2025 MSBL/MABL Player Profile: Mike Girard, Capital District MSBL, Albany, New York
By Steve LaMontia-Carlentini, Director of Communications
Mike Girard is an institution of the Capital District MSBL, located in and around the Albany, New York, area and boasting over 600 members.
In the words of League President John Reel, “Mike has been a member of our league since the beginning, he is in our Hall of Fame, he has a hard fought ring from the Florida classic in 2006, several runner ups, one in Arizona in 2016, (he’d like to forget!) and if we kept such stats, perhaps the winningest player in our history along with our hits and RBI champ.
It is bittersweet to us now, since he’s retiring from the league after this season. He’s been a successful manager the last few years, and he’s a friend, a superior competitor, and on our Mount Rushmore here in the CDMSBL.”
In case you missed John’s final comment, Mike is hanging up his spikes at the young age of 63. We’ll let him explain.
“I’m retiring from the league because my body won’t take it anymore, especially as a catcher. In the early 90’s, there was a game, and I was rounding third and heading home and tried to score,” explained Mike. “There was a bump under the grass and my heel hit the hump and my knee hyperextended backwards with a loud crack and I went down. I had to eventually give up catching and now primarily pitch but I’ve lived with this pain long enough. I promised my wife that this is the final year. It’s time to go under the knife and get the knee replaced.”
Mike plays and manages the Cubs in the 55-over division and came into the league back when he was only 28 years old.
“The league then was a 30-over format, like they all were 35 years ago. I was only 28, but I was a catcher; they needed catchers, so they made an exception. Catchers were hard to come by.
I still enjoy competing and pitching, but gave up catching about five years ago. I still swing the bat pretty well, but my knee has made me a candidate for a courtesy runner the last couple of years.”
We were informed early on in this story that Mike had some fond, and also some painful, memories from some MSBL national tournament appearances. It was my job to probe!
“In 2016 at the World Series in Arizona, I was pitching in the Round Robin segment and my foot landed sideways, put too much on the knee, and I went down. I elevated and iced all week, and by the first of the playoff games, I could at least hit.
We made it to the championship game at HoHoKam Stadium, but ran out of pitching. That frequently happens to many teams down there, of course. I decided I could pitch and pitched through eight innings and gave up only three hits. We were ahead by a run going into the ninth.
By the ninth inning, I had thrown 150 pitches. It was ugly. John Reel was our manager and allowed me to try to finish. The first guy struck out, but then I couldn’t find the plate. I walked the next two guys and my fingers were actually quivering. John came out again and wanted to make a change, but I talked John into staying.
The next guy coming up was their big catcher who had two hits already. We decided to intentionally walk him, but on the fourth ball, I threw it too close to the plate and he jumped on it and blasted a base hit, scoring two runs. I was done. The shortstop came in to finish it. He wasn’t a pitcher, and we lost 5-3. But I was at least 4-4 at the plate!”
That ranks up there as both courageous and unfortunate. That was a sensational World Series story, but I heard of an equally exciting story from the MSBL Fall Classic that consists of Mike’s 45-over Marlins team from the league. Spoiler alert: This one has a much better ending.
“Back in 2006, we went to Florida with what was 75% of our Albany Marlins league team. The remaining players were from our league, too. We were playing other fully-sponsored teams from other countries that brought 30 guys and had amazing depth.
We went 2-3 in the round-robin but advanced to the playoffs because of runs against. Because of rain, we played three playoff games the day before the championship, with the last one ending at 11:00 pm. The championship game was at 10:00 am the next morning!
Across the field in the championship game was one of those sponsored teams and 30 fresh faces. Amazingly, there was no score after eight innings. In the ninth I got an RBI single and we were up 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth. After an error, they scored one to tie it up and had the winning run on third. We were able to get out of that and scored one in the tenth to win 2-1.
I circled back to ask Mike about John Reel’s comment regarding him being possibly the winningest player in the history of the league. How many wins has he accumulated?
“As a team, I think we have a dozen championships. John is a little off in his assessment because I know Tom Meaney has over 20 championships to his name. He plays on a few different teams and they are all winning teams so I don’t think I’ll ever catch him.”
As mentioned previously, Mike shares time managing and playing, which has its pitfalls but also its rewards.
“The only reason I became a manager is that John Reel asked me to do it 17 or 18 years ago. I said I’d bail him out for a year or maybe two and we now see how that turned out!”
Mike is one of the 1990 league’s original founding members and was elected into the Capital District MSBL Hall of Fame in 2009. With all of those games logged, what are some of the special moments?
“One time I was having a really good game at the plate and came up with bases loaded late in the game. We were behind by three runs with two outs. They decided to intentionally walk me, which scored a run, to get to the next guy. I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my wife they respected me so much, they intentionally walked in a run! I still think about it.”
What is so special about the CDMSBL?
All the best friends I have in life have come through my 35 years in MSBL. It’s all due to the friendships. I have had two selfless mangers in John Reel and Jim McQuade. They always put themselves last in the lineup, even when they should be in there. They showed me the right way to be a manager.
My team seems to always be deep into the playoffs and I credit John and Jim for guiding me and showing me how to do it right, and with integrity. Thanks, guys.”
At the end of our discussion, I was quick to remind Mike that regardless of injuries, there are plenty of age divisions and future baseball waiting for him after his knee replacement and rehab. We’ll see you again in the dirt, Mike. Don’t be too quick to flip out the phrase ‘retired’ at the age of 63. I have a feeling we’ll see you again soon!