Mike Bordick, Baltimore Oriole - Power Play

Parks & Recreation, Oct, 2002

Mike Bordick, 37, has the unenviable task of being the main successor to Cal Ripken, Jr. as the Baltimore Orioles' shortstop. Bordick has met the challenge in part by breaking Ripken's American League record for consecutive errorless games, and then going Ripken one better--last month, he set a Major League record for defensive excellence among shortstops by fielding error-free in more than 100 consecutive games. Bordick has been recognized by the Orioles for his community work. Last fall, he showed a different type of athleticism, running as one of the four members of a relay team in the Baltimore Marathon to raise money for the Grant-A-Wish/The Children's Promise Foundation.

Parks and Recreation: Tell us a bit about your start in baseball. What types of leagues did you play in? What are some of your memories from those formative years?

Bordick: I started out playing Little League. We moved around a lot because my dad was in the Air Force. I also played in some youth center leagues for a couple of years. Then I played in American Legion and Pony League before I went on to college.

Parks and Recreations: What other sports did you play? We understand you have a story to tell concerning a recreation football trophy.

Bordick: One of the years we lived on Pees Air Force Base in New Hampshire, I played in a youth center football league. Every year we would invite Nantucket to play at our place or we'd go down to Nantucket and we always played for this giant "blue marlin." We went down to Nantucket one year and beat them and brought that big fish back and hung it in our youth center. That was pretty fun. I also played basketball at the youth center. I wasn't very good.

Parks and Recreation: Because of your father being in Air Force, you had many homes as a kid. What role did local recreation agencies play in those communities?

Bordicks: I grew up all over the place. Being an Air Force brat, a lot of recreation was done right on the base, with youth centers there. With kids bouncing in and out, it's good for them to have a place to go and be familiar with, and sports and recreation is something that many kids have a great tie to. The one I remember most is Pees Air Force Base, because I was older and more involved with sports, so that's the one that sticks in my mind.

Parks and Recreation: Tell us about your involvement with the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Bordicks: I played in the Cape Cod League for two or three weeks in the summer of 1986. I was invited to play there out of the University of Maine after my junior year. I played a few weeks for the Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox and was signed out of Cape Cod by the Oakland Athletics. I continue to be involved and help them out; I've done a couple of fundraising things. I like to help out for people that certainly helped me. I also have a great relationship with my house mother, Barbara Ellsworth. We have stayed in contact, and I see her a few times every year.

Paths and Recreation: Are there other ways in which you've stayed involved with grassroots recreation and sports?

Bordick:. My kids are involved in recreation Sports right now. We live just outside of Towson, Md., and my kids are involved in Towsontowne Recreation Council, which puts together basketball, soccer and T-ball leagues. My boys and my daughter have played T-ball for the last three years. It's a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, this morning I was out at a soccer game with my boys. It's good for them, and there's a great interest in this area. The kids are always active and there are great coaches who are concerned about teaching kids the right way to do things, and to just have fun playing sports. I think parks and recreation leagues are going to be a part of their lives--and mine--for a long time.