From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry

Words: Robert Melgaard
Photos: Jon Rauch

In the record books of Major League Baseball, Jon Rauch is a literal giant. At 6 feet, 11 inches, he remains the tallest player to ever step onto a Big League mound. But today, the Olympic Gold Medalist and 11-season MLB veteran isn’t looking for a strikeout; he’s looking for a level line and a perfect bond.

Now a Project Manager for Sun Valley Masonry and a lead instructor for the Arizona Masonry Council (AMC) Apprenticeship program, Rauch has found that the discipline required to pitch in the World Series isn’t all that different from the discipline required to build a structural masonry wall.

The "Why" Behind the Work
For many professional athletes, the "second act" of life is a search for identity. For Rauch, it was a matter of competency. When he walked onto his first job site at Sun Valley, he wasn’t looking for a participation trophy based on his baseball career. In fact, he found that in the trades, your past matters far less than your performance.

"To be honest, most just took it as that was my previous job," Rauch says of his transition. "In my eyes, there is no difference between having to prove yourself in any line of work. It all comes down to being competent to complete a task, all the while learning your trade and improving your skill set."

While his entry into masonry was a "fluke" sparked by a call from a close friend, it tapped into a dormant passion. A former Physics major with aspirations of mechanical engineering, Rauch found that masonry offered a perfect marriage of his academic interests and his athletic work ethic. "Getting the hang of reading prints came easily," he notes. "I just needed the field work knowledge, and the lessons taught in the apprenticeship offered that."

The Art of Consistency
As an instructor, Rauch preaches a philosophy that sounds remarkably like a pitching coach’s manual: Consistency.

"Being able to repeat a skill as if it is second nature is vital," Rauch explains. "A masonry wall, brick veneer, or stone veneer all require equal joint spacing, tooling, and a mason to be consistent in their work."

He leverages his unique position, having one foot in the project management office and one on the training floor, to bridge the gap for his students. He uses real-world financial analyses and contract drawings to show apprentices that masonry is as much a mental game as a physical one. "I have found that using real-world examples is the best way for the apprentices to learn information rather than them just reading words on a page," he says.

Building a "Blue-Chip" Future
Rauch’s presence in the industry comes at a pivotal time for workforce development. Alongside the Arizona Masonry Council, Rauch is helping to cultivate a new generation of "blue-chip" talent through high school outreach and career technical education (CTE) programs. His dedication hasn't gone unnoticed; he was recently named Apprentice Instructor of the Year for the AMC’s Tucson chapter
and has recently began running the Division of Sun Valley Masonry.

"Jon has been an incredible influence on our apprentices down in our Tucson program," says Ryan Gray, Workforce Development Coordinator for the AMC. "He put in the time to learn the trade, spending two years of his own time on Saturdays learning right alongside our apprentices before he ever started teaching. He has set the example for dedication, putting in the hard work and picking yourself up when you're down. No matter where he goes, Jon draws a crowd; I can’t say enough about the impact he has had on the AMC and our future masons."

Dawn Rogers, Executive Director of the AMC, echoes this sentiment: "Jon has brought an outside perspective and an enthusiasm to the masonry trade that we don't often see. We are incredibly lucky to have him and his leadership helping to guide our association."

A Mindset of Merit
While the "running joke" on-site is that Rauch is so tall he doesn't need scaffolding, he treats his height with the same pragmatism he treats a complex blueprint. Whether it’s dodging 6-foot walk-through scaffolding or wedging himself into tight spots in a hard hat, he approaches the job with a singular mindset.

"To me, it’s never ‘this is where I am supposed to be’ but rather ‘I deserve to be here,’" Rauch concludes. "I continually try to improve and learn, and prove to those in the industry that I do, in fact, deserve to be where I am."

For the masonry industry, having a 6'11" veteran in the ranks is a win. But for the apprentices learning under him, having a teacher who values the "deserve" over the "destiny" is the real home run.

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From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry

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