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<\/p>\nMarc Tramuta, Toronto Blue Jays director of amateur scouting, third from left; and Michael Youngberg, Blue Jays manager of amateur player evaluation, fourth from left, are pictured with Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro, far left; Jesse Levine, Blue Jays amateur scouting coordinator, second from left; Jeremy Reesor, Blue Jays vice president of baseball operations, second from right; and Brian Johnson, Blue Jays international scout, far right, during the MLB draft last summer.
\nPhoto courtesy of Toronto Blue Jays<\/p>\n
When George Springer hit a Game 7-altering three-run home run at Rogers Centre on Monday night, bedlam ensued.<\/p>\n
While the crowd noise in Toronto was at a fever pitch, so was the sound of notifications on the cellphones of Marc Tramuta and Michael Youngberg.<\/p>\n
Tramuta, the Blue Jays director of amateur scouting who was sitting in his living room in Fredonia, immediately reacted in a text thread with Youngberg, the organization\u2019s manager of amateur player evaluation, who was at the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as the ball landed in the seats I\u2019m thinking, who\u2019s pitching the eighth? \u2026 Who\u2019s coming up for Seattle? \u2026 It makes you do that, think ahead, what\u2019s the next scenario?\u201d Tramuta said Wednesday afternoon. \u201cMichael, myself and another guy text each other throughout the games. You\u2019re sharing it with your teammates. You get upset with them, you get excited with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a good couple of weeks \u2014 make that months \u2014 for the pair of Chautauqua County natives who are pursuing their dreams working for the American League champions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Michael Youngberg and his wife, Laura, are pictured in Toronto at a game earlier this postseason.
\nSubmitted photo<\/p>\n
They hope to win four more games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, which starts tonight in Canada\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n
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Tramuta is a 2022 Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee who graduated from Fredonia High School in 1988 and attended St. Bonaventure University before being drafted by \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991.<\/p>\n
His front-office career in baseball began in 1996 with the Baltimore Orioles as a regional scout before his first stint with the Blue Jays from 2003-12. In November 2012, Tramuta was hired by the New York Mets, where he spent 11 years, including New York\u2019s loss to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 World Series.<\/p>\n
Youngberg is a 2003 Falconer High School graduate, who then spent four years at Slippery Rock University where he earned a degree in sports management. He was the Jamestown Jammers clubhouse manager during the summers of \u201905 and \u201906 before being hired as an intern by the Florida Marlins in 2007.<\/p>\n
Youngberg\u2019s first full-time job with the Marlins came in 2008 in scouting and player development with the organization. He was promoted to Miami\u2019s assistant scouting director in 2013 and served in that role until 2018 when he joined Toronto\u2019s front office. Youngberg was the Blue Jays\u2019 Northeast Region crosschecker until 2023 when he was promoted into his current role by Tramuta.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s tremendous. He and I are very close. He\u2019s one of my right-hand guys. He\u2019s involved in everything we do at the national level,\u201d Tramuta said of Youngberg, the man he calls \u201cSpider.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s a very valuable member to me on this staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironically, despite being from communities separated by less than 30 miles, they didn\u2019t really have a close relationship until joining forces in the Blue Jays front office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew of him being from Fredonia and I had met him early in my baseball career when somebody introduced me because we\u2019re from the same area,\u201d Youngberg said Wednesday afternoon from his home in Nashville. \u201cMy parents are obsessed with baseball and he was always in The Post-Journal so my parents were always asking me about him. I knew who he was, but we didn\u2019t really talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changed in 2023 when Tramuta returned to the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in Arizona at the same game, we sat together and we just totally connected. We have similar personalities. We just kind of hit it off being from the same area. Now we talk every day. He\u2019s awesome to work for,\u201d Youngberg said. \u201c\u2018Tram\u2019 has turned into a pretty big influence and mentor for me both professionally and personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Working on the amateur scouting and development side of the organization, Tramuta and Youngberg enjoy all of the Blue Jays success, but both agreed they gain even more satisfaction when a \u201chomegrown\u201d player makes an impact.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the recent run of 2024 first-round draft pick Trey Yesavage has been so enjoyable for the two.<\/p>\n
The 20th overall pick out of East Carolina University last year, Yesavage climbed like a rocket through Toronto\u2019s minor leagues this spring and summer. After seven starts at Class A Dunedin, the 6-foot-4 right-hander made four starts in the Northeast League for Vancouver. By June, he was pitching for Class AA New Hampshire and just two months later was a member of the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons. Then, on Sept. 15, Yesavage made his Major League debut in Tampa, Florida, against the Rays.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve drafted guys who we\u2019ve traded and they\u2019ve become good big leaguers with other teams,\u201d Youngberg said. \u201cBut you are watching the Blue Jays every night and it\u2019s more fun to see them come up through your organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yesavage\u2019s meteoric rise was seen on the national stage Oct. 5 when he allowed zero runs and no hits while walking just one and striking out 11 as the Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was there for that one. I\u2019ve been doing this a long time. I\u2019ve not seen that too many times. To be a part of that pick and to see him embraced by the city, I can count on one hand, honestly, over the last 30 years the number of times I remember that happening,\u201d Tramuta said. \u201cAs a scouting director, you just take a seat and enjoy or appreciate the work that you and your staff have done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis job is so much \u2018what have you done for me lately?’\u201d Tramuta added. \u201cWatching him pitch that day against the Yankees, that was one of the few days you could sit back and really soak that in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yesavage has since lost Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, but then beat Seattle in Game 6 to set up Monday\u2019s dramatic clinching game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft is so hard and you fail so many times with players that don\u2019t make it that you thought could or would,\u201d Youngberg said. \u201cWhen you think of the process that you go through to draft a player, all of that hard work that you put in on that player comes to fruition when he\u2019s pitching in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou work so hard to get there and to do that,\u201d Youngberg added. \u201cWhen it actually happens and he contributes, it\u2019s hard to not feel more proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blue Jays think so highly of their rookie phenom that he will start Game 1 tonight against the Dodgers.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid we think he could move fast, sure, but this fast? Player development has done such a good job managing his workload throughout the year to still have gas in the tank and be ready. You have to credit them so much because they planned this way back in spring training,\u201d Tramuta said. \u201cYou never guess that he\u2019s going to pitch in front of 40,000 fans against the Yankees in the Division Series and strike out 11. Did we think maybe next year? Yes. But he\u2019s done all of this in 14 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Neither Tramuta or Youngberg have earned a World Series ring in their combined 40-plus years in the Major Leagues.<\/p>\n
Tramuta came the closest in 2015 with New York while the Marlins never really came close during Youngberg\u2019s time with the organization.<\/p>\n
They both hope that changes in the next couple of weeks and feel like Toronto has become an organization that is not playing for a championship by mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a friend tell me that the whole country is counting on us,\u201d Tramuta said. \u201cWhen I was here the last time, only once or twice were we in the running for the playoffs; we were more of a lower-budget team at that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investment that ownership has made and the resources we have are outstanding,\u201d he added. \u201cTheir commitment to winning is showing now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Youngberg has been logging many frequent flier miles during the Blue Jays\u2019 postseason run. He and his wife, Laura, have flown to Buffalo, dropped their 3-year-old daughter, Emma, off with his parents, Jim and Debbie in Jamestown, and then driven to Toronto for games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got to Game 7 of the ALCS, I told my wife I was going,\u201d Youngberg said. \u201cI flew up and met a few other scouts, and we watched the game from the seats.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday and Saturday, Michael and Laura will take in World Series Games 1 and 2 at Rogers Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think when I started in baseball it was because I wanted to win a World Series. Whatever they wanted me to do, whatever they needed, I just wanted to help an organization win,\u201d Youngberg said. \u201cFor so long with the Marlins, players would get traded and have success with other organizations. \u2026 Now I\u2019m experiencing it and, of course, this is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tramuta will be in Toronto this weekend as well, but hasn\u2019t decided yet if he will make the trip to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been fun the last couple of months, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Tramuta said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to come to an end now because this is the last series, but it\u2019s been fun and intense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe excitement level is at an all-time high in Toronto. We are on the front page and the city has gone absolutely nuts,\u201d he added. \u201cThat stadium was as loud as I\u2019ve ever heard a stadium when I was there for the Yankees series. Hopefully we can get two wins and enjoy this as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
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