Angels Broadcaster Sponsored Cardinals Outfielder's High School Tuition

Maren Angus-Coombs | May 11, 2024

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Los Angeles Angels next week, the series will hold a special meaning for broadcaster Mark Gubicza that goes beyond the baseball field.

After his father died in 1991, Gubicza set up a scholarship to William Penn Charter in his honor of a student from Roxborough, his Philadelphia neighborhood. Michael Siani, an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, is the first recipient of that scholarship to reach the big leagues. 

“It’s a huge part of why I’m here,” Siani told Tyler Kepner of The Athletic. “He has helped me out so much. Coming from where we come from, baseball isn’t the biggest sport, so it’s cool to have someone that’s been there and done it. Getting to meet him and talk to him, understanding what he did and how successful he was, it’s so cool. It was a great situation and I was lucky to have the chance to be there and have that scholarship.”

When Gubicza was growing up in Philadelphia, he wanted to follow in his two brothers’ footsteps and attend public high school. Instead, his dad sent him to Penn Charter, a private school that Gubicza wanted no part of.

“I said, ‘I’m gonna run away from home’ — so he literally gave me my suitcase,” Gubicza told Kepner by phone from the Angels broadcast booth before a game in Pittsburgh. “I packed it up, walked downstairs, walked out of our row home, went about two feet and looked back and said, ‘Eh, I’ll go.’

Penn Charter changed Gubicza’s life. 

“And it was probably the best decision ever, not only to be in that environment — I played three sports initially — but just how hard I had to work academically," Gubicza said. "You’re not just coasting through. It made me a hard worker like my dad was, as a mailman.”

Siani joined Gubicza, Ruben Amaro Jr., and Jack Meyer on the list of big leaguers from Penn Charter. Siani made his debut in 2022 after the Cincinnati Red took him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft.

Penn Charter has a tuition of $47,200 and Gubicza enjoys knowing that Siani isn’t just a good baseball player, he is also a good person off the field.

“I text Chip Caray all the time: ‘Take care of my boy!’” Gubicza said, referring to the Cardinals broadcaster. “He said, ‘The dude is so fast, plays unbelievable defense, and if he hits a little bit, he’s gonna be here for a long time — and by the way, he’s a great kid.’ And that’s the most important thing for me.”

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