Alan Paul Benes (born January 21, 1972) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1995 to 2003 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and Texas Rangers. He stood at and weighed .

Amateur career

Benes attended Lake Forest High School in Illinois and

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

, where he was part of Creighton's NCAA College World Series appearance (1991). In 1991, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and was named a league all-star. He was selected by the

in the first round of the 1993 MLB Draft.

Professional career

He began his major league career in 1995, pitching in three games for the Cardinals. His highlight years included the and seasons with the Cardinals, when he won a combined 22 games and struck out 291 batters over 353 innings. His performance during the 1996 season helped the Cardinals reach the playoffs for the first time since 1987. During the 1996 post-season, Alan posted an 0–1 record with a 2.84 ERA. In 1997, batters hit only .219 against him, and Benes had 160 strikeouts in 161.2 innings. His 2.89 ERA would have placed him tied for the sixth-best ERA than year, but he fell just of an inning short of the 162 required innings when he had a shoulder injury that ended his season in late July. At the time of this injury he ranked third in the league in strikeouts. Benes sat out the majority of the and seasons with an arm injury, which would never allow him to return to top form. From through , he pitched a combined 123 innings with St. Louis Cardinals,

and Texas Rangers. After various stints in the minor leagues following the 2003 season, Alan retired before the season and is currently serving as an instructor to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Personal

Benes is the younger brother and former teammate of former major league pitcher

Andy Benes Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1989 to 2002, most prominently as a member of the San Diego Padres where he was named ...

, the older brother of former minor league pitcher Adam Benes, and the uncle of former minor league pitcher Drew Benes.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benes, Alan 1972 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Indiana St. Louis Cardinals players Chicago Cubs players Texas Rangers players St. Louis Cardinals scouts Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana Creighton Bluejays baseball players Lake Forest High School (Illinois) alumni Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Arkansas Travelers players Glens Falls Redbirds players Iowa Cubs players Louisville Redbirds players Memphis Redbirds players Potomac Cannons players Savannah Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Anchorage Glacier Pilots players