"How could you not be romantic about baseball?"
The famous quote uttered by Brad Pitt in the 2011 hit Moneyball perfectly encapsulates the life and career of Deb Iwanow, MS, ATC, CSCS. Stepping onto the field at Mirabito Stadium this past weekend, she couldn't help but look back on the nearly two decades of her life she's dedicated to America's pastime. Bus by bus, inning by inning, Iwanow played a crucial role in the success of countless big leaguers who grace our TVs in primetime today. She may not have realized it at the time, but Iwanow was on her way to making history.
It all started in the early 2000's when the Delhi native was studying to become a physical therapist at Ithaca College. Realizing the program may not have been for her, she returned home, looking to do a bit of soul searching. Then, one night, while attending a baseball game not far from her home in Oneonta, her life would change forever. Iwanow ended up speaking to a representative of the then Oneonta Tigers, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and soon after, she realized her true passion - working with athletes to become the best versions of themselves. Athletic training it was.
Iwanow would return to Ithaca, graduate, and later get her Master's degree at Cornell. The next step in her career was clear: send resumes to all 28 American-based MLB teams. As the days moved along, she was left waiting for a call. While she knew she was entering a male-dominated sport, she knew she couldn't sit back and wait. She'd eventually got a job working as an athletic trainer at St. Bonaventure, and later Binghamton University, where she served as assistant athletic trainer for baseball, men's soccer, and the men's and women's swimming and diving teams. A short time into her career at Binghamton, Iwanow would receive the phone call she'd been dreaming of.
It was the New York Mets organization.
Iwanow's dream was becoming a reality, and in 2006, she was eventually brought on as trainer for the then Kingsport Mets in Tennessee. She'd spent three years there, followed by two in Brooklyn and three in St. Lucie. But there was one more stop along the way: Binghamton.
Yet another dream had come true for Iwanow, who was now able to return home to serve as the athletic trainer for the Binghamton Mets. But it wasn't without its challenges. At the time, and even today, working for a professional baseball team as a female trainer is a rare occurrence.
"I don't think it's something that I really focused on. I went into baseball because I wanted to be the best professional that I could be. To me, it wasn't a male-female. To me, it was, in my mind, to be the best trainer, I needed to be in professional sports," said Iwanow.
While changes have been made today, just ten years ago, staff locker rooms were mostly for men. Players, many whom live and die by their superstitious pregame rituals and routines also had to get used to having a female trainer. But Iwanow never let it stop her from pursuing her dream.
"There were definitely challenges along the way, but it wasn't something I chose to focus on. Right or wrong, I understood that was the world I was going into, and if I wanted to succeed, I wasn't going to go in and kick down the door and be accepted that way," said Iwanow.
Eventually, the players got used to having Iwanow around, and she, along with the staff around her, began to form a bond; one she described as a family. It all culminated in the summer of 2014, when the B-Mets were just a couple games away from the championship.
"I remember thinking, how cool would it be to have it happen in my backyard after all the places that we've been. It was kind of the right mixture of talent, it was kind of the right mixture of crazy," said Iwanow.
Following a challenging set of games against Portland, the B-Mets made it to the championship, where they'd win it all. The 20-year Eastern League title drought was over. All the challenges, all the barriers, and all the hardships Iwanow faced were now worth it.
"To have that night, to have as many people that were there was incredible. I had my family there, which was awesome, and then to win and to have Steven Matz go eight innings and have a no hitter, the emotions just start stirring. You get to the ninth inning, and then all of a sudden, what you've thought about for nine years happens. For me personally, to have my family there was incredible," said Iwanow.
Iwanow's professional baseball journey would eventually come to an end, but her passion and dedication to help others was just beginning. She joined Maine-Endwell in 2018, where she continues to work with student-athletes to this day.
"Baseball was tough for me to be around for a while after things with the Mets ended. So coming here, I transitioned in the fall [of 2018] , but didn't start to know the kids and the coaches until the spring. Having been burned a little bit by baseball, to come here in the Spring of 2019 and have a group of kids with Matt Raleigh who made it to the Championship game made me love baseball again," said Iwanow.
Along with athletic training, Iwanow also teachers Intro to Health Careers and Intro to Sports Medicine. She's now entering her fourth year as an educator.
This past weekend, and ten years after that historic win, she'd return to the field that she left behind; one that she made countless memories on. Iwanow was honored as part of the 2014 Championship winning B-Mets, along with former staff and players that made it possible. As if the night wasn't emotional enough, she'd later find out a bit of history from MLB officials.
Iwanow is the first female athletic trainer in professional baseball to be part of a championship team.
She couldn't help but break down in tears.
"If I can be an example to somebody that nothing is impossible. I like to think I'm a part of the positive changes that have happened," said Iwanow. She continued, "To be a part of a program that is what it is here, to be around an entire athletic program that's as competitive as it is here, the mentality of this district toward athletics is great. To have that support, to have that understanding is very cool to be a part of, and obviously full circle with last years team, taking it all the way at B-Mets stadium. You can't write a story better than that."
Along her professional career, Iwanow worked with the NLCS winning New York Mets, and met some of her favorite big-leaguers along the way, including Yankees star Aaron Judge.
While she kept her Eastern League Championship ring, she gifted her NLCS ring to her father, someone who she's long-enjoyed watching games beside. She now hopes to pass along that same passion and dedication to youth across the district. Who knows, maybe one of our students will make some of their own history.
