Local Man Chasing Big-League Dreams

It’s a balmy Thursday afternoon at Waterfront Park in Trenton, N.J., and Wando High School graduate Mike Cisco has just pitched two innings for the Reading (Pa.) Phillies against the Trenton Thunder.

Getting to the minor leagues is part of Cisco’s plan to one day pitch in the big leagues.

Though he has a family lineage in professional baseball that backs to the 1950s, chasing his dreams has been a tough road.

“I can't say enough about what my parents and grandfather have meant to me and my career, from little league on up," Cisco said. "It helped me so much having that background from them. It made me who I am."

Cisco’s grandfather, Galen Cisco, a two-sport star at Ohio State, played in the 1958 Rose Bowl, spent seven seasons in the big leagues and was the pitching coach for the 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays teams that won back-to-back World Series.

His dad, Jeff, and uncle, Galen Jr., spent time in the minor leagues, and his mother, Janet, played basketball at North Carolina. She often tells the story of beating Michael Jordan one-on-one.

Mike's youngest brother Drew also benefitted, eventually going from Wando High to the Reds organization as a 6th-round pick in 2010, though he's out following elbow surgery.

"It's been a weird couple of years," Cisco said. "I've had some injuries that have set me back. I've missed more time than I've wanted. Worrying about the path the organization has for you will just get in the way of what you're trying to do. It always seems that it happens when you're least thinking about it.”

But this season, it appears that approach is paying off.

At 24, the right-hander is having his best professional season, with a 1.86 ERA in 15 relief appearances.

He first reached Double-A midway through the 2009 season, and threw 6 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs last season, but he returned this spring to Double-A Reading.

Not one to fret about the slower pace of his development, Cisco remains calm and confident. His selection in the 36th round of the 2008 draft out of the University of South Carolina — long after his two Charleston-area childhood friends, Justin Smoak and Reese Havens, went in the first round to the Rangers and Mets, respectively — suggested a long road was ahead.

So he is patient for now.

Cisco only thinks about getting hitters out with aggressiveness and intelligence, staples of his grandfather.

"He misses barrels of the bat," said Reading manager Mark Parent, a former big-league catcher. "There's something in his delivery that throws you off just a little bit. That can play forever at any level."

Cisco still leans on early experiences, growing up in a baseball family, and his granddad is still around to offer advice.

In the late 1990s, while Galen was the pitching coach for the Phillies, Mike would visit Philadelphia. This provided the opportunity to be around pitchers like Curt Schilling.

"I can't put into words how lucky I am to have someone like my grandfather," Cisco said. "Not many guys have that kind of resource where I can pick up the phone and get that kind of advice. He can pick out what I need to do without being there.

"I call as much as I can."