BASEBALL DIGEST
  OPENING DAY EDITION  
A Special Publication of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
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By Abe J. Schear
April 2011
Strike one. Strike two. Almost strike
three, but the interviewee realized that if
Michael Ain could play varsity baseball
at Brown that Michael Ain could succeed
in medical school. And now, some years
later, Michael is a pediatric orthopedic
surgeon at Johns Hopkins, perhaps the
only such short person surgeon in the
world.
Understanding that baseball was for
people of all sizes, Michael loved playing
in grade school, in high school (for a
while) and in college, refusing to let his
4’3” height be anything but a statistic.
He loved to play the game and he loved
to be on the team.
Michael reminds us that, unlike other
sports, baseball is the sum of all abilities
and attributes which include passion and
focus and desire and preparation. Each of
these improve the player and the team.
And determination, as a quality, naturally
transfers from sport to everyday life.
Talking with Michael was invigorating
as his enthusiasm showed through.
His refusal to settle for second best
has yielded wonderful results. This
surely made me smile as you will too.
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Abe J. Schear is an attorney with Arnall
Golden Gregory LLP. He is the chairman
of the firm’s Leasing Practice Group as
well as the Inbound Foreign Business
Team. Contact Abe at 404.873.8752 or
[email protected].
I Remember When, a book which includes
the first 35 interviews in this series, is
available for $20. A check should be made
payable to Abe Schear and mailed to him at
Arnall Golden Gregory.
Michael Ain
“Loving the Game”
Abe: I’m here with Michael
Ain. What are your first baseball
memories?
My first baseball memory is playing in
little league, well actually playing with
my father. I was eight years old and I had
some friends who played that year and
I didn’t. I wanted to play the following
year and my father, who played baseball
in high school and in college, said well if
you want to play, you’d better get ready
and so we started playing. Every night
when he came home from work, we had
a side yard in Roslyn Heights, New York,
we started throwing the ball and it was
great. That year I went out for the little
league team.
Did the kids play in the street?
The kids on the street played but back
then we played more hockey in the street
when I got older we would head up to the
school and play there. But it was first just
throwing the ball with my dad and going
to games.
Why were you drawn to baseball?
When I was a little kid growing up, I
would like watch baseball on TV. My
father liked baseball and he would bring
me to Mets games, sitting out there and
eating hot dogs and drinking soda and
watching baseball. It’s just a fascinating
thing. I liked trading cards, collected
baseball cards for years and I started
learning everyone’s averages, what
position they played and what they did, or
awards or whatever, who was doing what.
I followed the Mets and the Yankees and
would know everybody’s batting average.
Playing it was great, following it was
great. It was just really important to me
“Every year I appreciate the game more and
more.”
or football or stuff like that. I’m talking
about when I was eleven or twelve. We
played stick ball at the school which also
was just a blast and, as a little kid, like I
said of eight or nine, I had more practice
with my dad and then played little league.
When I got a little older, I got friendly
with some kids who it seemed like lived
at the end of the world but it was only
five or six blocks away. We would get
together with them and play ball and then
and, when I got older, a couple of years
later, my math teacher tried to make it
interesting by making people do well on
math tests, knowing the homerun leaders
or the average leaders.
When I got even a little bit older, I
started playing little league. I actually
got to meet Hank Aaron. The traveling
secretary of the Atlanta Braves back then
was a guy named Gary Davidson who was
also a little person and somehow he found
A r n a l l Go l d e n G r e g o r y L L P | April 2011
out who I was and when the Braves came
into town to play the Mets one year, he
invited me and two other boys to a game
and we got to sit right next to the dugout
and I got to meet Ralph Garr and Tom
House. Hank Aaron obviously was kind
of the king and the man was wonderful.
I loved to play the game. It was a game
that you could practice with one person,
you could practice by yourself. For hours
I would throw the ball against my garage
door and let it bounce back. My mother
said she would get a headache from the
binging but she never told me to stop so it
was a lot of fun. Every year I appreciate
the game more and more.
Who were your favorite players
growing up?
seats. It was a warm summer day and I
went with my father and we sat out there,
just the two of us, eating hot dogs and
I thought it was great. I had a bag of
peanuts, a hot dog. I got the score card
and followed who was batting and wrote
in everybody’s name. It was a blast.
Do you remember where you sat?
Oh, yeah. I sat on the first base side a
little bit, you know, kind of just past the
dugout. It was great.
I always thought baseball was an
odd sport because you could always
remember where you sat at baseball
games. What leagues did you play in
when you were a youngster?
I played little league and the minor
league and into the majors and stuff like
“I told the guys I was going deep.”
Tom Seaver, Jerry Grote, Cleon Jones,
Art Shamsky and then on the Yankees,
I liked Roy White and Bobby Mercer,
Horace Clark. As a young boy and as I
got older, I loved Greg Nettles, Thurmon
Munson and those guys. Following the
Mets and Yankees was big for me.
Did you follow anyone else?
I actually didn’t. There was only one
player who I really admired, played second
base, and that is Joe Morgan because he
could do it all. And to this day, he’s an
announcer on Sunday night baseball and
he is so knowledgeable. I love the way
he describes what’s going on when he
talks about the game. I don’t know why
he doesn’t ever manage. I think he would
be a great baseball manager.
Less pressure announcing baseball
games.
Yes, it’s less pressure but I think he’d
be, well its kind of like a lot of things,
if you have a gift to share, just being an
announcer is just much less pressure. I
think he would do a wonderful job as a
manager.
What was the first game you went
to?
The first game I went to was one where
the Mets were playing the Cubs. I must
have been like six or seven, and I don’t
remember the score. I just remember it
was in Shea Stadium and we had bleacher
that. And once you turn thirteen, you kind
of moved over. We used to have the little
league in the spring and I played other
sports in the fall and then when I got a
little older I played for the school. I never
played Babe Ruth or anything like that. A
lot of pickup, a lot of stickball. You know
as I got older, thirteen, fourteen, we used
to play a lot of stickball. Go up to the
school and that was a blast. It was fun.
Mostly second base?
Yeah, I played a little shortstop early
on but mainly second base. Well my
first year when I wasn’t very good, not
that I became good, but I got better, I
played outfield. Then as I got better, I
got moved to the infield. I played a little
shortstop but mainly second. Second is
a really good position for me because I
could react quickly. I never had great
speed, you know for distances, but I had
a great first step and my arm was fine but
it wasn’t fantastic, so you know, shortstop
would be a little harder. Second base was
a good fit.
The league continued to encourage
you to play, all the leagues you were
in?
Yes. There were some people who kind
of looked at me, if they didn’t know who I
was. Once you started playing everybody
was like, that kid can play. When I got to
high school, I learned more. The coach at
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the high school, I went to a new school,
and he looked at me and he said you’re
not built for playing baseball and so for
a couple of years I sat out. And then
when I went to college, I always loved
the game, and I had some friends. I was
in this fraternity and I had some friends
who played baseball and they knew that I
had played baseball. They said why don’t
you go out for the team, Michael, and so
I went out for the team in my freshman
year and I played JV and it was fun. Then
I got called to play on the varsity.
You were at a great school, at Brown.
I mean Brown played real baseball.
Yes we did. We were in Division 1
and we’d go down to Florida every spring
and we played some really good schools.
We played Florida, Florida State, Central
Florida, a bunch of other places.
Did you play all four years at
Brown?
Yes. I played four years at Brown.
What were some of the highlights of
your career at Brown?
Well, I got to play. The guy ahead of me
at second was the captain of the team and
so I was never going to be an every day
starter, an every day player. But I loved
it, even though I knew I wasn’t going to
play much at all. I practiced every day
to be with the team. It was a huge time
commitment.
You made me think of a star player
you were talking about Red Man tobacco
earlier. We would chew Red Man. It was
one day when I was sitting in the corner
of the dugout and enjoying the game but
knowing, that I was not getting into the
game. A friend was sitting in the corner
with me. I had a big wad of Red Man
in my mouth and I was getting a good
buzz, and all of a sudden I heard “hey,
hey”. I’m like huh? And my coach said
come on, you’re hitting next and I’m like
“huh”? And so I spit it out, I tried to drink
a bunch of water.
Did it help?
I think it made me even worse. I got
up, and my coach was looking at me. I
was always a pretty serious ball player. I
wasn’t a screw up. I really appreciated
the game. I loved it and I always wanted
to play. But I was a senior, I hadn’t
played much that year at all and I got up
there. I swung, I missed by a mile. When
I came back my coach was like what the
BASEBALL DIGEST by Abe J. Schear
“hell” and I just went back to my corner
in the dugout and I said well these things
happen.
I understand one of the pitchers
you hit against was the current Met’s
announcer, Ron Darling. What was
that like?
was fine. My coach was wonderful,
Coach Stenhouse, and he always said
Mike you’re not up there to walk. You’re
up there to swing and you know, hack at
it. I don’t want you getting hit. You’re
not there just to crouch. If the ball was
over the plate I would swing at it and I
“I loved collecting cards. I collected them for
years.”
It was my freshman year and it was
when I got called up. He was on the cover
of Sports Illustrated that year and so we
all knew that he was this phenom coming
out of Yale and we knew who he was. Yale
had a great baseball team that year. I was
a sophomore. Rich Diana, who played
for the Dolphins and is a surgeon in New
Haven now, was on our team. So we were
losing by a lot and I got called up. I got
to pinch hit and I was, you know, a little
frightened.
All you’ve got to do is hit the ball 94
miles per hour.
He was on the cover of Sports
Illustrated! He was mowing us down like
there was no tomorrow and we had some
very good players on the team. We had
guys that went on and played in the bigs
or you know played minor league ball.
You know these guys were working so I
told the guys I was going deep. I fouled
out to third base in foul territory but it was
deep.
Being a little shorter than most of
the players, did pitchers have trouble
pitching? Did they feel that they were
or weren’t going to throw the ball as
hard? I’m sure they wanted to pitch
to you.
They wanted to get me out. It wasn’t
like they were going to throw one over so
that I could crack it and embarrass them.
As the years went by, you know a junior
or a senior, the teams knew who I was and
that this wasn’t a joke that I was a player.
The umpires, you know my strike zone
was bigger than anybody’s. If the ball
wasn’t above my head and didn’t hit the
dirt and was somewhere near the plate, it
was called a strike. I shouldn’t be like
that, but it was a little extended, which
loved it. Like I said, I was on the team,
I didn’t get as much playing time as I
would have liked, but I got as much as
I deserved, which was occasionally and
when I did get it I loved to be there. It
was a great game and just to be part of it
was fantastic.
How did baseball sort of work out for
helping you get into medical school?
The way it worked out is I had a really
hard time getting into medical school.
Here I was, a kid coming out of Brown
University, which is a pretty good school.
I had done well, good grades. You know,
they said we’re not taking you because
you’re short. I had admissions offices tell
me, you know, we made a mistake, you
people think.
Right.
A lot of people spend all their time at
the library. You spent a lot of your time
between the lines.
Exactly. I spent a lot of time between
the lines.
What is it about baseball that you
like the most?
It’s a great team sport. There’s nine
guys. It’s also individual and I like the
skills. You know, hitting a baseball coming
at you. The ball might be straight, it might
be moving, it might be curved. It’s going
fast or it’s not. The hardest thing to deal
with in sport is to hit a baseball. I mean,
you’re talking about doubt. That little
white ball coming ninety miles an hour at
you or faster. So I love that and I also
love to field, you know, just catching the
ball, just turning to your right or left, the
strategy of it. The ball is hit to left, where
do you cover? A lot of strategy and you
know you’ve got to hit the cut-off, you’ve
got to do this. And so I worked on the
whole thing. Like I said, it all started in
that side yard and then every year, the
more I learned about it the more I enjoyed
the game and you know I tell stories about
it now. You know, I loved it and I still
keep in touch with a couple of the guys I
played with. It’s fun.
“I think Babe Ruth would have been fun to
play with.”
should change your career goals. So my
first year I didn’t get in anywhere. The
place I got into was Albany Medical
College and by this time I had interviewed
at so many places that they had turned
me down that I was, you know, a little
“whatever”. And you say oh, look at all
the wonderful things you’ve done. And
the interviewer, Barry Greenhouse, goes
“You played baseball in college”? I say
yeah. He goes “If you can do that you
can be a doctor” and I said well of course
I can. I tell people if it wasn’t for baseball
I’d never be a doctor. It’s a wonderful
thing.
It’s a different journey than a lot of
3
You said you collected baseball cards
when you were a kid?
Oh yeah. I loved collecting cards. I
collected them for years. You know we’d
flip cards. You got big piles. The reason
why I collected cards was on the back
of the card you’d find out everybody’s
statistics and so I was one of these guys
that knew Felix Millan hit in 1971. How
many strike outs Tom Seaver had. I knew
all of that and I didn’t do it to show off.
I was interested. I mean at school during
lunch, we’d flip cards. We’d eat lunch,
we’d flip cards, we’d talk baseball. It’s a
great game with so much strategy involved
and you know, you’ve got to run.
A r n a l l Go l d e n G r e g o r y L L P | April 2011
school, I got his book. Maybe Jeter today.
He’s a class act.
He’s a heck of a ball player.
Yes he is. He can do it all but also he
is a classy guy.
And if you could have hit against one
pitcher, or maybe if you could have been
the most frightened hitting against one
pitcher, who would that be?
Nolan Ryan would be fun to, also if he
had his control that would be something.
I mean, Nolan, Seaver, I like those guys
a lot. I don’t know, that’s an interesting
question. I guess Bob Feller, bringing the
heat.
I wonder how fast he threw the ball
compared to the guys today? I think
he might have been just faster than the
other guys in his era. He was a heck of
a pitcher.
I was watching this thing on ESPN
the other night and they were talking
about Walter Johnson. They were talking
about the greatest years pitchers ever
had and actually they picked what’s his
name? Satchel Paige had the best year
ever. You know Walter had 37 wins one
year, a million strike outs, ERA like 1.13
or something and he said that he could
bring it. But you wonder, I mean, today’s
athletes are better trained, better this or
that, but I think Babe Ruth would have
been fun to play with. I just thought about
that. He’d probably be fun to drink with.
Any lessons? You came to baseball
from an odd direction.
Baseball
certainly is a game for people of all
sizes.
You stretch that boundary
slightly. What were the lessons you
learned playing baseball?
I guess you could say the lesson I
learned being a doctor is that you can
do it if you work hard. People like Ted
Williams had a tremendous amount of
ability. But Ted Williams worked harder
than anybody else. He worked on how to
hit a baseball and here I am, you know I
was given some abilities but I might not
be stronger than somebody else, I might
not be faster than somebody but I can
outwork you and so that’s what it taught
me. It’s like there’s nothing you can’t do
if you put your mind to it and if you work
harder than everybody else. I think that’s
what baseball taught me is never give up
and play the game, enjoy it.
OK. That’s a perfect interview.
Well that’s great.
“Loving the Game”
Michael Ain

53rd EDITION  
BASEBALL DIGEST
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What are your favorite ballparks
that you’ve been to?
Well just historically, I liked the old
Yankee Stadium, the old ball park, I
liked the old one. Shea Stadium, we
used to go there as a kid growing up. I
just remember those three stadiums. I
remember Chicago. Wrigley Field is
great. Fenway is a fantastic ballpark.
A lot of great players played there.
Oh my God, like, yeah, Fred Lynn,
Rice, I mean all of those guys. You’re
right. It was a great ballpark and yeah,
I’ve been to a lot of nice ballparks but the
one here in Baltimore is really a sweet
park. I like the memories, going to games
and growing up watching. You know it’s
a fun day. That’s what it was, hanging out
having some fun, eating a little something,
watching the game.
If you could have played with one
player, who would you have wanted to
play with?
Maybe Mickey Mantle. I mean, back
in his day before he hurt his knee, he
could do everything. I wouldn’t want to
go out drinking with him. Maybe for a
hour. He’d bury me. I loved, like I said,
Joe Morgan. I’d love to have seen Ted
Williams in person. When I got in high