David Anthony Fleming (born November 7, 1969) is an American former professional baseball

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 from 1991 to 1995, mostly for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

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).

Career

Fleming was born in

Jackson Heights, Queens Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinw ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and went to high school in

Mahopac Mahopac ( or ) is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York, United States. Also known as Lake Mahopac, the exurb is located some north of New York City, on US Route 6 at the county's southern centr ...

. He pitched for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, leading them to a

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

title in 1990. Fleming was selected in the third round of the

1990 Major League Baseball draft The 1990 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft was held in June 1990. The draft placed amateur baseball players onto major league teams. 1,487 players were distributed to 26 teams. The draft consisted of first round selections, supplemental first ...

by the

. He won a career high 17 games, including nine consecutive, for the Mariners in his rookie season of 1992. His

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

that year was 3.39, and he took third place in the AL Rookie of the Year voting (behind winner

Pat Listach Patrick Alan Listach (born September 12, 1967) is the former Manager of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League and a former Major League Baseball shortstop, minor league manager, and major league third base coach. Amateur career ...

). After going 29-15 in his first two MLB seasons, Fleming began to struggle with arm trouble. On 7 July 1995, he was traded by the Mariners to the Kansas City Royals for

Bob Milacki Robert Milacki (born July 28, 1964) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball between and , mostly with the Baltimore Orioles. Playing career Milacki began his career with the Baltimore Orioles, pitching for t ...

. He pitched only nine games for the Royals before undergoing surgery, and never pitched in the Major Leagues again. Fleming is currently a fifth-grade teacher at Chatfield-LoPresti School in

Seymour, Connecticut Seymour is a New England town, town located in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 16,748 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Seymour is bordered by the towns of Oxford and Beac ...

References

External links

Feature story about Fleming on ESPN.com
1969 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Calgary Cannons players Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Gulf Coast Royals players Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Newburgh Black Diamonds players Omaha Royals players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Jackson Heights, Queens People from Mahopac, New York Rochester Red Wings players San Bernardino Spirit players Seattle Mariners players Waterbury Spirit players Schoolteachers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Queens, New York Baseball players from New York City {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub