One of the most incredible stories in college baseball history unfolded this season at UT Martin.
Identical twins Mark and Miles Hartsfield are not only gifted baseball players for the Skyhawks. They also have both been accepted into medical school at Lincoln Memorial University — an incredibly rare achievement.

If that wasn’t enough, they have a thriving rap music business during their spare time and are well respected in the business after turning out a number of CDs in their $10,000 music studio.
While this dynamic duo has had a tremendous passion for medicine and music, they made national news during a baseball game against Evansville University.

They combined for 10 RBIs with 6 hits, 5 runs, and 4 home runs in a 13-2 win by the Skyhawks.
As a team, UT Martin hit five home runs in the contest which tied a school single-game record for most homers.

The two seniors received their bachelor’s degrees last year in biology at UT Martin and currently are working hard on their master of business administration degrees.
They are both expected to earn their MBA degrees in the summer of 2010.

Entering Medical School

Since they both were accepted to DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University, they will begin medical school July 28 and are expected to finish in 2013.
If everything goes as planned, they will then serve in residency for another four years.

“When we were both at Dickson High School, we enjoyed taking classes in biology, math and science,” said Miles.

“We both worked in hospitals and enjoyed it very much. While we don’t have any family members who are physicians, it became clear that both of us wanted to be doctors while going to high school. And that is the path both of us have taken.

“It may seem a little unusual that we are trying to both earn MBA degrees.

“But we are thinking about opening up our own clinic. Having an MBA degree will help in that regard.

“One of us may be a pediatrician while the other will probably specialize in family care.

“Then both of us can work under one roof and cover the entire spectrum of family medicine.

“At least that is the plan right now.”

Mark said the next few years of their lives will be an intense journey into medicine.

“We have heard that once you get into medical school, you become robots for the first two years.

“What I mean by that is you study hour after hour, day after day. The medical school building is open 24 hours a day.

“The only time it closes is from Friday at midnight until 6 a.m. so medical students will be forced to go home and get some sleep. It will be very intense.

“Then the next two years, you serve in clinical rotations. For instance, you study surgery for eight weeks.

“Then you are involved for eight weeks with OB/GYN (obstetrics/gynecology), and another eight weeks with pediatrics and so on.

“As these four years go by, it is absolutely essential that your grades remain high so that you will be accepted into a residency program at a hospital which could run another three to six years.

“If you go into pediatrics, it usually is four more years. But for a surgeon, it will be another six years.”

Mark said that to run this gauntlet of study in medicine, he will need to take out a student of loan for $250,000. Another $250,000 loan will be taken out by his brother Miles.

“We figure this is what it will cost us when you consider school, the cost of living, rent, utilities…everything.”

Mark said that after school ends, residency begins with long, long shifts of work.

“That is when we start to get paid some money. It is enough to live on, but nothing special. I have been told that residents pull 12-hour shifts and can work 80 hours a week.

“In the past, some residents had to work 16 consecutive hours and worked more than 100 hours a week. But states are passing laws to prevent this from happening now. Some residents were so tired that they fell asleep on the job. And when you are dealing with health care, you must be alert at all times.”

Rap Music Business

Miles explained how he and his brother got into the rap music business.

“As sophomores in high school, we messed around with computers and recorded music from different instruments. Over time, we recorded a couple of songs and had a blast doing it.

“We eventually built a 16 x 16 foot recording studio behind our parent’s house so we wouldn’t bother them. We probably have spent $10,000 to make the studio first class with good audio production equipment.”

Miles said that the duo has probably brought in $3,000 in sales from their CDs which are sold on consignment online and in stores.

“We work behind the scenes as we engineer, record and mix the music from artists that come in.
“Over the years, we have released four albums.”

Miles said they have worked with several rappers from Nashville who have sold many CDs. Two of their clients include Stix and Mario Moore.

They have worked with producer Fate Eastwood and a person from Broadway.

Another artist they have produced songs for is Fo Thugz. A taste of their music can be found on the Internet at www.myspace.com/fothugz.

Because of his expertise in producing audio tracks on CDs, Miles said that he has been asked for help with walkup music for hitters on the UT Martin baseball team.

“We put together some rap walkup music for our hitters, and they seem to like it.

“With all the audio equipment we have, I can do pretty much anything they want.”

Mark said that once the duo enters medical school, their rap music business will be put on the back burner.

“I’m sure we won’t have time to do it for a few years. But we will undoubtedly stay in touch with our rapper friends. And somewhere along the way, we will probably get involved with it again.”

Remarkable Athletes

Bubba Cates, head baseball coach at UT Martin, feels the Hartsfield twins are everything good about college baseball.

“I have known them since they were high school players and watched them play through junior college,” said Cates.

“From a talent standpoint, they are competitive, but they don’t appear to be anything special at first glance. But when you spend time with them, these are the sort of players you can’t be without. They are tremendous team guys and are so versatile.

“In junior college, one was a shortstop while the other played second base.

“In our program last year, one played third base and the other first base.

“In the middle of the season, we had to make a couple of position changes, and the twins were asked to play the outfield which they gladly did.

“They have played the catcher position. They treat the game as a backyard game. If you ask one of them to play first base, he will ask for a first baseman’s mitt and play it like it’s natural for him.

“They both play hard, smart and rub off on their teammates. It has been a real joy to watch them grow as players.”

Cates said it has been fun to watch them play together.

“They are also the best of friends.

“While they are twins, it has been interesting to watch their performances.

“It’s uncanny how close their numbers are at the end of the season. One may have a better start, and the other catches up.

“In a recent game, the twins had seven hits between them. They are just amazing athletes.”
Stay tuned.