Getting the opportunity to play professional baseball is a dream for millions of kids around the world. Most never consider the possibility, however, that your organization could have a future Hall of Famer blocking you at your position.
Rockville Center-native Mike Ambort was selected not once, not twice but three times in the MLB Draft. The third and final time came in 2007 in the 6th round by the San Francisco Giants.
The following year, the Giants selected Florida State catcher Buster Posey and handed him a $6.2 million signing bonus (the largest in team history at that point) with the 5th overall selection in the ’08 draft. The two were roommates in High-A, but before long Posey was solidified as the franchise catcher and would go on to win Rookie of the Year, NL MVP and was the heart & soul for their 3 World Series titles.
Ambort, who was 2nd team All-American at Lamar University, would have his professional career derailed by numerous elbow injuries that forced him to call it quits during the 2010 season.
Things could have gone very differently. But to understand why, first we will turn back the clock.
The Early Days
Michael was the middle of three kids. His parents, Michael Sr. and Catherine, were both athletes during their younger days. Michael Sr. played football and baseball while Catherine played softball and tennis.
They were a sports-centric family. Michael Jr. stated his sister was a multi-sport athlete while he played everything from soccer and tennis to golf, football and baseball.
During his Little League days, he recalls their showdowns against Oceanside. He recollects his district winning the year prior to him being there, and that they “always fielded a competitive team.”
“In those days there wasn’t really travel baseball, I didn’t play until maybe freshman year of high school with the South Shore Rebels,” said Ambort. To hone his skills, he took catching lessons from Ike Goldstein.
At the plate, he stated that the person that was instrumental in helping him learn to switch hit wasn’t a coach but his mother.
“She would take me to the field and tell me to take swings lefty,” he said.
He also had to split up his time between the diamond and the gridiron. Ambort was a star QB and led the South Side Cyclones to winning the County Championship in 2001.
On the diamond, he was a four-year varsity player for coach Steve Smaldone.
Ambort absolutely dominated during his high school career. He was named Conference MVP, All-County and All-State during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. During his junior year, he batted .452 with six doubles, four triples and four HRs. The next year, he batted .453 with 8 HRs and 23 RBIs.
Given his talent on the gridiron, there were several schools that were interested in having him be a two-sport athlete.
“I sort of came to the realization that if I was going to the next level it was going to be with baseball being number one,” said Ambort.
During his younger days, Ambort stated that he wanted to attend Hofstra University to be close to home. As he was in the midst of the college recruiting process, he realized he would need to get out of the northeast for better opportunities and to escape the cold.
He narrowed down his choices to Stetson, Old Dominion and Lamar. He credits Pat Shortt, who is a Lamar alum, being someone that helped him with his college recruiting process.
After his time playing with the South Shore Rebels, Ambort played with the Long Island Tigers, South Shore Heat (coached by Neal Heaton) and then the Long Island Titans.
“He was a switch-hitting catcher that was an outstanding individual, a great player, great kid and comes from a great family,” said Neal Heaton.
His Long Island Titan team was absolutely loaded.
“I think just about every player on that team played Division-I,” said Ambort. They also had a couple draft picks including him and Dennis Donovan (Kansas City Royals).
When Ambort was ready to make his decision, he had his hopes set on attending Stetson in Deland, FL. In fact, the head coach called him up and Ambort answered and immediately informed him he was opting to become a Hatter.
“The coach told me, ‘well that’s why I’m calling – we decided to go with an in-state kid.’ I was devastated. That’s what you work your tail off for to go to the school you’re dreaming of.” As luck would have it, he would later go on to face that person in the Cape Cod League a couple years later.
“I said to him ‘You bastard!” Joked Ambort, who stated that the other player was a nice guy.
Had he gone there, he would’ve been on the same roster as Jacob deGrom.
Ambort pivoted and decided to commit to Lamar University to play for legendary coach and Queens-native Jim Gilligan.
Following his senior season of high school, he was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 44th round of the 2003 MLB Draft.
“It’s never an easy decision,” said Ambort in regards to whether it was a consideration to opt for pro ball instead of college. “I always thought of getting drafted out of high school. As a kid you dream of getting drafted and playing Major League Baseball. At the same time, getting a degree is even more important.”
Lamar University
Ambort headed to Beaumont, TX to begin his collegiate career.
He noted that it was no given that he would get playing time as they had a returning junior and senior.
“Coach told me, ‘whoever competes will win the job’, and the pitching staff basically told him, ‘we want to throw to Mike.”
Ambort credits all his former coaches of making him the player that he became. “I’ve always been a student of the game. I took bits and pieces from everyone. There’s a lot of good knowledge out there and there’s always an opportunity to get better. I went to school with my mouth shut and my ears open.”
During his freshman year, it was a very successful season for Lamar who won the Southland Conference. They surpassed 40 wins and defeated the University of Louisiana at Monroe to advance to the NCAA Regional.
As luck would have it, they were placed in a very difficult region which feature No. 14 Texas A&M as well as No. 3 Rice who was at the peak of their powers.
The current state of the program makes it hard to believe, but Rice was a powerhouse under former coach Wayne Graham. They participated in every NCAA Tournament from 1995 to 2017. They won the College World Series in 2003 and had the best pitching staff in the country. In fact, they had one of the best pitching staffs ever – their top 3 starters (Jeff Niemann, Philip Humber and Wade Townsend) were all selected in the top 8 of the MLB Draft.
After losing their first game to Texas A&M, Lamar would go on to lose to Rice, 6-3.
Ambort recalled facing Jeff Niemann who struck him out in a “5 or 6 pitch at bat on a back leg slider.” When going back to the dugout, Gilligan asked him what it was and he told him a slider.
“He told me, ‘yeah I’ve been working with him on that.’ I said ‘gee, thanks!’
That year, Ambort performed exceptionally well for a freshman. He started 54 games, batting .270 with 33 runs scored, 54 hits, 12 doubles, 9 HRs and 40 RBIs. He was considered one of the best catchers in the country.
During his sophomore season, Ambort enjoyed his breakout season.
He played 57 games, starting 55 and he batted .338 with a school single-season record 18 homers (including 4 grand slams), .414 OBP, .654 SLG, 57 runs scored, 65 RBIs, 73 hits and 15 doubles. He was named ABCA 2nd team All-American and had now put himself on the short list of the best college hitters in the country. Ambort noted that despite playing in the heat, their home field of Vincent-Beck Stadium “was a pitcher’s dream” as deep fly balls tended to die with the humidity and winds blowing in.
Following the season, Ambort headed north to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League.
When evaluating his performance he said he “did okay”, facing many future big leaguers such as Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller.
Unfortunately, he dealt with his first bout of elbow problems and that became a recurring theme of his career.
He required Tommy John surgery and played in just 6 games during his junior season. He batted .391 (9-for-23) in his limited play. Had he not been injured, he noted that he was being discussed as a 1st or 2nd round talent. Even with the injuries, the Oakland Athletics thought enough of him to select him in the 18th round of the 2006 MLB Draft.
“My thought process was, this is the second time I’m getting drafted, what am I doing? I could go to pro ball and eventually go back to school or go back to school now and see what happens.”
He went back to school for 2007 and performed well once again. His injury forced him to get time at 1st and 3rd base. That enabled him to stay on the field, as he played 57 games. Ambort batted .368 with 11 HRs, 63 RBIs and 1.051 OPS.
This time, he was selected in the 6th round of MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. While he was still technically a redshirt junior and had another year of eligibility, “I was ready”, he said.
Ambort found out he was selected by his friend.
After waiting around on Day 1 of the Draft to no avail, he had his name called on Day 2.
“My buddy goes, ‘you just got drafted’. A few minutes later, boom my phone rings.”
Pro Ball
Ambort signed his contract and began his professional career. He went to Arizona for extended Spring Training.
“I started out hot and they quickly moved me up to Salem-Keizer.”
Unfortunately, the elbow injuries would only continue for him. Ambort had nerve transposition surgery. He said, “my nerve kept slipping out.” While he said he was a quick healer, this would continue to happen and it required three surgeries. He described it as his arm would go numb and it would last anywhere from 5 minutes to 4 hours.
One of the players Ambort became close with was fellow catcher Buster Posey, who would go onto become the cornerstone of the franchise as they won World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
“He was my roommate in High-A,” said Ambort. “As good of a ballplayer as he was, he was an even better guy.”
Ambort added that he doesn’t hold any ill-will towards Posey regardless of how their careers played out.
“You always have people that are going to be better than you. You can only worry about yourself – control what you can control. Did it hurt when they spent $6 million on a catcher? Yeah, but it just adds fuel to the fire.”
His High-A team was absolutely loaded, finishing the season with 93 wins. In addition to Posey, they also had future big leaguers Madison Bumgardner, Brandon Crawford, Connor Gillaspie, Andres Torres and Sergio Romo.
Ambort joked, “I was the only one that didn’t make it!”
He would go on to add that, “Every level that you go to, whether it be high school, college, pro ball, the game speeds up. You control it by how you prepare.”
Ambort calls the highlight of his pro career when he had the opportunity to play in a big league Spring Training game when the team needed an extra catcher. He got his chance and he did not disappoint, crushing an opposite field HR off a future big league reliever.
After he was switched to first base, he was sent back down to High-A when the organization promoted Brandon Belt to Double-A. Belt would go on to become a cornerstone player on two World Series teams for the Giants.
“That’s par for the course,” he called it. “You gotta produce. I didn’t have great stats but my whole career was battling injuries.”
When he was sent back down, Ambort met with the team doctor about his recurring nerve issue in his elbow. When discussing some more extreme measures, the doctor discussed a procedure that would include wrapping his nerve around the bone to ensure it wouldn’t come off. It was described as ‘experimental’.
“Once he said ‘experimental’, that was it for me. I want to be able to lift my kids some day. I sat on it for a day, then I called my mom and told her ‘it’s done’. I just knew it. As tough as it was, I definitely don’t regret it.”
The Next Chapter
Following his retirement from baseball, Ambort fulfilled a promise to himself by getting his degree from Lamar. He finished his classes online, as he was just shy of graduating when he was drafted.
He opted to move to Gwinnett County in Georgia to become a fireman. After a couple years, he moved to Charleston, SC where he did the same.
His next career move came when he moved back to New York to take a job at Hofstra University as a painter in Local 282 union.
He has dabbled back in sports briefly. He took a job at his alma mater, South Side, coaching football which he did for 2 seasons.
There was also a coaching stint with Next Level alongside Pat Anderson, although he stated that if he ever gives lessons it’s for his friend’s kids in a “pay it forward” role as opposed to a side gig.
Ambort has been married to his wife, Liz, since 2016. They have three children together – Adelaide (7), Emmelia (4) and Michael (1) and reside in Merrick.
He stated that since he met his wife in 2011, she never knew him as the baseball player.
“She told me, ‘you never talk about it’, and I said, ‘well you never ask about it.”
Ambort certainly has plenty to be proud of. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame for both South Side and Lamar University.
While he noted that he does miss baseball, he said, “The time is just not there.” With his youngest being a boy, however, he acknowledged that he could eventually find his way back involved with baseball if his son chooses to play.
