Severna ParkFair, 67°
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Severna Park
Nearly 20 years before he made his Major League Baseball debut, Mark Teixeira dreamed of Green Hornets Opening Day and one day hearing his name announced over the loud speaker as he trotted onto the field before playing in the World Series. Teixeira, a Severna Park native and an alumnus of the Greater Severna Park Athletic Association, was already a standout during his days as a Hornet, where he was coached by his father, John Teixeira.
By the time he attended Mount St. Joseph High School, Teixeira was well on his way to perfecting his signature powerhouse left- or right-handed batting swing and was on the radar of professional MLB scouts. He played college baseball for Georgia Institute of Technology and made his MLB debut as a Texas Ranger in 2003. Teixeira retired as a New York Yankee in 2016 after a prolific career that will surely propel his name to the top of the Hall of Fame ballot when he becomes eligible in 2021.
On November 7, Teixeira, now an ESPN baseball analyst, was inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame (MDSAHOF) during the organization’s 60th Hall of Fame induction ceremony held at Martin’s West in Baltimore. Other new members of the Hall of Fame included Ali Andrzejewski (soccer), Rob Shek (lacrosse), Steve Krulevitz (tennis), Walt Williams (basketball), and lifetime achievement inductees Tom Davis (sportscaster) and Jim Margraff (football coach). Pete Gilbert from WBAL and Pat O’Malley, MDSAHOF board member and former Baltimore Sun sportswriter, served as masters of ceremonies.
“I first saw Mark as a 9- or 10-year-old in the Green Hornets youth program,” O’Malley recalls. “I was coaching my youngest son in the Green Hornets and Mark stood out hitting and pitching. I saw him through his younger years as he became more polished and I was thrilled he chose my alma mater, Mount St. Joseph, for high school.”
O’Malley introduced Teixeira by rattling off impressive career statistics and accomplishments as if the audience was in Cooperstown, New York, for an MLB induction.
As he took the podium among a packed ballroom of friends, family and Maryland sports royalty such as Oriole pitching great Scott McGregor and former University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams, just to name a few, Teixeira was quick to mention where his love of baseball came from and developed – Severna Park, Maryland.
“I am so proud of growing up in Severna Park and the type of athletes that we produce,” said Teixeira. “Just the fact that Gavin Floyd and I were drafted four and five in the Major League Baseball draft in 2001 just shows how competitive Severna Park athletics is,” Teixeira said, referencing Floyd, his schoolmate and fellow Severna Park native, a 13-year pitcher in the major leagues.
“I loved Green Hornets; playing basketball, soccer and baseball,” he added. “As a father now, I really appreciate the coaches, the parents, and everyone who spends so much time making Green Hornets the great organization it was and still is.”
As fellow inductee and Towson University lacrosse standout Rob Shek accepted his award, he joked about Teixeira, “This might be the only venue in Maryland where a guy in Yankee pinstripes will ever be celebrated.”
Though Teixeira lives in Connecticut now in the same home he lived in when he played for the Yankees, he still has many friends and family members in and around Severna Park.
“It was a great place to grow up,” said Teixeira, “and I am proud to say I am from Severna Park.”
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