This family trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. to watch Jack pitch for defending champion Vanderbilt is better than any material gift he could get. So was the trip Al, his wife Lori and their three daughters – Lindsay, Carly and Katelyn – were on while Jack became one of the leading baseball players in the country.
« Oh my god, he was the gift that keeps giving us, ”Al, the former left-handed Mets and Yankees who now works for MLB Network and a consultant for the Mets, told the Post in a telephone interview. « We enjoyed it very much. »
Jack, a 6-foot-1,505-pound right-handed man who lives in Summit, N.J. Growing up is a predicted top five pick in next month’s MLB draft if he doesn’t return to Vanderbilt. He’ll eventually be the latest in a long line of professional pitching ladders – after Al, his brothers Mark and Kurt, and Mark’s son, Mark Jr. Jack has the potential to be the best of all with a fastball in that high -90s, a hammer curve, a quality slider and a change-up.
« He certainly has what it takes to be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, » said a scout who was familiar with Jack, who was because of him Comparing his physique, no-nonsense mindset, and competitive fire to David Cone.
Al didn’t push Jack into baseball. But his son was always around the game. Jack was 6 months old in 2000 when Al reached the World Series with the Mets against the Yankees, and Jack has always had an affinity for pitching. As a child on his travel team, he was not one of the regular mugs because he was so small, but tossed on the side. He took a ball and glove everywhere.
In about ninth grade, Al gave Jack a training plan he’d used in his major leagues, and Jack never deviated from it. He rose to a top prospect by the end of high school at Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ, and if he hadn’t had a scholarship to Vanderbilt, he would likely have been a first-round draft pick in 2019 (he was in the 20 from the Yankees).
At Vanderbilt, the 21-year-old has continued to develop. That year, he went 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 96 innings, helping the Commodores reach the College World Series, which they won in 2019 when it was last contested. He beat the school’s first no-hitter since 1971 while hitting 16 and is expected to start Vanderbilt’s second game in Omaha on Monday. Both coach Tim Corbin and Vanderbilt teammate and top pitching colleague Kumar Rocker marveled at Jack’s focus and persistence, his passion for pitching and his dedication to his craft.
« He comes into the facility and it is in full swing, « said Corbin. “He’s prepared to compete every day.”
When Jack was a high school graduate from Delbarton School, Al stepped down from his job as announcer for the YES Network Yankees to delve into this season. Almost every weekend this year Al flew to Vanderbilt with Lori. He’s behind home plate, recording his son’s pitches just like he did in high school.
Everything Jack goes through and hopes to see, Al was there and did it. Al was a Yankees second-round pick in the 1984 MLB draft. He was selected on two All-Star teams and won three World Series titles in a 19-year career in which he won 162 games, a 3.80 ERA put together and beat 1,974 batter.
Al, 55, knows how hard it is to reach the big leagues and he also knows how difficult it can be when trying to skip steps. So father and son insist they didn’t even discuss the draft. The mantra to his son is to be where your feet are. Enjoy the moment. Focus on your next start, not your future.
“I remind him to know when to party, when to smile, when to laugh, when to be happy, when to look forward to have to pat the shoulder, ”said Al. « I think you get into this tunnel of trying to do your best, get better and work hard, be dedicated and have a process, a program and a routine, you kind of lose track of it: ‘Hey man, step back, know when’ to turn off the music, know when to dance, know when to laugh and smile and be with your boys. » «
Al is what helps Jack most of all to keep up with his struggles, as rare as they are. After a bad outing, the first thing he asks his son is how he’s feeling physically. Then he tells him what he did well.
“Every child who plays at this level somehow understands what they did wrong. You don’t have to hear it right after, ”said Jack. “My father somehow knows that he is someone who has played at a higher level. He says that all that matters is [your health] because you are going to have ups and downs. If you are lucky you will have 30 more of these bad trips in your career. That kind of puts it into perspective, like, ‘OK, it’s not the end of the world.’ Sometimes it feels like this after an excursion that isn’t going your way, but it really isn’t. «
Once sent the elderly head of his son clips from his worst outings. Even the best pitchers, he told his son, fight.
Al wouldn’t say he’s surprised how far his son has come just because he worked so hard. But if he had been told this was going to happen when Jack was a junior high school student, he would have thought it was breathtaking. Jack, an outstanding student that Al jokes about, always had a high level of « give a st », already throws harder than his father, has better mechanics and is more composed.
« I’m 19 years old played in the major leagues. He still has something to do to catch up with dear old dad, but as far as where he is now and where I was his age, it’s not nearly that far, ”Al said. « He’s a lot better than me. » Jack was known for years as the son of Als and followed in the footsteps of the longtime Major League pitcher. But as he moved into that big perspective, first in high school and now at Vanderbilt, that changed. Now Al is known as Jack’s father.
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