He鈥檚 currently one of the best stories in Canadian baseball but if you asked someone to tell you who Louis Boyd is, even the most ardent fan would be hard-pressed to come up with an answer.
Boyd is the Minor League Field Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners farm system. He just turned 30 this past May.
He鈥檚 also an amazing story.
A North Vancouver native who played for the North Shore Twins growing up, Boyd had finished his college career at the University of Arizona and was starting to prepare for life in the real world as an intern at the Nike headquarters in Oregon in 2017.
That鈥檚 when the Mariners called him to let him know they had selected him in the 24th round of the MLB Draft.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say I鈥檇 given up on baseball. It鈥檚 just the chances of me getting drafted were incredibly low, to the point where I had tossed my batting gloves, cleats and all the stuff from the previous season,鈥� said Boyd, who had to go back to the University of Arizona and pick up some gear before making the two-hour trek from Tucson to the Mariners complex in Peoria. 鈥淭he only thing I had left was my glove. Once I did get drafted, I was in a panic.鈥�
When you are the 723rd-overall pick, making the majors is a distant dream. As an older player on three teams in his first professional season, Boyd realised how much he enjoyed being a mentor to some of the younger players and started to get the coaching bug.
By his second season in 2018, Boyd had already become a quasi player-coach with the Modesto Nuts of the California Single A League.
He was a full-time coach with Modesto in 2019 and was helping former big leaguer Denny Hocking run the team when he got another call from the Mariners.
鈥淥ur farm director 鈥� Andy McKay 鈥� asked me what I was doing. We were about to go golfing with our staff on an off-day. He told me that I wasn鈥檛 going to be golfing anymore. And in that moment, I thought maybe I鈥檓 getting fired. I didn鈥檛 know what I did. I鈥檓 not sure what he鈥檚 about to say. And then he said, you鈥檙e going to fly out to Everett tonight, and you鈥檙e going to manage that team for the rest of the season,鈥� remembered Boyd.
Boyd was a sponge around Hocking, learning how to be organized, how to be prepared and how to interact with players in a successful way.
Now he would put those lessons to the test as a 25-year-old manager of the Mariners Single A Northwest League affiliate in Everett, Washington.
As luck would have it, Boyd made his debut as manager of the Everett AquaSox at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver against the Canadians on July 23, 2019. Boyd鈥檚 debut was a success as future Mariner George Kirby would pick up the win in a 5-3 AquaSox victory.
鈥淎s a 25-year-old at that point, I knew I wasn鈥檛 oblivious to the fact that there were a lot of eyes on what we were doing. A big part of me just didn鈥檛 want to mess anything up. And to the point where I remember, we were about 30 minutes before game time, and I realized I hadn鈥檛 eaten anything because I was just so focused on making sure the lineups were right, that we were doing the right things and that everything was going smoothly. It was incredibly nerve wracking but it was awesome having friends and family in the stands. It really was a surreal start to my managerial career for sure,鈥� recalled Boyd.
Boyd managed the AquaSox for a couple of seasons and actually had a 20-year-old Julio Rodriguez for a month during the 2021 campaign.
鈥淭he physicality that he brought to the field and the mentality that he combined that with is why he鈥檚 special. He鈥檚 not just a physical freak. He is incredibly strong mentally and he prepares unlike others. It wasn鈥檛 surprise as to why he was able to have so much success as a young player. I felt fortunate being around him,鈥� recalled Boyd of the future Mariner star.
After the 2021 season, the Mariners offered Boyd the position of Minor League Field Coordinator, which kind of surprised him seeing how he didn鈥檛 even know the job was available.
It has taken him away from coaching on a daily basis but it has allowed Boyd to have much more of an overall impact in terms of the farm system. He oversees assignments for roving instructors in the organization and supports the coaching staffs for all of the Mariner affiliates which include Everett, Modesto, the Tacoma Rainers (AAA), the Arkansas Travellers (AA) and the Mariners team in the Arizona Complex League.
鈥淚 need to make sure that good things are happening on the field with our players and our staff and do my best to help assist and support the people in our organization so that our players are growing, our staff members are growing, and we鈥檙e upholding the standards of the Seattle Mariners and who we want to be,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just everyone supporting one another in a group effort to bring the most out of our players and each other as staff members so we can continue to grow and create good things which is the biggest goal.鈥�
Boyd spends approximately three weeks a month on the road while usually spending a week at his home in Tsawwassen. He will fill in for managers and coaches, who all get four days off during the year to attend graduations, weddings or just go see their families. He鈥檒l sometimes cede managerial duties to an affiliate鈥檚 bench coach and assist him in the process of game planning but his passion is spending time on the field during his visits working with young players.
It鈥檚 something that he misses on a day-to-day basis.
鈥淚n order to create an impact for a player, the level of your relationship needs to be so deep. When you鈥檙e with a player through the ups and the downs through the long grind of a minor league season, you have some really unique, special moments where you can create a lasting impact.
鈥淭hat feeling of seeing a player take something you鈥檝e worked on, and then bring it into the game and have success with it, and to see the look on their face when they do it鈥hat is why I think all of us coach. Or I would hope that it is because when your purpose is outside of yourself, and you鈥檙e putting everything you have into someone else, the level of dedication and impact that you can make is astronomical.
鈥淭hose moments of gratification are what I search for as a coach and do I get as many of those in my role? No, because I鈥檓 in a clubhouse for maybe a week max at a time, but thankfully, they do still come and they鈥檙e really fun to create.鈥�
As for getting back into coaching on a full-time basis, Boyd hasn鈥檛 really thought about it as he鈥檚 too focused on the task at hand.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a question that gets asked every once in a while, even by friends and family, and my answer continues to be I really don鈥檛 know. I am stuck on the fact that I have yet to really look at the future in terms of what I鈥檓 trying to do. And I know it鈥檚 a cliche, but I really just try to crush what I鈥檓 doing and be present in that. And by doing that, I鈥檝e been very thankful to be given future opportunities and future growth in my career.
鈥淪o, it feels a little silly to change that up and start thinking about myself more and what I can or could accomplish within my career. I just want to trust that the people around me are looking out for me and hopefully they believe in what I can bring to the table. And whatever happens, happens.
鈥淎ll I know is that I love the organization that I鈥檓 in. I feel incredibly supported and I love to try and make an impact on people. If that is a part of my job title, then I鈥檓 going to be happy. I know it鈥檚 a bit of a non-answer, but that鈥檚 how I currently feel.鈥�
Boyd is quite the story but I have a feeling that his story might get even bigger.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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