John Gabriel Habyan (born January 29, 1964) is a 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 ...

player. A right-handed

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 ...

, Habyan played all or parts of 11 seasons 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), ...

Baseball career

Drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the 3rd round of the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft, Habyan made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles on September 29, 1985. From 1990 to 1993 he pitched for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, over that span going 11-9, 10 saves, an ERA of 3.16, and striking out 147. During the 1993 he was traded to the

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 ...

. He pitched for three more teams, before appearing in his final game on June 8, 1996. Defensively, he was a good fielding pitcher, posting a .992

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 ...

, committing only one error in 121

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

in 532.1 innings of work.

Coaching career

Habyan coached the varsity team and taught gym classes at

St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School , motto_translation = In Faith and in Gentleness , address = 1170 Montauk Highway , city = West Islip , county = ( Suffolk County) , state = New York , zipcod ...

West Islip, New York West Islip is a hamlet and CDP founded roughly in 1683, located in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Situated on the South Shore of Long Island, the population of the CDP was 27,048 at the time of the 2020 census. ...

. In 2008 the Cougars won the NSCHSAA championship against St. Dominic High School in a best of 3 series, 2–1. In 2015, Habyan became the pitching coach at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

, in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oys ...

, an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

baseball program on Long Island, under head baseball coach John Russo. Hayban is also the pitching coach for the New York Baseball Academy, which is held at Hofstra.

Hall of fame inductee

Habyan was inducted into the

Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is an American sports hall of fame based in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The non-profit was established during 1990 to honor outstanding people, living or deceased, who have gained prominence and made ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in the Baseball Category with the Class of 2005.

References

External links

Saint John the Baptist Coaching Staff at ''Coach Wood.org''
1964 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players New York Yankees players Kansas City Royals players St. Louis Cardinals players California Angels players Colorado Rockies players Major League Baseball pitchers Hagerstown Suns players Baseball players from New York (state) People from Bay Shore, New York Sportspeople from Suffolk County, New York Bluefield Orioles players Charlotte O's players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Clippers players Newark Orioles players Ottawa Lynx players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Rochester Red Wings players St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School alumni {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub