Impact Of A Scholarship: Mark Ciardi

When Mark Ciardi was 15, he struck out 17 New Jersey batters during the Babe Ruth League regional championship. His family watched his dominance from the bleachers, but another eye caught Ciardi’s talent. 

It was an umpire who happened to be Maryland assistant coach Ray Ruffing. 

After his performance, he began receiving letters from the Maryland baseball program. For 10 straight years, Maryland had at least one Ciardi attending school in College Park. Ciardi’s two older sisters — Cindy and Kim — were Terps, and he’d visit them often while he was in high school. 

It made his decision even easier when it came time to pick a place to play college baseball. 

“It was a very natural place to come,” Ciardi said. “It was familiar to me. They really recruited me heavily, and they were in the ACC. It was just simple. Confusingly simple because my sisters were going there.”

Ciardi came to Maryland as a pitcher but didn’t have the 6-foot-5 presence on the mound that could intimidate hitters. Although he knew he was undersized, he always felt he could pitch against the best. 

Ciardi majored in business and marketing and pitched for Maryland baseball from 1979-83 (redshirting in 1982) while on scholarship. He worked his way up in the rotation, starting the season in the bullpen during his freshman year. Halfway through his first year, he became a starter. By the end of the season, he was the No. 2 starter. 

His first start was the second game of a doubleheader against Howard University, where he was one out away from a pitching a perfect game. The most memorable game of Ciardi’s collegiate career came on the road against the Clemson Tigers. It was Clemson’s Orange and White spring football game weekend, and thousands of fans shifted to the baseball field to watch. Ciardi threw a complete game in front of a rowdy crowd. Despite losing 1-0, his performance helped him realize he could compete at the highest level. 

After a strong sophomore season, Ciardi played for a summer league team in Baltimore called Johnny’s. It was a highly talented team known for providing a successful pathway for amateurs to reach the majors. He mentioned it was an honor for Ciardi to be part of the team. 

The Johnny’s played 88 games over the summer and won a national championship. Ciardi went 18-3 on the mound. 

“I pitched a whole season in a little over two months, and I had a really good year and summer,” Ciardi said. “I came back to school thinking if I had a good junior year, I'd be selected pretty high in the draft. And really, that's when I started thinking of professional baseball as a possibility.”

The coach of the Johnny’s was the Milwaukee Brewers’ head scout, and the team drafted Ciardi in that year’s draft. Though, Ciardi knew he wasn’t going to sign. He still had to finish school. 

However, Ciardi's career almost ended in the winter before his junior year. While playing basketball with friends, he blew out his right ankle and needed reconstructive surgery. 

“At that point, I didn't know if I could play again,” he said. … “I didn't pick up a ball for six months, and then when I got back on a mound. It was in the fall of my senior year. I didn't even know if I could pitch again. I just had to figure out if this is even something I can do anymore.”

So Ciardi kept it simple. He mostly threw only two pitches: a fastball and a changeup. The latter pitch he had never thrown before, as he typically threw a fastball and slider. The fastball and changeup combination kept hitters off balance, and led to an outstanding final year for the Terps.  

The Brewers selected him in the 15th round of the 1983 MLB Draft. A year after a possible career-ending injury, Ciardi had a chance to work his way up to the majors. He says adding the changeup he acquired because of his injury got him to the pros and eventually the big leagues. 

“I came and was able to get that scholarship and come to a place that was familiar to me, even though it was a couple of states away and a three-and-a-half-hour drive,” he said. “It felt like home. It was a dream come true getting to college and then succeeding when you're there.”

Four years passed in the minor leagues before Ciardi made Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster in 1987. He was a part of history when the Brewers started the season 13-0 that year. Ciardi’s sole career win came in the eighth game that season when he pitched five innings against the Baltimore Orioles. 

Ciardi threw only four games in the majors before a shoulder injury cut his career short. However, he accomplished a lifelong dream. 

“[I] realized the dream, got a baseball card, and it was something I'll never forget,” he said. “It was a big part of my life and my identity.”

Ciardi had multiple friends in the film business and was constantly around the industry but never aspired to work in it himself. 

In 1999, the former pitcher was reading a Sports Illustrated story about a 35-year-old school teacher playing in Triple-A. The teacher and southpaw pitcher was Jim Morris, Ciardi’s roommate and teammate in the Brewers organization in the early 80s. 

So Ciardi made a movie about him. “The Rookie,” which came out in 2002, is a true story that highlights Morris’ determination to make it to the majors after several injuries setback his career. As a school teacher at 35, he tries out for the Rays and ultimately makes it to the big leagues. 

“It's what excites me, and I love inspiring audiences just to have that connection to a guy I knew and played with and then be able to do a movie,” Ciardi said. “As a first movie, it was incredible. It was exciting. It was fun. And 25 years later, still doing it and trying to bring movies back to campus.”

It was the first of many films Ciardi worked on. Others include Miracle, Secretariat, McFarland USA, Million Dollar Arm, Invincible and American Underdog. 

He has worked with many well-known actors and athletes, including Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Costner, Jon Hamm and Kurt Warner. 

Ciardi didn’t have any experience in the film business before playing baseball. Still, through the people he knew and met during his playing career, it was a business he wanted to try. And while at Maryland, he said being an underdog helped him prepare for the struggles of the film business.

“When you get to college, no one gives you anything,” Ciardi said. “You have to work your way up, and you're competing against guys that might be a lot older than you, bigger than you and throw harder than you. I knew I had to work hard just to find a way to succeed. I think even Maryland has this entrepreneurial backbone with success. People are just finding and creating businesses. That spirit allows you to dream about doing things without fearing it.” 

Ciardi is still heavily involved with Maryland, having served on the university’s Board of Trustees for nearly 15 years. He enjoys giving his time and energy to the school, which means so much to him. 

“It's an honor,” he said. “There's not a lot of trustees, and there's got to be a certain level of success. This school is proud of what the different trustees have done. … I try to give back everything I can, bring films back or connect with people out here. It's been a great partnership.”

Ciardi was recently back in College Park to screen his new movie, “The Senior.” The movie is about a grandfather who returns to school to play college football after getting kicked off the team 30 years prior. It’s another one of the underdog stories Ciardi knows how to tell. 

“Everything's an underdog,” he said. “The odds are you're not going to make a film. But if you do, you've overcome a lot, and they're all their own kind of an underdog story.”