A Life Steeped in Baseball: The Remarkable Journey of Jim Marshall
Scottsdale, Arizona – The tapestry of baseball is woven with countless stories, but few are as vibrant and rich as that of Jim Marshall. From being courted by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden to being pursued by Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Marshall’s athletic prowess was undeniable. His career trajectory, ultimately leading him to the diamond, placed him alongside baseball’s immortals, managing Hall of Famers, and even befriending Japanese legends.
Jim Marshall, a member of the original 1962 New York Mets, is being celebrated as the oldest living Met. He turns 94 later this month. The Mets honored Marshall ahead of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
"I worked in baseball for 70 years," Marshall reflects, "and as a baseball player or manager, we always dream of being No. 1. Well, I finally made it."
Marshall remembers his time with the Mets as a key point in his career. When Marshall’s name was announced at the Polo Grounds, he was booed by the crowd. Fans were upset that the injured Gil Hodges wasn’t playing. "Welcome to New York," Marshall remarked.
Rufus James Marshall, known by his middle name since his days at Compton High School, spent five years in the major leagues as a first baseman and pinch-hitter. His baseball journey extended beyond the U.S. He played three years in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons, managed the Chicago Cubs for three years and the Oakland Athletics for a season, and dedicated nearly 25 years to scouting for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In a lengthy interview, Marshall shared memories from his extensive career. He reminisced about his time with the Mets under the management of the memorable Casey Stengel. "Casey was so bad with names," Marshall chuckled. "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."
Marshall recalled a moment where Stengel gave him unusual advice. "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."
Marshall also spoke about his encounters with baseball legends. "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."
His scouting career took him to the Pacific Rim, where he discovered and developed connections with Japanese baseball stars. "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.’"
Marshall had a close relationship with Suzuki. "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 wed 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."
Marshall knew that Suzuki would succeed in America. "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."
In 1963, Marshall was the first American-born player to transition from the major leagues to Japanese baseball. "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."
He also witnessed the talent of other Japanese baseball icons. "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 here. They were superstars, and great, great friends. They definitely could have been stars over here."
Marshall is impressed by Shohei Ohtani’s success in America. "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."
Marshall shared his experiences with Piper Davis, his teammate with the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League. "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 he helped develop him and protect him from outside influence. I loved the man. What a special person."
Marshall said Rick Monday was the best player he managed while with the Cubs. "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."
He also admired Hank Aaron. "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."
Marshall remembers hitting a sign for steamed laundry in Memphis. "I did remember out-doing 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."
Marshall has many unique stories about his baseball career. "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 couldnt have been nicer. We played catch a few times together. He was a great player and an awfully nice man."
Marshall reminisced about playing at Wrigley Field. "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 Aug. 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."
Marshall remembers sitting next to Billy Williams on the bench. "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, Dont worry, kid, things are going to get better.’ It was Billy Williams. So, yeah, things got a lot better for him."
Marshall recounted a moment with Ernie Banks. "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, hes in the lineup, and he hits a grand slam. He went around the bases without saying a word."
Marshall regrets having to take Bill Madlock out of a game in 1976. "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."
Marshall was offered a basketball scholarship from John Wooden. "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 Id known I was going to be in the minor leagues so long, I would have gone there."
Marshall shared a story about Vin Scully and Sylvester Stallone. "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?"
Marshall spoke about Jackie Robinson. "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, Ill tell you something Jim. Hes not much fun to be with. He is such a fierce competitor that you cant have fun doing anything with him. Hes 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."
Of all of his rings, Marshall said that his wedding ring is 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."
