's like a second career, right? So I had you and Audie and Curt Hollis and my brother from another mother with the same heavenly father, Horace Jefferson. There's a guy you don't forget either. That's right. Yeah. So just just just great guys. Yeah. Friends for life. So Dan, let's go ahead. Moving on to section three. Yeah. Some personal stories. Let's go back to the beginning of your softball career. Did like when you did you start out as a baseball player and then like what were you involved in as a kid? And then how did how did you end up being Mark Martin, the all star, whole family? So there's four of us in the Martin family, five and a half years apart. My brother, Tom, pitched his way through college. My brother, Jeff, led the Metro and home runs. My brother, Bob, played football, baseball. They all were all stars in Little League. Not me. I stopped playing at 15, never made an all star team, never got never was on a winning team and pretty much worked because I had to have a car. So my brothers, I would watch them. I'd help them. I would do what I could with them. Right. But as a matter of fact, when I first started playing softball, my brother, Tom, asked me to play against the wishes of his buddies because he's not that good. And Tom said, well, you got to give him a chance. And I wasn't. I was terrible. I'd swing and miss batted left handed for a season because I couldn't hit it right handed. And just love the game. So I worked at it and I practiced and I hit softballs and began to get better. And how old were you when you started? Probably 20, probably 20. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Played with a little church team called Prince of Peace. We had 20 guys. So the first 10 guys played the first four innings and the next 10 guys played the last three innings. And then the next game we rotated. So. Church leg ball. You got to love it. That's right. That's my start. Well, man, you started slow, but you finished strong. I sure did. I sure did. Throughout your career, I mean, other than hitting the 535 foot home run, give us maybe a couple of snippets of memories that are just crystal clear that you you'll never forget. So I think the final out in 1993 when we ran off the field is World Series champions. That was really special. And then the next year and we we struggled with the team called Riches, which we. Yeah, we struggled with them. They were better than us. But when you got to finally in 94, we beat them in Marysville for the A.S.A. Super. And that was pretty special. But because we didn't beat them very often. So give us the name of the Bell Corps, Bell Corps, Bell Corps, Bell Corps team that year. Nineteen ninety four. Well, you were talking about that year. Yeah. Nineteen ninety four. Yeah. So that's that was it's kind of funny because when I came off the field in 93, I ran down, Woody came down the field and I grabbed them and I said, Woody, that's there's nothing else to do. I'm ready to retire. And he said, I'll tell you when you can retire. That's Woody Bell, somebody. Woody Bell. So the next year I started slow, finished strong, felt good. He called me into his room and said, it's time for you to retire. And I said, I'm not ready. He said, we're going to go a younger player. OK, I think you're making a mistake. So the next year I wound up playing for a worth team, finished third in the country and hitting. And he comes to me at the World Series. He puts his arm around me and he says, I was wrong. Will you come back and play with me next year? And I said, yes, sir, I will be my honor. So that was that's cool. That was a fun thing. Yeah. Yeah. That's a story I didn't know. Talk about Wilson Sporting Goods. Yeah. What's a little background on that? What happened there? Well, I think a lot of that came with the Optima softball, which was a back then was called an RF 80. So it was a reduced flight softball. And we used them in the ASA championships and we used them in the in the Olympic festival. And I was able to hit it. And it really didn't affect my game too much. And I got to know John Bailey from Wilson Sporting Goods. And so we struck up a relationship and it was kind of fun because when Woody would sign a contract with Easton, say, where Easton outfitted our team, there was an exception for me in that I was allowed to to use the Wilson brand. And so the entire rest of my playing career, I used the Wilson brand and and really enjoyed it's a great product, you know, and I was really honored to do that. How like how detailed did you get? We would we would work a little bit on talk about materials in the softball. I have a little bit of I'm not an engineer, but I have a mechanical background. So we talked a lot about materials that go into the construction of the core. And we worked a little bit on batting gloves. And I kind of came up with one that would wrap around and around your arm so it wouldn't slip because what happened to that one? I'm not sure. But all I know is the only year I ever wore a batting glove because I don't wear them because they slip on my hands. But for two years, I wore the Wilson glove that would wrap around locked on your wrist. And but I think you've got some big hands. I don't know. It must be gargantuan gloves. Yeah, they were. My hands ain't small. Wow. No career comes without challenges and setbacks. Would you mind sharing some of that and how you dealt with them and overcame? Yeah, so I can remember. I think it was 1989. We're trying to go. We're going to go to the World Series in Omaha, and we're playing in the ISA World Series in North Carolina. And I got a knee injury and was unable to go to Omaha. And in that year, you know, we had guys set records for home runs. The wind blew out to left field the whole weekend. Perfect time for a guy that hits it high, right? You know, I didn't get to go and the guys were wearing black armbands for me not being there. So Mark Kurlmeier, you remember, he kept saying, come on, guys, he's not dead. He's just hurt. You know, so but so that was and then to come back from that was a challenge. What happened to you? I have had in my playing career from 85 through probably 2000. I've had more than a dozen knee surgeries. So in that particular case, they thought that I had torn my ACL, but it wound up not being that. So but it was how did you? How do you handle the rehab? Yeah, the rehab that you use a brace for the rest of my career. I wore a Lennox Hill or a Don Joy brace. And still, if I play today, I still wear it. So yeah. Yeah. Well, it wants to talk about legacy and future. Do I? Yeah. Okay. So yeah. Well, part of your legacy is Orlando Hall of Fame. What is it? Is that for? What is it called the Orlando Hall of Fame is for softball or athletes? Yeah, so they have an Orlando amateur athletic union. And so they would honor an amateur athlete of the year. And I think either Calvin or I were John McGraw wanted every year for so long. I think they just disbanded it after that. So but, but, but there's a good player too. He was on that Boston team. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Big John. He played with we played together for a while. And, you know, the older he got, the better he got. Yeah. And the more he did not play. Yep. But the Orlando Hall of Honor was a ring of honor was was something that I'm not even sure if it's still in existence or not. Because back then it was Leo Miller and guys like that that ran the Lee McElroy that ran the Orlando Metro. And the Metro kind of disbanded and the game changed a lot. Right. So used to you played with one team all year and now you can play with as many teams as you want. So there's there's lots of differences in the way that the game's done now. Part of our mission here at the dugout is to secure or not secure, but document the history of slow pitch softball. And I think we're doing a good job of it. But in the context of what we'd like you to share with us is you remember the game when we started is a lot different. You brought up the fact that Lawson is meeting every so often and bringing the guys back. Well, we're here at Canaveral City food and the Longhorns do similar things. And because they were so connected together, they go up to Cocoa Beach and they have an outing, you know, once every five years. I think up in Daytona, the boys in Daytona, Eddie Sipes and Eddie's passed. But, you know, forget a little shortstop. What's his name? Campbell? No, no. Campbell. Yeah. Mark Campbell. Yeah. What's his name? Soupy. We call him Soup. Yeah. Of course. Soup and Roberts. And, you know, those guys, they all get together. The whole point was that back then they do that. But I don't see that much now. Now, I think the seniors are more into that camaraderie and the buddyship. So what do you see from softball of yesteryear to softball of today? Yeah. So when I first started, it was you had to live in the area that you did the team you played for. Right. So you had to earn your way out of your region, your metro, your region and so on. Now you have national teams where you have people from from anywhere and everywhere. And I remember our second year with Bell, we had people from California. We had people from Texas. We had people from Pittsburgh, Florida. We had people from everywhere. And it's hard to get together other than on a weekend and play. And then you leave. So you don't have a chance to connect during the week. You have 15 weekends together, really. And I think even someone in the senior ball in the half century, anyway, you get a chance to hit during the week with friends and you get a chance to have build relationships. But even the senior ball is is limited to a state or two away. Right. Yeah. You can come from a connected state. Yeah. So actually, I take that back. You can come from anywhere and snowbird. OK. But, you know, they come down here and they stay half the year because that's Florida is half snowbird. Sure. So, yeah. So I think you've got something there is that back in that day, we were all some from the same community. Yeah. And really big, big change, really big change. You told me to stop saying no, but, you know, it happens every once in a while. But what for guys starting out in the game? I don't know. You know, in today's world, you know, this is kind of a typical question we have. What would you recommend to guys? I think it's best that you what do you recommend from the guys transition into young guys softball to senior softball? I think might be a better. Yeah. And I can only from my own experience. Right. So for me, it was more about being with the men on the field rather than winning the game. Now, always tried to win, always wanted to compete. But it was more about the camaraderie, you know, the getting to know the people on your team, getting to know the people you're playing against, a lot more openness and willingness to share about what's going on in your life, you know. And I think we're more towards the end of our lives rather than the early part of our lives. So I think you're pretty much right on on that one. You don't have to be Nostradamus to figure that out. Yeah. Well, you know, I have a keen sense of the obvious, you know, at PhD. Yeah. But I think at the end of the day, that for me was the big thing about in the senior ball was being able to play competitively, but not take it as seriously as I did when I was younger, when you had to win, you had to you had to perform at a high level or you weren't there the next week or the next year. Yeah. And you guys are getting compensated, too. So, you know, I mean, it's it's it's fun. And then, you know, you're making some money doing it. So it's hard. Now you get the softball and senior ball is more camaraderie. Yeah, it's so much fun. I really, really have enjoyed every minute. The only thing that gets me about senior ball is I don't remember being that sore when I was younger. That's why they make the CBD. So, Mark, how do you want to be remembered, my friend? What's your legacy? What impact do you think you you had on the game from your own personal point of view? We have our point of view that we shared and we've written it up in the in the biography of the video we're putting out. But you're a great player. We all know that. But what is it in your heart that you want to leave and be remembered? Well, I think for me that that I'd be somebody that was approachable, that you could come to and have a meaningful conversation with about life, ask for prayer. Just somebody that you could be, I mean, a life mate rather than just a teammate on the ball field. If somebody would consider me to be a friend, somebody that could count on that would be that would be a worthwhile legacy for me. Yeah. The softball stuff, it kind of helps set the table because it gives you access maybe to having a conversation with somebody that you may not have if we didn't have that connection. But that's it's all about life. You know, it's about there's a lot more going on than what happens between those lines. Well, let's look at it this way. I'm sure when I was younger, we didn't interact a lot as competitors. We did. You may have had one view of me. But then when we played together with Hollis, I would hope you developed a totally, totally different perspective. I'd say you and Calvin were a lot alike in that if you play if you only play against you, you're going to have a totally different perception than if you were teammates with that person. You're just like you're two different people. So it's I love the fact we got a chance to play together for so long and share and share life together. It's been a lot of fun. It's been all my pleasure, my man, all my pleasure. And it's a two way street, pal. Dan, let's take this home. You know, speaking of legacy, you definitely have a great one, Marcus, for sure. You know, I'm looking at your your achievements here, you know, the 23 time All-American, all the all the world selections, the MVPs and the Smokies and all these different events, the five national titles, you know, when you just kind of listening to your story and you go through your journey before I ask the final question, did you ever think that you would that you would be at this point, you know, I mean, like if this to achieve that much, you know, just listen to your story, the beginning part, you mean getting on the dugout, you mean, right? Yeah, the pinnacle, baby, the pinnacle. No, I actually never, never dreamed that I would achieve anything like I was blessed to achieve. I mean, I remember walking on the field with a bat in 1983 in my first at bat in the national tournament, thinking I actually looked at the umpire and said, I don't think I can swing the bat. It's too heavy. I was it was I was nervous. It was 38 ounces back then, 38 ounce bat. And I remember thinking it was a telephone pole. That's right. So and then you and then it's just the game is just been a blessing for me personally, for the people that I've had a chance to meet and interact with over the years. I mean, if I didn't know Audie Hollis, I wouldn't have met Ansley, who is my son, Scott's wife. And I was actually able to introduce the two of them together. So I mean, the game has been more than a game. It's been part of my life. Yeah, well, if I can interject one thing that we didn't bring up much is Mark is truly a Christian man and believes his values and lives his values. And he was able to spread the word a little more in the softball world, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's Yeah, not only when I was younger, but especially in the 40s, 50s, in the 50s, just the chance to just pray with people and, and get to know them and have folks that would be comfortable enough that they would come and ask for help and just have be have an opportunity to, to bring the power of the Holy Spirit in that relationship. Yeah, that's a that's a huge opportunity. Yeah, that is good all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we, our channel is focused obviously on softball and a lot of our guys are just looking to, to be better than they were. So it's an ever improving game. What are the Mark Martin three keys to success in softball? Watch the Ed Rose hitting video. Oh, man, that's the best thing ever. Holy miracle. I didn't even pay for that. But you could do a lot worse than that. I mean, you've got years and years of experience with that. And you've been taking the time to put it out out there for folks. So thank you for doing that. But I would say, have fun. Do it because you enjoy it and love it. And then for me, it was, it was just going to hit 300, 400 balls a day, till you just figure it out, you know, and then don't get discouraged. And when you're hitting a lot, you're gonna hit a lot of bad balls. And it's just gonna happen. But don't get discouraged. Just just try to get yourself into a groove. Mark, it's been an absolute pleasure to meet you, my brother. You're great to see you too, man. Thank you very much. It's hot in here.