Every summer, USA Baseball’s National Team Championships Arizona become a gathering point for the future of baseball in the United States.
This year, it also becomes a reunion with its past.
USA Baseball alumni Ian Kinsler (WBC, 2017) began his baseball journey on the very fields that his son, Jack Kinsler, is now stepping onto as a member of the Scottsdale Dirtbags Gold at this week’s 14U tournament.
Long before his eventual 13-year MLB Career, World Series Championship and gold medal with Team USA, Ian was just any other kid competing in summer ball tournaments with his best friends.
Kinsler, a native of Tucson, Arizona, got his first taste of travel baseball at the highest level while competing yearly in USA Baseball’s West Champs – which is now better known as Champs Arizona.
“Being back here is a lot of fun. I played in this tournament when I was a kid,” said Kinsler.
“Before Cary, North Carolina, was the headquarters, (USA Baseball) was stationed in Tucson, Arizona. That's where I grew up. I was super fortunate that the tournament came to my home city and I was able to play in it. So, coming back, seeing it now, how big it is, and how many kids are still playing the sport is truly amazing.”
Kinsler played his high school ball at Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson and helped lead the team to state titles in 1997 and 2000. He began his college career at Central Arizona CC before transferring to Arizona State and finishing his collegiate career at the University of Missouri.
Kinsler was then drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 17th round (496th overall) in 2003, where his baseball career took off from there.
Making his big league debut in 2006, Kinsler went on to play 13 Major League seasons, playing for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres. He finished his career as a four-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glover, 2018 World Series champion and was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2022.
After all his big league success, Kinsler has now traded in the cleats for a lawn chair, getting a front row seat for his son Jack’s journey of his own. Regardless of how Jack and his team may perform, Ian wants to keep it simple above all: have fun.
“Watching Jack has been a lot of fun to this point. We’re just trying to keep him having as much fun as possible. To focus more on the little things rather than the actual results of his at-bats. Paying attention to where the ball needs to go, where he needs to be on cut-offs, trying to think ahead of the game, more of a chess thinker rather than a checkers thinker. We’re trying to establish that, but then also just having fun with it. Up to this point it's been, it's been so awesome,” Ian said.
An awesome time for Ian in the stands has complimented an awesome time for Jack on the field. The Scottsdale Dirtbags are a perfect 5-0 and are headed into the quarterfinals of Champs Arizona with Jack helping lead the way, most recently going 2-for-2 with two triples in the team's round of 16 victory.
“This tournament is just really fun,” said Jack. “There's tons of energy around baseball, and it's really good competition through all games. There are literally no games you can take off.”
The road to the top of Champs Arizona requires completing an eight-game gauntlet under the blistering desert skies with conditions generally residing in the triple digits the whole time.
14U serves as the first year where the players transition to an MLB size field and metal cleats, marking a major turning point in a lot of players careers.
“The game definitely gets faster, and you can feel that. The bases get further, and everyone just keeps getting bigger, which helps us get better a lot. It just makes it more fun and more competitive,” Jack added.
Having fun and developing is the focus for Jack, whereas for Ian, he’s still learning more about the game from a different perspective.
“You have to constantly remind yourself; these are just kids, they’re still growing and they're still learning. In learning moments, it’s then trying to speak more on their terms. Why what happened is important, how it's going to affect the game, and hopefully help your team be in a better position to win,” said Ian.
The other challenging aspect of seeing the game in a different light is when to be four-time All-Star Ian Kinsler, but more importantly, when to be dad.
“The challenge for Dad is trying to calm down, deliver the message, show it's a learning moment, and that they can still have fun. You don't want this to feel like it's a job yet, because if you continue to have fun, no matter what level you reach, that will always be your base,” said Ian.
One of the levels that Ian reached was a starting spot on the 2017 World Baseball Classic team that won gold after an 8-0 win over Puerto Rico to reach baseball immortality.
“I won a World Series in Boston, and I won a gold medal for Team USA, I can't pick between the two. You grind for 162 games in the postseason to win a World Series, and there's a lot that goes into it. The WBC is a short burst of energy, and you're playing with all these great players on your team with all these perennial all-stars. It’s this collaboration of great athletes, so it's hard to pick one over the other, but they're very similar. I cherish that medal every day. It was a blast. Winning with Jim Leland at the helm was just a memory of a lifetime,” Ian said when reflecting on his time with Team USA.
Kinsler’s 2017 gold medal was followed with the 2018 World Series Championship as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
After his time with the Red Sox, Kinsler’s career began to unwind as a member of the San Diego Padres, where Jack got to experience the day-to-day lifestyle of a big leaguer right under his dad’s wing.
“It helped a lot being able to go to the big league facilities and watching guys attack their routine before games. When he was with the Padres, he would take me to the field every day, and I would get to hit and shag. That definitely got me better a lot faster than just staying at home instead,” said Jack.
The experience for both Ian and Jack in a major league clubhouse have helped turn Jack into the player he is beginning to become, but now that dad has a little more downtime, Jack’s development will have Ian’s oversight written all over it
“Now that my dad’s retired, he can help me almost every day and just keep helping me grow in baseball,” said Jack.
While the obvious focus and priority for Jack is the game he loves dearly, his father knows that the lessons beyond the diamond tend to be the most important ones.
"The game was really fun when I was a kid, so whenever you struggle, you can always go back to that mindset. That's super important because baseball is humbling and it's hard, so having fun has to come first. Second, I try to get away from focusing on the results. There are times where he (Jack) might go 0-for-2 or 0-for-3, but what did those at-bats look like? Did you impact the game defensively? Were you a good teammate? Were you engaged? Those things all matter because baseball isn't always going to be roses,” Ian added.
“You're going to have hitless games, and you're going to go through cold stretches. I try to remind him (Jack) there are so many other ways to impact a game. It's similar to basketball. It's not always about how many points you score. You can grab rebounds, dish out assists, set good screens or save a ball from going out of bounds. There are a lot of ways to help your team, and that's what I try to emphasize as much as possible."
For now, Jack is focused on continuing to develop his game one pitch at a time, one game at a time and one tournament at a time. Whether that path eventually leads to him wearing "USA" across his chest remains to be seen, but Ian already knows what that moment would mean, not because of his own experiences, but because of what it would represent for his son.
"Man, it would be crazy," Ian said. "I'd just be a proud dad. Honestly, I think it would probably mean more to him than it would to me. He loves the game, and that's the biggest blessing. I never wanted to force baseball on him – I wanted him to enjoy it. He loves playing, he loves practicing, and I think that's so important because when you love practicing, it never feels like a sacrifice. He just loves being at the ballpark. If he ever had the opportunity to play for Team USA, I know he'd be completely fired up, and Mom and Dad would be super proud."
As Jack continues to write his own baseball story, Ian's greatest accomplishment may not be the years he spent representing his country or playing at the highest level, but rather helping his son discover the same love for the game that first carried him there.
