Baseball player O'Brien observes tension over kidnapping firsthand at Mass Maritime

By Joshua Boyd, Swampscott Reporter

Swampscott - It hasn't been the typical week on the Massachusetts Maritime Academy campus, especially for baseball player and registered longshoreman Matt O'Brien.

O'Brien, a former Swampscott High School baseball player and one in a long line of longshoremen in his family, pitches for Massachusetts Maritime's baseball team.

But this past week, right up until Easter Sunday, was one of the most trying and tense times on campus that he can remember, and it had nothing to do with strikes or outs. Captain Richard Phillips, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy alumnus, was kidnapped by pirates off the Somalian coast and held hostage for four days from April 8-13.

Phillips, the captain of the cargo ship the Maersk Alabama, was freed when U.S. Navy sharpshooters killed three of the pirates holding him hostage. Another pirate, who had gone onboard the U.S.S. Bainbridge for medical treatment, was taken into custody after his accomplices were shot and killed.

"It's been an ongoing event," said O'Brien. "Every night, we've had multiple newscasts here. It's been serious, for sure. It caught the attention of the cadets who will be shipping out."

He's heard plenty of talk about the kidnapping even at the Academy's recent baseball games, especially those on April 9 at home against Johnson and Wales, as well as at a double-header at Framingham State on April 10.

"We had a few games where the fans were really talking in the stands, and you can hear they're asking questions as we are a shipping school, just to get a little bit more of a feel of what's going on," O'Brien added. "They understand what was on the news, but you could hear them asking other questions.

"We put out our prayers for the captain. It was definitely in the back of our minds," said O'Brien.

At the same time, he said it was "business as usual" at the baseball games. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers (ironic team name, considering the recent news), business wasn't entirely good. On April 9, they lost 24-13, to Johnson and Wales, and on April 11, they fell 2-1 in the second game to Framingham State, after defeating them, 8-0, in the first game.

"It's been a pretty good season," said the right-handed pitcher, of the Buccaneers' 7-12 record. "We have a really young team, with only so many upperclassmen. Being a junior, I've had to step up and get the freshmen and sophomores up to speed, as they're definitely playing big-time key roles. We'll get the whole entire team back next year, and the whole entire pitching staff. Hopefully we'll work off the rest of this year and finish off right around .500."

O'Brien is 1-3 on the season in six appearances, with 12 earned runs against him, 21 hits against him and five strikeouts to his credit.

"I feel strong. I'm usually a five-to seven-inning guy," said O'Brien. "I have a fastball, change-up and curveball. From high school to college, I didn't have a change-up, so I picked that up as a new pitch, and it's become my No. 2 pitch. You can't just blow fastballs by people in college."

Career on the docks

O'Brien feels he owes his father, John, so much for pointing him in the direction of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

"During my late years in high school, I was looking to play baseball at a Division 2 school," said O'Brien. "My father had always hinted to me that it wasn't always about baseball. Going here is probably the best decision I've ever made - I get to play baseball and get a great education."

That education, he hopes, will someday lead to either being a port manager or possibly even a ship broker, selling container ships.

"This past winter, I was at Conley Terminal in Boston. My father, John, when I was growing up, was always a crane operator at ports, and I've been a member of the ILA (International Longshoremen's Association, a union) since I was 18," added Matt O'Brien. "I had been doing the labor when I was younger, but this winter I was actually on the supervisory side, doing things like writing sequences to understand the ship as it was coming in, really seeing the business side of the port.

"For a career, I'm trying to stay land-side, doing something similar to my internship," he added.

He has nothing against those who choose to hit the high seas as merchant marines. In fact, he did a few months on a ship as a freshman, sailing on the Academy's training ship down the east coast and finishing up in the Caribbean and Miami, Fla.

"We're usually four days at a port, and three of those days you're off, and the other day you'd be on for watch or for maintenance," he added.

Shipping will have its challenges, he said, and already the industry is working with the government to perhaps allow crew members to carry weapons in light of the increase in piracy.

"It's obviously something that has to be looked into," said O'Brien. "Most students here understand the risk we get into by shipping out. The Somalians in that part of the world have to come out and take over ships, that's their way of life. It is a scare. It's not something you can ignore, now that it's finally happened to a U.S. ship."

O'Brien never knew Capt. Richard Phillips, but he did know the Alabama's Chief Engineer Shane Murphy, who took command of the Alabama after Phillips was kidnapped.

"I've known him for three years, though I never was instructed by [Murphy]," said O'Brien. He's just glad that one of Massachusetts Maritime's finest was on his way home to the U.S. in good health.