By Don Leypoldt

You can take one of two paths when you have a distinguished father.

You can ride his coattails.  Or you can learn from his experiences to achieve your own success.

Baltimore Oriole second baseman Steve Lombardozzi, Jr. has opted for the latter.  

Steve Senior played six seasons in the Majors.  In 1986, he led all American League second basemen in fielding percentage.  In 1987, he hit .344 in the post-season- it was over 100 points above his career average- while helping the Twins stun the Cardinals in the World Series.

“One of the biggest things that (my Dad) has taught me is the mental side of the game: how to prepare mentally,” said Steve Jr in a September interview.  “Going through a season and grinding out games and at-bats.  And pressure situations: How to stay calm and stay mentally focused.”

But Steve Junior is doing an admirable job of carving his own path in the Big Leagues.  The Maryland native racked up over 700 plate appearances with the Washington Nationals between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. 

Before he was a National, Lombardozzi was a Holyoke Blue Sock.  Washington selected him in the 2008 Draft out of St. Petersburg College; Lombardozzi was in Holyoke when he got drafted.  

The infielder started seven games for the Blue Sox before signing a professional contract.  He drove in three while striking out just five times in 31 NECBL plate appearances.

“It was my first experience getting to play college summer ball.  I obviously wasn’t there too long but I remember getting up there and meeting a good group of guys, my teammates,” Lombardozzi remembered.  “It was a blast while I was there.  I was sad I had to leave but also excited that I was starting pro ball.  

“I got a chance to stay in a host family’s house.  I still keep in touch with them.   It was a great experience.  Holyoke was great and a lot of fun.”

The NECBL’s loss was Washington’s gain.  In three seasons in the Minors, as he rose from Low A to his Big League debut in September 2011, Lombardozzi never failed to hit at least .294 or have an OBP under .360.

“Lombardozzi is a blue collar ballplayer,” said recently retired National manager Davey Johnson.  “He is 100% in.  He does all of the little things it takes to win ball games.”  

Lombardozzi, since traded to Detroit this offseason as part of the Doug Fister deal, has made a Major League niche in those “little things.”  His 13 pinch hits last season ranked second in MLB.

Versatility is another “little thing” that Lombardozzi brings to the table.  In his two full seasons with the Nationals, he played over 20 games in both the outfield and second base.  

Raised as an infielder, Lombardozzi credited the Washington coaching staff and “putting in a good amount of work” and “getting live reads off the bat during BP” for making the transition to outfield.  

Lombardozzi saves a roster spot with his adeptness at switch hitting.  “I learned when I was 11 years old.  My Dad said ‘What do you think?  Let’s try and switch hit here.’  I was originally just a righty,” he recalled, “and I started in Fall Ball.  Obviously, I was real weak but I stuck with it and it definitely worked out.”

Talk to Lombardozzi very quickly and “stick with it” or “work” become clear themes in his career.   “There is no substitute for reps,” Lombardozzi believes.  “My Dad was a Big League second baseman.  He knows how many hours I’ve spent with him so a lot of that credit belongs to him and how he raised me and instilled the work ethic that I have today.”

It isn’t just work ethic that runs in the Lombardozzi family.  They also have a commitment to playing the game right and using baseball as a platform.

Lombardozzi won the Arizona Fall League’s Sportsmanship Award in 2010.  “The award has been given annually since '04 to the player who best exemplifies unselfishness, hard work and leadership,” wrote Jonathan Mayo for MLB.com on November 20th, 2010.

“Scottsdale manager Randy Knorr knew all about Lombardozzi coming in to the Fall League.  Knorr skippered the Harrisburg Senators, the Nationals' Double-A affiliate where Lombardozzi played 27 games to end the 2010 regular season,” Mayo continued.  “’He never stops working," Knorr said. "I know he was tired, and he still went after it….He grinds everything out, he has great at-bats. He plays hard, he takes the next bag.  He's a smart ballplayer.’"

“The Sportsmanship Award was pretty cool.  That is probably one of the biggest awards I’ve ever received.  ” Lombardozzi admitted.  “It’s not an award you’re getting for stats.  I take pride in how I play the game and how I go about my business, going out there and trying to win every night.  I’m not worried about how many hits I get.”

Father and son also felt moved to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy in a big way.  The two of them organized a D.C. area food drive and personally delivered over 27,000 pounds of food to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

“With Sandy, it was part me and partly my Dad,” Lombardozzi Jr. explained.  “He came to me and said ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ and I had never done anything like that.  We ran with it and it ended up being a huge success.  It was really fun, but also a really humbling experience.”

The food drive, in a lot of ways, exemplifies Lombardozzi’s career: work hard and stay humble…and real good things will likely follow.

Steve Lombardozzi’s Advice to NECBL: “The two things I’d say are 1) You have to absolutely love it.  You have to enjoy the grind, you have to enjoy working hard.  You have to have a passion for playing the game.  And 2) is the work ethic.  You gotta outwork everybody else.  There are very few guys who are so gifted and talented that they can (just) make it.  For the most part, you have to work your butt off to get up here and stay.”