Only 10 players in Major League Baseball history played more seasons than Rick Dempsey.
He credits his longevity — landing on the injured list only twice during his 24-year career — to his work in the offseason, and he’s hoping to pass on that knowledge to the next generation.
Dempsey has revamped his baseball training facility in Columbia, splitting off from The Baseball Warehouse to go off on his own. The facility, called Rick Dempsey Sports, is still located at 9515 Gerwig Lane in Columbia, offering private lessons, practice sessions for teams and clinics for youth ballplayers.
“The game of baseball has changed,” Dempsey said. “I think it’s so much better to get these young kids oriented and doing the right things, spending the time conditioning themselves before baseball season starts. … I think I probably know as good as anybody how to condition kids to play baseball for a long time and make their careers last.”
Dempsey, who lives in California, travels back to Maryland periodically to host catching clinics at the 6,000-square-foot facility that’s equipped with batting cages, pitching mounds and turf suitable for infield defense drills. His next clinic is Dec. 13 with Lamar King Jr., a minor league catcher in the San Diego Padres farm system and a Calvert Hall graduate.
Several former MLB players are involved with the facility and are available to give private lessons, including former Orioles Al Bumbry, Tippy Martinez and Mike Bordick. Others involved include Adam Kolarek, a Baltimore native and University of Maryland standout who pitched seven MLB seasons; former Oriole Calvin Maduro; Tony Saunders, a former MLB pitcher and Glen Burnie High graduate; former pitcher Juan Padilla, who threw nearly 1,000 innings in his professional career; and John Fowler, a former Orioles farmhand.
Doug Caraway, Rick Dempsey Sports’ operations manager, said the facility is fully operational with more than 300 lessons per month. The goal, he said, is to push the future of youth baseball “in the right direction.”
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do is be involved in something like this, with individuals like Rick [Dempsey] and Al Bumbry and Mike Bordick. Really want to give kids the opportunity to pursue that next level. We want to move kids on, whatever level that might be. That might be the high school level, college level or pro level. That’s what we’re looking to do at the Rick Dempsey Sports facility. We want to teach baseball and move kids on.
“Youth baseball and youth sports have become a business, instead of what it used to be where it was for the greater good of the kids. We’re trying to bring that back. It’s not just a money-making venture. We’re trying to steer kids in the right direction. There are so many bad eggs out there and so many things that are just money grabs.”
Caraway believes the cost of youth athletics has become a “major issue” over the past decade. Between travel sports, showcases, clinics, camps and lessons, some families have been priced out, and that’s what Caraway hopes Rick Dempsey Sports can help fix.
“Youth baseball and youth sports have become a business, instead of what it used to be where it was for the greater good of the kids,” Caraway said. “We’re trying to bring that back. It’s not just a money-making venture. We’re trying to steer kids in the right direction. There are so many bad eggs out there and so many things that are just money grabs.
“Of course, from a business standpoint, you have to make money. But we’re not looking to retire off the backs of children.”
The facility is large enough, Caraway said, to accommodate other sports, including softball, lacrosse and soccer. To book lessons or time at the facility, email Caraway at dbssports18@gmail.com.
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