Dennis James Stark (born October 27, 1974) 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), ...

(MLB)

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

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 with 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 ...

across two separate stints, as well as for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, from 1999 to 2009.

Amateur career

A native of

Edgerton, Ohio Edgerton is a village in Williams County, Ohio, United States in the extreme northwest corner of the state. The population was 2,012 at the 2010 census. History The area around Edgerton was organized as St. Joseph Township on December 2, 1832 ...

, Stark attended Edgerton High School and the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

. In 1995 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 ...

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 Fi ...

of 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 ...

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Drafted by the

in the 4th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, Stark would make his Major League Baseball debut with the Mariners on September 15, .

Colorado Rockies

On December 16, 2001, the Mariners traded Stark with

Brian Fuentes Brian Christopher Fuentes (; born August 9, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Minnesota Twins, Oakland A ...

and

José Paniagua José Luis Paniagua Sánchez (born August 20, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He appeared in Major League Baseball from 1996 through 2003 with the Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Wh ...

to the

for

Jeff Cirillo Jeffrey Howard Cirillo (born September 23, 1969) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. In a 14-season career, Cirillo was a .296 hitter with 112 home runs and 727 RBI in 1617 games. He was named an All-Star in and . He ...

. In Stark saw his best year statistically to date. Playing for the

he went 11–4 with a 4.00

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 ...

in 32 games, 20 of those were starts. Stark's career started to decline from here, in he appeared in 17 games, 13 started, and had a record of 3–3 with a 5.83 ERA. Stark's worst year statistically was in , when he went 0–5 in six games, all starts, with an 11.42 ERA.

Cleveland Indians

After his tumultuous season in 2004, Stark signed a minor league deal with the

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 ...

. Stark pitched in Spring Training but never made the team and was shut down for the season due to an elbow injury. Stark missed the entire 2006 and 2007 seasons after undergoing two Tommy John surgeries.

Seattle Mariners, second tenure

On March 8, , he signed a minor league contract with the

. He spent the season working his way back into pitching shape pitching for the Mariners' Double-A affiliate, the

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mar ...

, and Triple-A affiliate,

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960. ...

. He was re-signed by the Mariners at the end of the season. He made his first major league appearance since on May 3, when he pitched of an

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

against the

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 ...

. He was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Mariners on June 7, 2009. Stark was granted free agency on October 15, 2009.

Bridgeport Bluefish

Stark played for the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

in 2010.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Denny 1974 births Living people Seattle Mariners players Colorado Rockies players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Ohio People from Williams County, Ohio Toledo Rockets baseball players Everett AquaSox players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Lancaster JetHawks players Arizona League Mariners players New Haven Ravens players San Antonio Missions players Tacoma Rainiers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Visalia Oaks players Tulsa Drillers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Bridgeport Bluefish players Wareham Gatemen players