Jeff Irish was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 1989 MLB Draft out of Milford High School in Michigan. He played two seasons of pro ball before leaving the sport. Now, his son Ike is continuing the family’s baseball legacy in the Orioles organization.
Ike was drafted 19th overall by the Orioles out of Auburn this month. In his last season with the Tigers, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-handed-hitting slugger hit .364/.469/.710 with 19 home runs and 58 RBIs in 55 games. Ike signed with the Orioles for about $4.4 million after the draft.
Jeff noted that Ike being drafted was a surreal moment as a baseball father.
“I thought one day I would play in the big leagues, and then flat out I wasn’t good enough,” Jeff said on Glenn Clark Radio July 16. “Then to be able to mentor a son or mentor any baseball player, and then have them in a position that Ike has put himself in has been beyond rewarding, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
“To watch your kid have an abundance of success because of the hard work they’ve put in over the years is just a really, really awesome opportunity. I’ll be forever grateful. Whatever Ike does in professional baseball, so few kids have this opportunity. I’m super excited,” Jeff continued. “I’ve seen him deliver time and again, and have no doubt he’ll deliver for the Orioles organization as well.”
Regardless of what sports Ike pursued, Jeff wanted his son to succeed and be happy. He didn’t care if Ike followed in his footsteps or not. Jeff focused more on supporting Ike’s passions in and away from athletics.
“His whole life, he’s been a really good athlete, and I just wanted him to pursue whatever he was passionate about and then throw everything he had behind that passion,” Jeff said. “I learned a long time ago, and as a parent, for me it doesn’t matter; I just want my kid to be happy. Whatever they pursue in life, at some point, you’ve got to live beyond athletics. Athletics has taught me so much as a man about how to deal with failure.”
Ike tried football, hockey and basketball before deciding in his junior year of high school that baseball was his passion.
“The best advice my dad gave me was just leave it at the field,” Ike said. “Life’s long, and baseball is probably like six hours a day, and whatever you do, success or fail, just leave it at the field.”
Another lesson Jeff tried to instill in his son was that playing baseball every day is difficult.
“You absolutely have to love the grind, and you have to be all about the grind, because that is going to be what allows you to be successful,” Jeff said. “There’s a reason that you play baseball every single day; it’s because hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do on the face of the planet athletically. I wanted him to know that he was committing to a sport that demanded excellence every single day, and you have to show up and you have to put in that grind every single day.”
Ike fractured his scapula as a junior at Auburn, forcing him to move from the catcher position to right field. While Ike is a catcher by trade like his dad, he doesn’t care what position the Orioles put him at as long as he’s producing at the plate.
“If I can hit, I’ll be happy,” Ike said. “I don’t care where it is. If it’s catcher, right field, left field, first base, DH, to me it doesn’t matter if I can hit. That’s what I love to do, and if I can play defense at a high level, anywhere, I’d like to do that as well.”
For more from Jeff and Ike Irish, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Auburn Athletics