Ex-Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker trades mound for school board seat in U.S. midterms - Toronto Star

Shoemaker narrowly won the third of three available school board seats in Saline, Michigan, edging out contender Afifa Corrigan by 28 votes.

Blue Jays starter Matt Shoemaker pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of an American League wildcard series in September 2020. Shoemaker was Toronto’s players union representative that year.

Matt Shoemaker wasn’t part of the stunning “blue tsunami” of Democratic Party dominance in Tuesday night’s U.S. midterms, but the now-retired former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher earned a victory of his own down the ballot in a local election in his home state of Michigan.

Shoemaker narrowly won the third of three available seats in the Saline Area Schools Board of Education race that included four other candidates. He claimed the third seat with a total of 6,598 votes, edging out contender Afifa Corrigan (6,570) by 28. Carl Spina came first with a total of 8,528, while Christy Lillie came second with 8,169.

The seats come with four-year terms, according to the Sun Times News.

Shoemaker retired from professional baseball in 2022 after 15 seasons, including parts of nine years in the major leagues. He started 11 games for the Jays over the 2019 and 2020 seasons, going 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA over 57 and one-third innings pitched. 

The 40-year-old was the Jays’ Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) representative in 2020. He repped his clubs for the union for nearly 10 years, according to the website for his political campaign.

Shoemaker and his wife have four children, all under 11 years old, the website says. 

The former pitcher spent three years as a substitute teacher while he was in the minor leagues.

“My main goal is to represent the interests of the students and staff in the way that best furthers students’ education and prepares them for their future,” Shoemaker says on his campaign website. He adds that he wants to reverse the trend of declining student enrolment and get Saline back into Michigan’s top 10 in academics and athletics.

Shoemaker also told the Saline Post before the election that he wants to make sports and extracurricular activities accessible to every student.

Shoemaker wasn’t the only former major-leaguer to win an election Tuesday night. Mark Teixeira, a Republican, won a U.S. House seat in Texas’ 21st congressional district.

Teixeira is a former first baseman who hit more than 400 home runs during a 14-year career with the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels.

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Joshua Smith is a staff reporter with the Toronto Star. He can be reached at joshuasmith@thestar.ca.