Mark Shires enters his 8th year as a Major League Assistant Athletic Trainer and his 26th year overall within the Baltimore Orioles organization. In 2023, Shires and the Orioles’ athletic training staff were honored with the Major League Athletic Training Staff of the Year Award, as voted on by members of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS).
Shires has served at five levels of the Orioles’ farm system. He spent 11 years with Triple-A Norfolk (2007–2017), three years with Double-A Bowie (2004–2006), three years in Frederick (Class A, 2001–2003), one season with Delmarva (Class A, 2000), and began his Orioles career in the Gulf Coast League in 1999 after interning with Bowie from 1996 to 1997.
Currently, Mark serves as the American League Assistant Athletic Trainers representative on the PBATS Executive Board, where he also chairs the Scholarship Committee and contributes to the Electronic Records Committee.
Shires is a Certified Athletic Trainer through the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) and is licensed in Maryland, Florida, and Pennsylvania. He also holds certification as a Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
A graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Athletic Training (1998), Shires earned his master’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania in 2004. He is married to Dr. Alison Gardiner-Shires, a Professor of Athletic Training at West Chester University. Together, they have a son, Arthur John “AJ.”
Mark has been instrumental in the development of educational content in the field of manual therapy. He co-created an IASTM (Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization) course that was acquired by HawkGrips and has taught the course to healthcare professionals across the Mid-Atlantic region and within Major League Baseball.
He has also presented shoulder rehabilitation and treatment courses at various conferences and institutions, including:
Professional Baseball Chiropractic Society, Sarasota, FL
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Norfolk, VA
University of South Carolina Physical Therapy Program
In clinical practice, Shires integrates multiple advanced treatment methods, including McKenzie Method, Active Release Techniques (ART), IASTM, Dry Needling, Shockwave Therapy, and TECAR Therapy.