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 Latest News: Former Gator Mikulik makes national news |
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Former Gator Mikulik makes national news
ASHEVILLE — On the wall in a small hallway that separates the Asheville Tourists’ clubhouse and the players’ exit at McCormick Field are a couple of homemade signs taped to the wall.
One offers the long-time motto of manager Joe Mikulik — “Never Surrender.” The other is a quote from activist Helen Keller that seems timely given the event that changed his life over the past several days.
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
Since Mikulik refused to surrender an on-field argument in Lexington, Ky., nine days ago, his trial and suffering have included a seven-day suspension, $1,000 fine and national attention that painted the picture of a wild man out of control.
After sitting out seven games as a spectator, Mikulik returns to the dugout tonight as the Tourists begin a four-game road swing to West Virginia.
Who is this guy who has spent more than half his life (23 years) in the minor leagues, the goal at age 42 the same as when he was 20, to make it to The Show?
Growing up in Texas
Joe Mikulik grew up on a 68-acre farm in Engle, Texas, a rural area west of Houston, east of San Antonio and south of Austin.
His father was a self-employed painter and World War II veteran who believed in discipline and hard work. There were cattle to tend, and Mikulik and two brothers were raised in a family where money was tight and a strong work ethic was both inherited and learned.
“My brothers grew up in the same bedroom with no air conditioning. If we woke up to the sound of the lawn mower going by our window, it was time to get up and go help,” Mikulik said.
“You knew that if that mower passed by a second time and you weren’t out of bed, then that lawn mower was cutting off and he was coming to get us.”
Mikulik’s first baseball field was a pasture, and once he realized the demand for 170-pound football players was nonexistent, he focused on making baseball his life.
“I was playing in a summer beer league after graduating high school and had no idea what I was going to do,” said Mikulik. “A friend set up a tryout at San Jacinto Junior College, and after the tryout I got a full scholarship.
“That was the motivation to get off the farm and make something of myself.”
Two successful seasons on the baseball field led to getting drafted by the Houston Astros in 1984 and a signing bonus of $40,000.
“I bought an ’84 Chevy Blazer that was customized, gave some money to my parents and taxes got the rest,” Mikulik said with a laugh. “The money didn’t last long.”
Life in the bush leagues
For the next 11 years Mikulik played minor league baseball more on heart and determination than pure talent, and he was often a phone call away from the major leagues, one injury or slump removed from reaching his dream.
The phone never rang.
Seven times he reached the Triple A level and put up some good numbers, but the call was always for someone else.
“He loved baseball. He’d live and die for it,” said Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Kenny Lofton, the long-time major leaguer who was a minor league teammate of Mikulik.
“You’d see him after the game … he was just hyped. Just ready.”
Early in his career Mikulik met his wife, Kathy, in Asheville while playing for the Tourists in 1986, and now they are in their 20th year of marriage with two children.
He bounced around, playing in five different countries and six different minor league cities for low pay.
His best paying gig was $5,000 a month in Mexico, and his top salary in the minor leagues was $3,500 a month for a five-month season.
After blowing through his bonus money, Mikulik has always had an off-season job to make ends meet.
“My worst time was the first year; I was overmatched in rookie ball,” said Mikulik. “I was hitting about .200 with a month to go and wondering if I was good enough.
“But give up? I would never do that.”
New job, same setting
As his playing career wound down in the mid-1990s, Mikulik was ready to become a replacement player during the major league strike. He was just days away from making his debut in The Show when the strike was settled in 1995.
His playing career finished, Mikulik never hesitated when offered the chance for more long bus rides for low pay working as a minor-league coach with the Indians.
“After all that time playing, I was ready to chase that same dream as a coach … I like being part of a club,” Mikulik said. “I was a roving hitting instructor for one season and I didn’t feel connected.
“You grow with these kids, you laugh with them, you get mad at them, you challenge them you feel bad for them. That’s what I love.”
For the seventh straight season Mikulik has had the opportunity to work in the city where he lives, a rare luxury in the minor leagues.
His career record as manager of the Tourists is 449-460, and if returns to Asheville next season he is likely to surpass Ray Hathaway (518 wins) to become the franchise’s all-time winningest manager. Later this month he should pass Hathaway (928 games) and become the team’s all-time leader in number of games managed.
He constantly faces the dilemma of being in the same job for seven seasons without advancement and the advantages that produces.
“(Recently) my son (Dawson) had six teeth pulled to make room for braces, and I was able to go to the dentist with him,” Mikulik said.
“I couldn’t do that if I was anywhere else, including the big leagues. Being at home as opposed to maybe being higher in the organization is a trade-off, and if that means I can see my son play a game or see my daughter graduate, that’s a trade-off I’ll make every time.”
“We are very fortunate that we have someone like Joe who is so good at player development and who wants to stay in Asheville,” said Marc Gustafson, director of player development for the Colorado Rockies, the Tourists’ parent club.
“A lot of guys move around in baseball and are always looking to move up. Joe wants to be close to home and the advantages of that and we get a guy we want working with our young players.”
“If no big league job opens up and five years later I’m still here, that’s OK with me,” Mikulik said. “It’s not easy being in the minor leagues for 23 years, and now it’s been seven years of Class A motels and Class A umpires and Class A everything. But I still love what I’m doing.”
Three long minutes
By now most sports fans and many others have seen the video of Mikulik that caused the suspension, fine and national uproar.
Screaming nose-to-nose with umpires, throwing a variety of things that included a base, resin bag, bats and a water bottle — Mikulik became famous in a way he never planned or dreamed of.
“People will bring it up now and again when you hear Joe’s name mentioned, but it will be forgotten about,” said Gustafson. “In the long-term planning of us working with Joe and this organization, it will be forgotten about.”
“I’m not saying that I didn’t learn a lesson and that I won’t try to not go so far next time, but I’m going to compete,” said Mikulik.
“I’m going to stand up for my players, and as long as I have a uniform on, I’m going to compete.”
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