SCOTTSDALE, AZ — John Wooden recruited him to play basketball at UCLA while Branch Rickey wanted him to play baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He was teammates with Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks and Larry Doby during his playing career. He managed Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Bruce Sutter.
He worked for Charlie Finley. And he hung out with Sadaharu Oh.
Welcome to the beautiful life of Jim Marshall.
Marshall is an original member of the infamous 1962 New York Mets, and will be honored Monday night as the oldest living Met before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
“I worked in baseball for 70 years,’ said Marshall, who turns 94 later in May, “and as a baseball player or manager, we always dream of being No. 1.
“Well, I finally made it.’
His greatest memory of that historic season where the Mets went 40-120 and produced the most losses in a single season until the Chicago White Sox toppled it last year?
“Opening Day at the Polo Grounds,’ Marshall says. “They were doing the player introductions, and when they got to me, they booed the hell out of me because Gil Hodges wasn’t playing. He was hurt, but they just buried me.
“Welcome to New York.’
Rufus James Marshall, who has gone by his middle name since attending Compton High School, spent five years in the major leagues as a first baseman and pinch-hitter. He played three years in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons. He managed the Chicago Cubs for three years and Oakland Athletics for a season. He scouted nearly 25 years for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He spent two hours with USA TODAY Sports talking about his life, his fondest memories and favorite funny moments from his 70-year professional baseball career.
Casey Stengel’s trouble with names
“Casey was so bad with names, and when I was playing for the Mets, he kept calling me Blanchard. There was a [Johnny] Blanchard with the Yankees where he managed before. He kept calling me Blanchard, so I just let him do it.
“One day I’m in the batter’s box at the Polo Grounds, and here comes Casey out of the dugout. I step out and he says to me, ‘Shoot for the lines. Shoot for the lines.’ I say, “What the hell does that mean?’ He says, ‘All of the players are in the middle of the so shoot for the lines.’ I guess it made sense.
“He didn’t know the players’ names, but I’ll tell you one thing, he was magic with the press.’
The time he saw his life flash before his eyes
“I’m facing Bob Gibson. The batter ahead of me had dug a pretty good hole in the batter’s box, so I’m just filling in the hole, brushing dirt into it. Gibson sees me and says, ‘Make it nice and comfortable because that’s where you’re going to be [expletive] laying.
“I thought, ‘Holy [smokes], I think he means it.’ Sure enough he knocked me down on my [butt]. He went right at my head. That ball just missed me. If it hit me, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.’
Ichiro family fandom
“When I was scouting the Pacific Rim, I saw Ichiro [Suzuki] a lot, and he told me that his dad was a huge Chunichi Dragons fans and actually has a picture of me in their house. Ichiro was such a great guy, a great kid. He would always call me gaijin, which means foreigner in Japanese. So, the first time I see him when he gets to Seattle, I walk into their clubhouse and say, “Well, you’re the gaijin now.’ He says, ‘Oh, grandfather, don’t tease me.’
“I remember how he wanted to come to America so bad, and he used to come and swing the bat right in front of me, and then we’d go have dinner together. He was my favorite player, my absolute favorite player. The dedication. The discipline. The speed. The arm. My God, he had it all.
“I knew Ichiro would be a great player, but not a Hall of Famer. He could run, he could play defense, and he could spray the ball. The crazy thing is he could have been a great home run hitter if he wanted to, but chose to be a batting champion. That’s how talented he was.’
Life in Japan
In 1963, Marshall was the first American-born player to go from the major leagues to Japan.
“I was playing in Pittsburgh, the season is over, and Joe Brown, the general manager, calls me into his office. He says, ‘You don’t have a chance of making this team next year. We got two first basemen. If I were you, I’d go to Japan and make good money. I want you and your wife to fly over, see if you feel comfortable, and see if you want to do it.’
‘It changed my life. I loved the people there. I made some good money, played every day. They had such a love for baseball and nobody ever talked about the war. The only trouble was when we went to places like Osaka and Hiroshima, and the crowd chanted, ‘Go Home White Monkey,’ in Japanese – but the players protected me.’
Japanese legends who could have been MLB stars
“People always ask me how many home runs Sadaharu Oh would have hit in this country. I don’t know, but I do know that there were some players that would have been stars over here. I’ll never forget seeing [Shigeo] Nagashima. He was an unbelievable player. He and Oh were such great guys. They would always come over to the stands and say hello to my wife whenever they saw her. They were superstars, and great, great friends. They definitely could have been stars over here.
“But after spending so many years there as a player and a scout, I never imagined we’d see someone that big and strong coming out of Japan like [Shohei] Ohtani.’
Favorite teammate
“I was in the Pacific Coast League and Piper took me under his wing. We would go to each other’s room and talk baseball almost every night, which was unusual back in the day. He would tell me so much about Willie Mays and how he helped develop him and protect him from outside influence. I loved the man. What a special person.’’
Davis played for the Birmingham Black Barons and the Homestead Grays in the Negro Leagues, and later managed Birmingham. He was most famous for getting Willie Mays to play for the Black Barons in 1947 when Mays was just 16. Mays credits him in his early development into becoming one of the greatest players in history. Davis nearly joined Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby breaking the color barrier in 1947 when he was signed by the St. Louis Browns and the Boston Red Sox for 1950, but never got to play in the majors.
“That was such a shame because he was such a fabulous man,’ Marshall said. “I would have loved to have seen that.’’
Favorite player to manage
“It’s tough to separate, but I’ve got to say Rick Monday is on the top of the list when I managed the Cubs. He was such a great, young kid. I was there the day he grabbed the American flag when those kids were about to burn it. That was the greatest play of his career.
“I told Rick, ‘You owe me money, man. I put you in the lineup so you could do that, now you have a lifetime job with the Dodgers! So now he gives me $1 every time he sees me.’
Favorite player to watch
“Hank Aaron, oh my goodness, I couldn’t believe that wrist action. Those are the days you got knocked down quite a bit, I’m telling. But he’d get right back up and hit. He was quiet about it, too. I never saw him get emotional. He was one special player.
“I did remember outdoing him in something. I played in Memphis and they had a sign for steamed laundry. If you hit that sign, you get $1,100. I was really proud of that. Some guy came up to me and said, ‘Did you know that Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews just missed it?’ Well, I got it, and that was one of my biggest thrills in baseball.’
The history-making trade
Marshall was part of the first interleague trade in baseball history when the Cubs traded him along with pitcher Dave Hillman to the Boston Red Sox for first baseman Dick Gernert on Nov. 21, 1959.
“I never played a game for them. They didn’t want left-handed pull hitters. They wanted right-handed hitters. So they traded me in spring training to Cleveland. I go down there. Put on my uniform and I’m really happy. Then I was traded along with Sammy White, a great catcher, for Russ Nixon.
“Well, nine days later, White decides to retire. Now the trade is over and I’ve got to go back to the Red Sox, and I know they don’t want me. So the general manager comes over and tells me, ‘Jim, my wife is swimming over in the apartment right beyond right field. Go spend the day with her, and by the end of the day I’ll find a team for you.’ At the end of the day I went to the San Francisco Giants.
“You know something, I got a nice letter from him later on apologizing. That was so nice of him.’
Best gesture by a teammate
“I went to the Chicago White Sox when Larry Doby [the first Black player in American League history] was there. I walked into the clubhouse, and the first thing he said was, ‘Jim, anything in my locker you can have. My bat, glove, take whatever you want, OK?’ He couldn’t have been nicer. We played catch a few times together. He was a great player and an awfully nice man.’
Favorite ballpark
“It had to be Wrigley Field, and that’s when they still had people sitting in center field with white shirts. It was tough to see. But my very first game there as a Cub in August 1958, I hit three home runs in one day. I hit two in the first game of the doubleheader against the Phillies, and they were forced to put me in the second game, and I homered again. I couldn’t believe it. Unfortunately, I only hit two more homers the rest of the season.
“I still remember sitting on the bench in Chicago. We’re playing the Giants and there’s a young guy sitting next to me on the bench. They called on him to go pinch hit, and he struck out on three pitches. He came back and sat down next to me, and I said, ‘Don’t worry, kid, things are going to get better.’ It was Billy Williams. So, yeah, things got a lot better for him.
“Then, there was Ernie Banks, another great teammate. We had been beating this team pretty good, and well, they somehow found out that we were stealing signs. The next day, they decided that Banks would be the target. They brushed back a few guys, but when they got to Banks, they hit him right in the middle of the back, down by his spine. He could hardly move the next day. He’s not out there in the field for BP, and could barely walk up the flight of stairs up to the clubhouse. I don’t think he’s even playing. Well, the game starts, he’s in the lineup, and he hits a grand slam. He went around the bases without saying a word.
“Yes sir, did I ever admire him.’
The famous batting race
It was the final day of the 1976 season and Cubs infielder Bill Madlock was trailing Ken Griffey Sr. in the batting race, .338 to .333. While Griffey was kept out of the lineup to help preserve his batting title, Madlock promptly went 4-for-4, increasing his batting average to .339.
“I got a call from upstairs and they said to not let Madlock hit. Take him out now. I said, ‘Man, he’s 4-for-4. But they explained he just went ahead of Griffey.’
“I went to Madlock to tell him and he asked why. I told him, just do me a favor, and walk to the clubhouse. He went down there, Sparky hurried Griffey back into the game, and he struck out twice, and ended up short [.336]. I’ve got to say, it was the first time in my life I took a guy out of a game who was 4-for-4.’
John Wooden recruitment
“I’m playing for Compton High School, and he comes right down after the game and offers me a scholarship. He says, ‘I want you to be my point guard.’ I thought about it a lot. If I’d known I was going to be in the minor leagues so long, I would have gone there.’
Favorite Vin Scully memory
“I remember walking out of the stadium one day with Vin Scully, and Vinny says, ‘I’m going to move.’
I say, “Vinny, you’ve got a nice home, why are you going to move?’
“He said, ‘My neighbor keeps throwing trash over my fence.’
‘I said, ‘Why the hell don’t you tell him?’
“He says, ‘Well, it’s Sylvester Stallone, come on, what can I do?”
Favorite Jackie Robinson tribute
“I got to become good friends with Don Newcombe, and he played a year for the Chunichi Dragons too. So I said one day, ‘Newk, tell me about Jackie Robinson.’ I saw Jackie play football at UCLA.
“Newk goes, ‘Well, I’ll tell you something Jim. He’s not much fun to be with. He is such a fierce competitor that you can’t have fun doing anything with him. He’s out to beat your (expletive) in golf or whatever else you want to do.’
“It wasn’t a knock on Jackie, that’s just the way he was.’
The ring collection
Marshall was wearing his 2001 Diamondbacks World Series ring on his left hand and the 2023 NL pennant ring on his right hand at lunch, has a Chunichi Dragons championship ring and Triple-A Denver Bears championship at home, as well as a ring honoring him from the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.
So, what’s his favorite?
“My wedding ring,’ he said. “Bev was everything to me. I met her in junior high school at Roosevelt in Compton. We met because we were listening together to the [1946] World Series on the radio between the Red Sox and the Cardinals during class. She was from Missouri and was a Cardinals fan. We got married when I was 19, and were married for 64 years. I give all of the credit for everything to her. She’s been gone for nine years, and I can’t tell you how much I miss her every day.’
Around the basepaths
– The Tampa Bay Rays, who have a lot of money invested in the outcome, have been paying rather close attention to suspended former All-Star shortstop Wander Franco’s recent posts on social media. The posts have shown him visiting a nursing home, playing baseball and saying, “There is no torment that God cannot heal.”
Franco, who insisted that his career is not over in his last court appearance, begins his trial on June 2 in the Dominican Republic and faces 20 years in prison on charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor and human trafficking.
Franco has been on MLB’s restricted list since July 2024, and is under MLB investigation for violating its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. He would be free to resume his major-league career and the Rays would likely be legally required to fulfill his contract after his case is resolved by Dominican authorities and MLB’s investigation.
Franco, who signed an 11-year, $182 million extension in 2021, is owed in excess of $150 million after this season.
– While the Miami Marlins will wait until ace Sandy Alcantara (2-3, 8.31 ERA) starts showing signs of improvement to trade him, several contenders are keeping a close eye on Minnesota Twins ace Pablo Lopez.
Lopez, who returned a week ago from a hamstring injury, is in the second year of a four-year, $73.5 million contract that the Twins could unload this summer if their free-fall continues. The Twins entered Saturday with more losses than any team in the American League except the Chicago White Sox, and already are eight games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers.
– The Cardinals were hoping that hanging onto closer Ryan Helsley the first half of the season would enhance his trade value, but after saving a league-leading 49 games last season, he has only four saves in six opportunities with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP.
Meanwhile, they still are trying to trade All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to express interest while still hoping that third baseman Max Muncy escapes his early-season struggles.
– If the Baltimore Orioles aren’t a contender by the All-Star break, teams will be pouncing on starter Zach Eflin, reliever Seranthony Dominguez and center fielder Cedric Mullins at the trade deadline.
– It turns out that the teams who waited out the free-agent market wound up getting the best bargains in baseball (stats through Friday):
Starter Jose Quintana, Milwaukee Brewers, 1-year, $4.25 million in March: 4-0, 1.14 ERA.
Starter Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres, 4-year, $55 million in February: 5-1, 1.78 ERA.
Infielder Jorge Polanco, Seattle Mariners, 1-year, $7 million in February: .367, 9 homers, 25 RBI.
First baseman Pete Alonso, New York Mets, 2-year, $54 million in February: .345, 8 homers, 30 RBI.
Third baseman Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox, 3-year, $120 million in February: .331, 8 homers, 27 RBI.
Reliever Shelby Miller, Arizona Diamondbacks, 1-year, $1 million in February: 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 appearances.
Outfielder Alex Verdugo, Atlanta, one-year, $1.5 million in March: .313, .782 OPS.
– This weekend was the first time Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson was able to meet up with Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich since their commercial shoot in March, and the first thing he planned to tell Yelich: ‘You look good in hair.’
Swanson, Yelich and Dustin May of the Dodgers shot a commercial this spring for DIRECTV in which they appeared bald in the national advertising campaign, “Take Me Out to the Bald Game.’
“We had a ton of fun,’ Swanson told USA TODAY Sports. “Let me tell you, it was quite the experience. We all enjoyed it. You get to know guys like playing against them, but at the same time, being able to do things like that with one another is, is also really, really, really, really cool …
“It was just obviously pretty funny, everybody has gotten a kick out of it. Everyone’s just like, “I hope that you never actually go bald.”
– Prayers to Pucino family. Scott Pucino, the former NCAA All-America wrestler who became one of the most successful agents in the business working alongside Alan Nero of Octagon, passed away at the age of 71 after battling cancer. He made such an impact that Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez missed a game to attend his funeral and Bobby Witt Jr. sent out a heartfelt message on social media.
“Scotty was more than an agent for me,’ Witt said. “He was truly a part of our family. It was an honor for our family that he could represent both me and my dad in our careers. We will carry his legacy for years to come.”
– Remember when everyone thought the Los Angeles Dodgers had too much pitching? Well, they made history this past week when they became the first team in history to use 11 different starting pitchers before May, thanks to 13 pitchers on the IL. No pitching staff has produced fewer innings by their starters and no bullpen has thrown more innings.
“It’s not a good quality of life,’ Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters.
– Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander badly wants to join the exclusive 300-win club, but time is running out. He’s stuck at 262 victories with the Giants’ blowing his last three games in which he’s yielded a 1.96 ERA.
– The Seattle Mariners, who have lost six members of their opening-day roster to injuries, including ace Logan Gilbert and leadoff hitter Victor Robles, suddenly are hitting like it’s 2001. They finished April ranking third in homers (45); third in on-base percentage (.339); sixth in OPS (.754); and seventh in runs per game (5.07).
They entered Saturday having gone 15-4 in their last 19 games, leading MLB in runs (128), HRs (35), batting average (.275), OBP (.367) and OPS (.850).
Not bad for a team whose splashiest move in the offseason was signing 31-year-old Jorge Polanco to a one-year, $7.75 million contract after declining his $12 million option.
– The Dodgers not only got a reliever, but also a front-office nerd when they acquired Ryan Loutos from the Cardinals. Loutos, who had a computer science background, worked in the Cardinals’ front office it its analytics department to help develop an app, ‘Chirp,’ that is still in use by the Cardinals.
– Has anyone seen the Texas Rangers’ offense? Anyone? It’s as if they swapped uniforms with the Mariners from a year ago. They have scored three or fewer runs in 21 games this season, hit one home run in the last eight games, enduring their longest drought since June 25-July 5, 1990, with only five extra-base hits in their four-game series last week against the Athletics.
They’ve squandered their fabulous pitching, with the rotation yielding a 2.93 ERA, the lowest it has been through 33 games in franchise history. Tyler Mahle has been sensational, going 3-1 with a 1.19 ERA.
– Yes, the Athletics would be in the playoffs if the season ended today after finishing 105 ½ games out of first place in the AL West the past three years. They have baseball’s third-best record since April 15.
– If you’ve got a spare left-handed reliever, stay by your phone, the New York Mets will be calling you.
– A year ago, Aaron Judge had a slash line of .207/.340/.414 with six homers and 18 RBI in April, and was the unanimous AL MVP winner hitting .322 with 58 homers and 144 RBI.
So, what in the world could be in store for him this year by having the greatest April of his career, now hitting .432 with 11 homers, 32 RBI and a 1.322 OPS?
He’s hitting nearly 200 points higher than the league average of .241, and 83 points higher than any player in baseball. He’s the only player in the DH era to lead the AL in all three Triple Crown categories entering May, and only the third player to hit at least .430 with 10 home runs in the first 33 games, joining Henry Aaron in 1959 and Jimmie Foxx in 1932.
“I wanted to come out, especially after how we ended the year last year not winning the World Series, there was a lot of work to be done,” Judge told reporters. “All you can do is look in the mirror and try to figure out ways to get better and try to improve. Hopefully, that inspires somebody else to improve.”
– Who would have imagined that the small trade in December when the Yankees acquired right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz and minor-league catcher Alex Johnson from the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Jose Trevino would pay such dividends?
Cruz has been one of the game’s most stunning surprises, striking out 27 batters, the most by any reliever in baseball, in just 16 ⅔ innings with a 1.62 ERA. And Trevino filled in quite nicely during Tyler Stephenson’s absence, hitting .319 with an .887 OPS.
– You wonder how important three-time batting champion Luis Arraez is to the Padres’ lineup?
They are 19-6 with him in the starting lineup and 1-5 without him.
The Padres about to become even better with center field sensation Jackson Merrill expected to return to the team on Monday.
– No pitching staff has been more surprising than the Mets this year, who have the top starting rotation in baseball (2.36 ERA) despite being without Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, while letting Jose Quintana and Luis Severino walk away.
All that for a Mets starting five that currently carries a total price tag of $38.85 million — which ranks right between the 2025 salaries of Zack Wheeler ($42M) and Jacob deGrom ($37M).
– The most underrated player in baseball continues to be Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, who became the first third baseman in history to hit at least 250 homers and steal 250 bases in his career.
– Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert finally started to hit (.346 with three homers, eight RBI and six stolen bases) this past week. If he continues, the White Sox hope to have him traded by Memorial Day.
– The Kansas City Royals, who are averaging just 3.14 runs per game, are trying to become the first team since 1900 to reach the postseason averaging less than 3.5 runs for a season. They have hit just 15 homers all year, but yet still have a winning record in the woeful AL Central.
– That was former Uber driver and substitute teacher J.C. Escarra who hit his first career homer last week for the Yankees.
“It’s stuff that you dream about, stuff that you think about, goals that you have,’ Escarra told reporters, “but to actually do it, for it to be reality, it’s crazy.”
– Kudos to Orioles GM Mike Elias for blaming himself, and no one else, for their woeful starting rotation, which is yielding the worst ERA in the American League. The Orioles failed to re-sign free agent Corbin Burnes, and then tried to replace him with Charlie Morton, 41, Kyle Gibson, 37, and Tomoyuki Sugano, 35.
“I’m in charge of baseball operations,’ he told reporters, “and when we have a bad record to start the year, that’s my responsibility.”
– No one in baseball loves PNC Park in Pittsburgh more than Padres manager Mike Shildt.
He is 26-5 at PNC, an .839 winning percentage, the highest by any manager with at least 25 games at a ballpark in MLB history.
– Zac Gallen, who will be a coveted free agent this winter, certainly loves pitching in New York. He is 2-0 with 0.71 ERA and 21 strikeouts in two starts this season at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium, compared to 0-4 with a 7.01 ERA everywhere else.
– No one delivers heartbreak like the Cleveland Guardians, who now have 12 walk-off victories against the Minnesota Twins since just 2022.
– How impressive has the Cubs offense been this season?
They entered Saturday having scored an MLB-leading 202 runs, their most in the first 33 games since 1938. They have scored at least 10 runs in eight games this season.
– Welcome back Lance McCullers Jr., who’s scheduled to start Sunday for the Houston Astros in his first game since the 2022 World Series, a span of 915 days.
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