The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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60 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 BY ANTHONY BROOME K irt Ojala is a Michigan guy through and through, a Portage native who grew up a Detroit Tigers fan and realized his dream of playing college baseball in Ann Arbor. "I was always a Michigan fan and wanted to play baseball there," Ojala said. "I didn't really know the avenue to try to get there in high school. It's certainly not like it is now with recruiting. I was playing summer ball with the Kalamazoo Maroons, and that was the start of me being on the radar. One of the summer teams that beat us went on to regionals, and I joined up with them and played in the Battle Creek tournament. "That's when Coach [Bud] Middaugh saw me again and said he wanted to have me in for a visit," Ojala said. "At that point, I was locked in. I wasn't looking anywhere else. I wanted to go to Michi- gan." The relationships he built within the program created lifelong friendships, and Ojala tries to engage the best he can with the school that built him. "I'm still on a text thread with quite a few guys that I played with. It's our own fraternity some- what," Ojala said. "You spend a lot of time with those guys and became great friends with a lot of them. I have won- derful memories of playing the game it- self, but more so just some of the off-the- field stuff. We were always hanging out. "I feel like you can call up anybody at any point in time and say you need a favor, and they will do any- thing for you." Ojala was a fourth- round pick of the New York Yankees in the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft, and the pitcher compiled a 73-62 career record in the minor leagues with a ca- reer 3.86 ERA in 1,185.2 innings pitched. Playing for an organization termed the "Evil Empire" was a bit of an adjustment for a Tigers fan. "I got the phone call from the Yankees, and my dad and I just looked at each other saying I guess we have to be Yankee fans now. We always hated the Yankees, but we became Yankee fans when I got drafted by them. I had a good experience there. "The Yankees had a lot of money to spend, but they didn't develop guys all the way through. I got to Triple-A, and I was on the all-star team. I thought that I had a chance to get to the big leagues. However, that was the year they had the strike. There were no September call- ups that year. The following year, they had a shortened spring training, and I didn't go to big league camp. The timing of all of that was bad." Ojala would finally get his call-up to the major leagues during his eighth season of professional ball inside the Florida Marlins' organization, where he was part of a World Series-winning team during the 1997 campaign. "[All-Star pitcher] Al Leiter got hurt at the end of the 1997 season," Ojala re- called. "It was August, and I was having my day in the rotation. I got called up for him. The first time I got two starts before getting sent back down. I had a no-decision in the first game. I won the second game and had a great game. That is one of my most vivid memories. "We were going to Wrigley [Field in Chicago] the next day, and I'm thinking, 'That's a huge step.' I was really excited on a Sunday after the game thinking I was going to Chicago. [Marlins man- ager] Jim Leyland called me in and con- gratulated me on the game. It was all good. Then he said, 'But we're sending you down.' I just stopped and stared, and he said, 'Don't give me that what- the-hell look. You're not Al Leiter, he's healthy now. You go back down. You'll Ojala has worked in commercial real estate since 2000 and is currently vice president of business development and director of client services at CD Barnes Construction based in Grand Rapids, Mich. PHOTO COURTESY KIRT OJALA Ojala was selected in the fourth round of the 1990 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. He spent 11 years in professional baseball, including three seasons with the Florida Marlins where he was part of their 1997 World Series championship team. PHOTO COURTESY ONEONTA YANKEES ❱ WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Michigan Native Kirt Ojala Reflects On Pro Baseball Career