If you've heard of Mark Rodgers, it's because you know him as the agent for the Oakland Athletics' Jeff Samardzija and Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson — and the agent who negotiated Mike Hampton's then-record, eight-year, $121 million free-agent contract in December 2000.
Rodgers, however, will tell you that his best days in sports have come while coaching his four sons and daughter in Little League. And on Saturday night, he realized a very special dream — for the first time, a player whom Rodgers managed as a youngster appeared in the major leagues.
That player, Tigers left-hander Kyle Ryan, is now Rodgers' client. Ryan, 22, didn't just make a token appearance Saturday night. No, he pitched six scoreless innings against the White Sox in the middle of a pennant race, lifting the Tigers to a 8-4 victory in the second game of a day-night doubleheader at US Cellular Field.
It was Ryan's major-league debut — a long way from when Rodgers managed him on a 13-and-under travel team in Palm City, Fla. Twelve of the 14 players on that team went on to at least college baseball, including Rodgers' son John, who played at Notre Dame. Ryan is the first major leaguer.
"I often wondered what it would be like to have a son play in the big leagues. Tonight, I got a sense," Rodgers said after watching Ryan, the Tigers' 12th-round pick out of Auburndale (Fla.) High School in 2010.
"Watching Kyle Ryan grow up on our fields and seeing him throw in a big-league game was surreal. It was unlike any debut I have ever experienced —the first time I cried at a client's game."
