
“It Wasn’t Easy to Make It Look Easy” | Jason Marquis
He Asked to Go Back to the Minors. Here’s Why. | Jason Marquis Most players dream of getting called up to the major leagues. Jason Marquis walked into his manager’s office and asked to go back down. He wanted to become a starting pitcher, and he believed staying in the bullpen would take him further from that goal. After talking it through with his wife and agents, he chose to step backward for a chance to build the career he wanted. That decision is a big reason I wanted Jason to help kick off season three of The Jon Schultz Podcast. Jason is a good friend, and we’ve spent plenty of time together on the golf course. In this conversation, we get into the thinking behind his baseball career, starting with a kid in Staten Island who studied his favorite athletes and focused on the parts of his game he could control. He opens up about watching the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series without a spot on the World Series roster, managing the disappointment without letting it change how he treated his teammates, and approaching Tommy John surgery as another problem to solve. We also reflect on his childhood teammate Michael Cammarata, the firefighter who lost his life on September 11, and what it meant to take the mound in New York when baseball returned after the attacks. Then we get into what Jason calls one of his biggest challenges: life after the majors. He talks honestly about missing the clubhouse, leaning on his wife and children, and how speaking openly helped him work through the transition. Today, he finds satisfaction in passing along what he’s learned to young players at Middletown South. One idea runs through this conversation: you have to become your own best coach. Listen, learn, and take responsibility for putting that knowledge to work. If you’re weighing a career change, working through a setback, or wondering whether a step backward could help you move forward, there’s a lot here to take with you. As Jason puts it: “It wasn’t easy to make it look easy.” 00:00 Welcome to Season Three with Jason Marquis 01:31 Winning the World Series Without a Roster Spot 08:19 Growing Up Undersized and Controlling What You Can 17:15 The Little League World Series and Believing in the Dream 21:40 Family, Inner Drive, and Building Confidence Through Small Wins 28:05 Asking to Return to the Minors—and Betting on Himself 35:00 Remembering Michael Cammarata and Baseball After 9/11 40:54 Tommy John Surgery and Learning to “Do Hard Better” 45:13 Life After MLB: Identity, Family, and Team Israel 52:06 Coaching the Next Generation and Becoming Your Own Best Coach Jon on Socials: IG: @thejonschultzpodcast X: @JonSchultzPod LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-jon-schultz-podcast www.jonschultz.com















