The player development guru almost went pro in basketball
Thursday, June 25
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John Shoemaker made his Minor League Baseball debut in 1977, transitioned to coaching in 1981 and, since 1987, has served primarily as a manager. That lengthy resume has resulted in a peripatetic existence. Stops along the way include, but are far from limited to, Lodi, Calif.; Yakima, Wash.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Midland, Mich.; Savannah, Ga. and Albuquerque, N.M.
And, yet, for all that movement, for all those packed bags and bus rides, for all those times his name was listed in small type on a transaction list, Shoemaker’s career is defined by a remarkable consistency. The Chillicothe, Ohio, native was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977 and, 50 seasons later, with the Dodgers he remains. At the age of 20 he was selected by the organization with their 35th-round Draft pick; now, on the cusp of 70, he is piloting the Single-A Ontario Tower Buzzers through their inaugural season.
Name a homegrown Dodger who played for the team at any point in the last four decades, and there's a good chance Shoemaker was part of his Minor League journey. In 2015, he was named the organization’s "Captain of Player Development," and his uniform jersey has featured a prominent letter "C" ever since.
John Shoemaker at Dodger Stadium. (Los Angeles Dodgers)
"The two most special people, other than everybody, would probably be Clayton Kershaw and Adrian Beltré," said Shoemaker, speaking with MLB.com's Kelsie Heneghan at Ontario's ONT Field earlier this month.
"Those guys were on teams that I managed, and there were many [other teams] that included other Hall of Famers. … We've been lucky to have that many good players come into our system that we've all had a chance to work with. And it wasn't us that made their career, we were just a small part of it."
Shoemaker entered the 2026 season with 1,915 wins as a Minor League manager, third on the active list behind Nashville's Rick Sweet and Louisville’s Pat Kelly. These indomitable septuagenarians accumulated their victories across multiple organizations, however (eight for Sweet, five for Kelly). No one, active or retired, has notched as many Minor League managerial wins as Shoemaker has while in the exclusive employ of a single organization.
"I lived in Ohio so [growing up] I was a big Cincinnati Reds fan. I knew Jackie Robinson's story, but not until I really got into the Dodger system did it really sink into me how special that was and how proud we all are to have Jackie Robinson on our side," said Shoemaker. "They're still the most cherished franchise in the sports world and they're never going to lose that."
Shoemaker helmed the San Antonio Missions from 1989-91.
It seems now as if it was meant to be, but Shoemaker's career could have turned out differently. He was an infielder in his playing days, first drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1974. He opted to attend Miami University (of Ohio) instead, where he also excelled as a guard on a pair of Mid-American Conference championship-winning basketball teams. Shoemaker was selected by the Dodgers in the 1977 Draft and, for good measure, by the Chicago Bulls in the sixth round of the 1978 NBA Draft. The decision to prioritize baseball turned out to be, as he put it, "pretty easy."
"I went to the [Bulls] tryout camp and didn't make it. I was playing that summer in the California League [with the Lodi Dodgers] and [the Bulls] said, 'Well, you won't be coming to our rookie camp in July. Just come in September to the main camp,'" he recalled. "About four of us were there that knew we didn't have much of a shot, but it was just a chance to go do it."
Showmaker is in the Miami University Hall of Fame.
So baseball it was and baseball it remains. Shoemaker's playing career concluded in 1980, with 22 games in Triple-A representing the pinnacle of his advancement. He'll always be a footnote in baseball history due to the events of July 25, 1978, however, as he was involved in turning two triple plays in the same game during an 11-6 Lodi Dodgers win over the Fresno Giants.
"I just happened to be in the middle of it at second base," he said. "I guess it is part of history, but not many people know about it."
Shoemaker transitioned from player to coach in 1981 and landed his first managerial job with the Vero Beach Dodgers in 1987. He has since helmed clubs at all levels in the Dodgers system and has spent the past six seasons with the Dodgers' Single-A affiliate in the California League (Rancho Cucamonga from 2021-25 and Ontario this year).
"I had always wanted to get into coaching," he said. "My father was a coach and I've been around basketball and baseball my whole life, so I felt like that was what I was going to do anyway."
Shoemaker managed the Jacksonville Suns in 2001 and again from 2005-08.
Over the decades he’s shown an ability to meet the game where it is.
"There's more people working in baseball, there's more coaches, there's more analytics. There's a different way of thinking. Pitchers are throwing harder, batters are hitting the ball harder and farther and longer, trying to hit it in the air more," he said. "So there's a lot of things that have changed and that's one thing we talk about, being able to adapt and be flexible."
But the more things change, the more they stay the same. When asked what it is that keeps him coming back year after year, Shoemaker replied, "The uniform."
After a lengthy pause, he continued:
"Coming to the park every day and knowing there's going to be 25 or 30 guys that walk into that clubhouse that I feel responsible for. I'm at the age now where I could be their grandfather, some of them, and I feel like I've got a job to do to treat them like I was treated as a kid. … That they were taught how to become a professional, how to work hard and what it meant to be a Dodger."
But not if you catch me first! Get in touch anytime via email at benjamin.hill@mlb.com and please follow me on Instagram (@thebensbiz), X (@bensbiz) and Bluesky (@bensbiz.bsky.social). Thank you for being here with me all the way until the end, reading until there are no more words left to read.
Contact Benjamin Hill
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