Leon Joseph "Bip" Roberts (born October 27, 1963) is an American former

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), ...

second baseman and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played from 1986 to 1998 for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Career

He was a speedy second baseman, largely associated with the

. Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1st round of the Draft as a supplemental pick in 1982, after stealing a combined 90 bases in his two previous minor league seasons, Roberts was taken by the San Diego Padres in the Rule 5 draft in December 1985, thus being required to stay on Padres' major league roster for the entirety of the 1986 season. As a rookie, Roberts was successful in 14 out of 26 steal attempts, and served as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. He spent the next two seasons in AAA baseball, where he would hit .306 in 1987 and .353 in 1988 with 10 triples in 98 games in 1987. His stolen base totals were also once again stellar, being 39 and 45 respectively, which caused San Diego to call him up at the end of 1988, where he played in 5 games, seeing time at third and second base, as well as pinch hitting. Roberts hit .301 in 1989 with 21 steals and 81 runs in 329 at bats. He played all

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

positions,

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

, and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

. In 1990, Roberts ranked in the top 10 in the NL in Doubles (36), Steals (46), and Runs (104). In 1991, Roberts again was injured limited to 117 games, but still managed to hit .281 with 26 stolen bases. In December 1991, the

sent pitcher

Randy Myers Randall Kirk Myers (born September 19, 1962) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Bl ...

in exchange for Roberts. In 1992, Roberts was selected as a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

All-Star, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Roberts was also named the

team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, and was 8th in voting for the NL MVP. stealing 44 bases, and hitting .323. He also tied an NL record in 1992 with ten consecutive base hits. Roberts faced several injuries, and was limited to only 83 games. The Reds also faced injuries from Kevin Mitchell, Roberto Kelly, Barry Larkin, and Hal Morris. Their season suffered as a result, but Roberts managed 26 stolen bases in the shortened stint. After the 1993 season he re-signed with the Padres. In 1994, Roberts recorded an MLB best 24-game hitting streak for the Padres. The strike-shortened season compromised his season as he was hitting .320 with over 20 steals yet again. He was also second in the NL in singles, and broke up

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

's extra inning perfect game in the 10th inning with a double. While Roberts played half of the 1995 season, he stole 20 bases, only being caught twice, while batting .304. In December, Roberts was dealt to the

in exchange for

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Wally Joyner Wallace Keith Joyner (born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star. He was a member of ...

. Roberts had trouble adapting to the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

, not hitting as well as he did in the NL, and losing a little speed. He was sent to the Cleveland Indians in mid-1997. He would go on to play heavily for the Indians in the postseason, although he missed a game in the World Series due to flu like symptoms. The Detroit Tigers signed Roberts for the 1998 season, before trading him to the Oakland Athletics. While Roberts' batting average dropped in his final season, he remained a reliable offensive player, maintaining a .340 OBP. In 1202 games over 12 seasons, Roberts posted a .294

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1220-for-4147) with 663 runs, 203 doubles, 31 triples, 30

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 352 RBI, 264

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

, 396

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .358

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .380

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He finished his career with a .976

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. In 16 postseason games, he hit .246 (15-for-61) with 4 runs, 5 doubles, 5 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 5 walks.

Other work

Roberts is currently with

NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquart ...

for his third season as co-host for the Oakland Athletics pre-game telecasts. He was an assistant coach to the Academy of Arts Urban Knights DII-PacWest Baseball program from 2010–2012 Aside from his work in the broadcast booth, Roberts donates his time to the Students Rising Above Foundation, which helps low income, at-risk Bay Area kids overcome obstacles. In 2008, Roberts took over as the head coach for the Skyline High School baseball team in Oakland, California.

Personal life

Roberts is the nephew of former NFL player

Roy Shivers Roy Shivers (born July 5, 1941) is a former professional American football running back and Canadian football personnel administrator, most notably as the first black general manager in professional football. He was a general manager for eight se ...

References

External links

CSN Bay Area Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Bip 1963 births Living people National League All-Stars San Diego Padres players Chabot Gladiators baseball players Cincinnati Reds players Kansas City Royals players Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Oakland Athletics players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Cincinnati Reds scouts Baseball players from California Gulf Coast Pirates players Greenwood Pirates players Prince William Pirates players Nashua Pirates players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Toledo Mud Hens players UNLV Rebels baseball players African-American baseball players Baseball coaches from California 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Skyline High School (Oakland, California) alumni

Career

Other work

Personal life

See also

References

External links