As the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play their first home series of the season, two of their opponents are making a homecoming as well.
Durham Bulls right fielder Ben Gamel and manager Michael Johns are both from the Jacksonville area.
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Gamel still lives in Atlantic Beach in the offseason. He was a star at Bishop Kenny and a part of the 2008 state championship team as a sophomore.
He was selected by the Yankees in the 2010 draft. His major league career has been full of travel. From the Yankees to the Mariners, Brewers Indians, and Pirates and now to the Tampa Bay Rays organization. This week offers a rare opportunity for Gamel to sleep in his own bed during the season.
“It’s awesome. Sleeping in my own bed. I get to come home to the family and they get to come to the games, I get to see Mom and Dad. It’s been a blessing,” Gamel said. “I relax a little more at the house as opposed to a hotel, but once we get to the yard it’s everybody’s going to work.”
Gamel had a big moment in Wednesday night’s game when he slammed a home run to deep right-center field to help the Bulls defeat the Jumbo Shrimp.
“Always good to get over the fence,” Gamel said. “Especially, at home with mom and dad and the baby and the wife up there.”
Gamel daughter is not old enough to understand exactly what dad does for a living, but she’ll always be able to say she was at the ballpark in her hometown when dad went yard.
Johns grew up in Fernandina Beach and after his minor league career ended in 1999, he returned home as an assistant coach at Fernandina Beach High School. He then took the head coaching job at Orange Park High School where he coached from 2004-2007. He has been back to Jacksonville as a field coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization, but this year as the skipper for the Rays Triple-A affiliate, he gets to manage in his hometown ballpark.
“It’s nice, it’s really special,” Johns said. “It’s a really nice park. It was Double-A for a while. I’m glad it’s Triple-A now. They’ve done a really good job here.”
Johns’s parents still live in Fernandina and he has plenty of friends in the area meaning the ticket requests can pile up.
“There are a lot of people that want to come watch the Durham Bulls,” Johns said. “And (who want to) watch me--and I don’t do much I just kind of stay out of the way--but yeah, there’s a lot of people that want to come and watch so it’s fun.”
The shared baseball roots haven’t been lost on Gamel and Johns, who never faced one another as player and head coach when Johns was coaching at Orange Park.
“When we first signed him, I went over to him and he’s like, ‘You’re from Fernandina,’ you’re from BK,” Johns said. “Obviously, we had a big rivalry when I played and coached and I remember him as a high school player. A really good player and obviously a lot of service time in the big leagues so it’s been a pretty cool bond.”
Both Gamel and Johns agree that Jacksonville has been underappreciated as a baseball town. The number of players who have made it to the Major Leagues from Jacksonville is impressive.
“You got guys like (Jonathan) Papelbon and Billy Butler and Brett Myers and my brother (Mat) and you know, the list goes on,” Gamel said. “It’s sneaky little baseball town.”
Johns said the baseball culture that is established at the high school level has made a big impact on the development of future professionals from the First Coats.
“There’s a lot of competition here at each school,” Johns said “And the other thing is, there’s a lot of really good coaches and the support that they have, and then the kind of the community really emphasizes baseball and being good at it.”
Gamel, Johns and the rest of the Durham Bulls face the Jumbo Shimp in a series that concludes on Sunday with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch.