Growing up as a young boy in Lynwood, Calif., Tony “Mario” Miranda always dreamed of playing baseball. His mother, Yolanda, played in Mexico while his father, Mario, played professional baseball in Cuba, Mexico, Canada and the United States as well as two years in the Negro Leagues. His parents crossed paths in their careers and eventually married and settled down to reside in Lynwood. It was a match made in baseball heaven, and the younger Mario benefitted from his parents knowledge and passion for the game.
Miranda attended many of his father’s games locally and took an interest in a sport that would ultimately define his life. He swung a bat for the first time at the age of five. Miranda’s journey would include playing at Lynwood High School, Cerritos College, Cal State Fullerton and minor league baseball.
He was a Big West All-Conference first team selection for the Titans in 1995 when they won the College World Series and were crowned national champions. Miranda was drafted by the Kansas City Royals and played four years as an outfielder in the minors reaching Double AA in 1998. He continued to play independent baseball until 2002.
For the past 16 years, Miranda has run a free youth clinic for innercity kids at Lynwood HS where former major league players such as Royce Clayton, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis and Cecil Fielder come by to support Miranda.
After coaching for a year as an assistant at Cerritos College and for 10 years at Lynwood High School, Miranda has spent the past four years driving 50 minutes from Lynwood three times a week as a coach in Malibu Little League. Best friends with fellow MLL coaches Steve Prudholme and Clayton, Miranda took the AAA Giants recently to see the movie “42” and the impact that Jackie Robinson had on baseball.
The Malibu Times caught up with Miranda to discuss baseball and his admiration for MLL.
Describe your love for baseball and how your dad influenced you to play the sport.
My love for baseball started at a young age. My dad played professionally and when I was young he played on the weekends. I would go to his games. I started off being the bat boy. When my brother and I saw my dad play, we said that’s what we want to do when we grow up. My dad and his friends broke the game down for us and showed us how to play. That was real fun because these grown men were my idols more than the Dodgers or Angels. I love baseball with all my heart.
What has it meant to coach in Malibu Little League?
The drive and time are not the issues for me. I love baseball and love working with kids. I was used to being on a bus in the minor leagues for 15 to 20 hours a day. To come for an hour or hour-and-a-half is nothing to me. I love the kids here in Malibu. They are great kids. I want to have fun with them. I like to instruct and see them get better and better. These kids have improved so much in the last two months.
Talk about when you brought your MLL team, the AAA Giants, to see the movie “42.”
We try to do something every year with the kids as a group. Sometimes it’s a game and this year we went and saw a movie. We wanted the kids to understand the history of the game. What Jackie Robinson had to go through is something to cry about, but he didn’t. He just kept playing. We wanted to show these kids that no matter what is happening outside the foul lines we want to continue to play the game the correct way.
Baseball is like the game of life. It’s a game of failure. It teaches you how to overcome adversity and keep picking yourself up. Keep believing in yourself until the last out is recorded.
What did Jackie Robinson mean to you and your career?
Jackie Robinson has been a big influence in my life. If it wasn’t for Jackie, a lot of my heroes I probably would have never seen or even wanted to play the game of baseball. My dad told me about segregation and how it was during those times. I was just amazed how you could play baseball in those times being a minority. But Jackie did it and it was a great experience for all of us around the world being able to play together.