Q & A: The Point's Gary Kendall, Baysox Manager

Patch caught up to 1981 Sparrows Point graduate Gary Kendall, now in his first year coaching the Baltimore Orioles' Double-A minor league Bowie Baysox after three seasons guiding the single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.

Kendall was an infielder on the Sparrows Point baseball team that was a Class B state runner-up to Brooklyn Park in 1980 under coach Rich Eshmont. He also played at the Community College of Baltimore under coach Elliott Oppenheim and earned a scholarship to Atlantic Christian College.

Kendall's inaugural coaching tenure began at Baltimore City Community College from 1987 through 1989 and extended to Towson University for 1990-'91. He was first hired as a scout by the Orioles in 1991, where he stayed through 1995.

Kendall spent three years with the San Diego Padres organization, coaching the Idaho Falls Braves in 1998-1999, and then returned to the Orioles, where he enters his 12th season with the organization.

His teams at Aberdeen went a combined 100-123. Prior to managing, he served as the field coach for the Bluefield Orioles (2000-2001) and the IronBirds (2002-2003) before making his managerial debut with Bluefield in 2004, according to a Baysox press release. After his first season with Bluefield, he spent three years as the manager for class Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds (2005-2007).

Currently, the Baysox are in second-place with a 47-41 record in their six-team division.

Patch: Is this position the achievement of a childhood dream?

Gary Kendall: I've worked for two organizations now – the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles. My childhood dream was to work in baseball.

That was my main goal. I started out my career as a college baseball coach, and I like that avenue and I really enjoyed working with and teaching kids. So that's been a very positive experience for me.

It just kind of led into a professional coaching career. I started out throwing batting practice for the Orioles in the early 1990s, and it sort of snowballed into something greater.

Working for the Orioles in general is a dream job because it's an organization that I grew up admiring. I looked up to the players that they had on those teams, so moving into organization was a really nice fight.

But just working within the game of baseball in general is really a goal that has been achieved. But in this game, just when you think that you're fine, then something can happen and there's changes.

Patch: What do you think of the talent level now that you are working in Bowie?

GK: Working in Bowie, you know, after being in Bluefield and Aberdeen to be totally honest, there is a much better brand of baseball that I'm seeing versus what I saw in Aberdeen or Delmarva.

There are better players and guys that can go to the big leagues from here. But it's all about baseball. I learned a great deal in Aberdeen and in Bluefield that is helping me in Bowie.

I don't really have a favorite spot, I just enjoy the kids and working with the guys and going out there each day and competing. But it is nice to be at Bowie, as far as the levels go.

But I always felt that if you were a good, then it didn't matter what level you are at. Somebody really likes you, and it's nice that I'm at the Double-A level. It's nice to be at this level now for the simple fact that there are some great players.

I'm competing in a good league that challenges me every day, so I feel lucky. I'm very, very lucky to be in the game.

Patch: Do you ever miss being at home during the spring and summer?

GK: I don't really see us getting an opportunity to pick and choose when you get to spend time with your family. It just doesn't happen. I have a wife who is named Merlita, and we live on the Eastern Shore.

When I was managing Del Marva in the South Atlantic League, I met her and we got married and I lived down in Salisbury. I've been married for about three years.

Merlita met me and when she did, she knew what this game was all about, so she's used to it. She knows how this job is, so you just have to roll with the punches, you know?

Patch: Growing up in Sparrows Point, what were your earliest memories of your goals and aspirations in regard to baseball?

GK: You know, I was really fortunate in my family to have come from a great home. They made it possible for me to go out and to pursue baseball in general.

There were other kids who had to go to work and they couldn't play summer baseball. My brothers and I and my sister, we were given certain liberties because my parents thought that it was important for us.

They thought that we should be able to enjoy that childhood. Growing up, it was all about playing baseball. I probably got to play more innings of pickup baseball.

It was the Baby Boomer era. We had so many kids in our neighborhood that we could choose up two squads and make our own rules and make our own teams.

We made trades. I mean, it was like playing in our own little league. I mean, we still played a lot of Little League baseball, but it was not what it is now.

Patch: Can you elaborate?

GK: Well, Little League baseball at the time was not what it is now. It's overkill now, where kids play 80, 90 or 100 games and some of them wind up hating the game when they're 18 years old.

Back then, we played something two or three games a week and you played with your schoolmates and other guys in the area. You would go up to Edgemere and you would play those guys, and they would come down and play us.

We would just play all of the time. Whether you went to Patterson Park or Swann Park in the city, or you went down to Sparrows Point or Patapsco, it was nothing to drive past a field and see a ton of guys playing baseball.

Patch: How does that differ from today?

GK: Well, that's why, in my opinion today, one of the biggest deficiencies in players is instincts and just overall knowledge of the game. Because today's game is basically kids paying a lot of money to go to these showcases.

That might get them into college, but they're very programmed as opposed to having developed good instincts from going out in the back yard and playing run-down, or different games like that.

Today's kids are not very experienced at having endured failures. I mean, as a player, I was pretty good at executing run-downs defensively because I always played that in the back yard.

I played shortstop and second base. I wasn't a great player, but I was a solid player who could catch the baseball and I knew how to play the game. That's another thing is the passion.

I could make the play and I enjoyed playing. So that's another thing that is deficient today, and that's the passion for the game."