Robert Bush Sebra (December 11, 1961 – July 22, 2020) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

, who 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), ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Milwaukee Brewers, in all or part of the to seasons. He threw and batted right-handed.

Career

Sebra attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

, and in 1981 he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 5th round of the

1983 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation picks Other notable players *Bill Swift, 2nd round, 29th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not ...

. Over the course of his big league career, he pitched in 94 games, 52 of them as a starting pitcher. Included among Sebra's MLB highlights are 2

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, a 1–0 and a 2–0, accomplished while with Montreal. In 1986, Sebra was the last pitcher ever to give up a walk-off win where the winning run was scored by the other team's manager. Sebra was primarily a starting pitcher but on July 28, 1989, he picked up his lone career save. He pitched a scoreless 17th inning to close out a 4-2 Reds victory over the Braves. He was traded along with Ron Robinson from the Reds to the Brewers for Glenn Braggs and

Billy Bates Willie Bates (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900), known as Billy Bates, was an English cricketer. Skilled with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A ...

on June 9, 1990. The last pitch he ever threw in the majors ignited a major brawl between the Brewers and Mariners on June 30, 1990. He would receive a 5-game suspension, but not until he had already been sent down to the minors.

Personal life

Born in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Gloucester Catholic High School Gloucester Catholic High School is a co-educational six-year Roman Catholic high school located in Gloucester City, in Camden County, New Jersey. The school is managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school serves students in se ...

. Sebra died at the age of 58 on July 22, 2020, after spending a year in intensive care in Jackson Memorial Hospital in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, as a result of multiple organ failure. He had undergone a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...

several years earlier.

References

External links

1961 births 2020 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Cincinnati Reds players Deaths from multiple organ failure Denver Zephyrs players Gloucester Catholic High School alumni Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Jackson Generals (Texas League) players Liver transplant recipients Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Montreal Expos players Nashville Sounds players Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Oklahoma City 89ers players Osceola Astros players Sportspeople from Ridgewood, New Jersey Baseball players from Bergen County, New Jersey Philadelphia Phillies players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Somerset Patriots players Texas Rangers players Tri-Cities Triplets players Tucson Toros players Tulsa Drillers players Wareham Gatemen players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub