Kevin Lee Seitzer (; born March 26, 1962) is an American former
third baseman in
Major League Baseball (MLB) with 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 ...
,
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
,
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 ...
, and
Cleveland Indians. He is currently the hitting coach for the
Atlanta Braves, having also coached for the Royals, the
Arizona Diamondbacks and the
Toronto Blue Jays.
Playing career
After starring at
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...
, Seitzer was drafted by the Royals in the 11th round of the 1983 draft. Seitzer made his big-league debut as a September call-up in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
with the Royals. He made it to the majors to stay in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
, where he started the season as the Royals' regular
first baseman. He traded positions with Hall of Fame third baseman
George Brett later in the season, in hopes of reducing Brett's chances of injury. Seitzer
hit .323 with 15
home runs and 207
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
(tying the MLB record) in his rookie 1987 season and, though overshadowed by fellow rookie teammate
Bo Jackson, he was selected to the American League
All-Star team.
Seitzer also became one of only (currently) three Royals to collect six hits in a nine-inning game, which he did on August 2 of that year in a 13-5 victory over the
Boston Red Sox at
Royals Stadium; two of those hits were home runs. He also had seven RBI for the day, a single-game career high. He joined
Bob Oliver in 1969 (the franchise's inaugural season) in accomplishing this feat;
Joe Randa would join them in 2004. Seitzer finished the 1987 season as the runner-up for the
American League Rookie of the Year award, behind the Oakland A's
Mark McGwire. He holds Royal rookie records in games (161), hits (207), singles (151) and walks (80) and is tied with Carlos Beltrán in extra-base hits (56) and total bases (301). He led the league in hits, singles and plate appearances (725). He ranks eighth on the Royals all-time list with 369 walks while his .380 career on-base percentage as a Royals is second all-time. He is one of six players in Royals history to top the 200 hits mark in a season (207 in 1987). He appeared in the postseason twice with the Indians in 1996 and 1997, appearing in the 1997 World Series for the Tribe against Florida.
After subsequent seasons of .304, .281, .275, and .265, the Royals released Seitzer during
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. He signed with Milwaukee, who installed him as their regular third baseman. In 1993 Seitzer became a free agent, signed with Oakland and after a slow start was released at the All Star break that season. He then resigned with Milwaukee, solidified himself as an everyday player, and again made the All-Star team in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
. He enjoyed what many feel was his best season in 1996 with the Brewers and Cleveland Indians. Seitzer batted .326 with 13 home runs and 78 RBI in '96 while posting a career-high .416 on-base percentage.
In two postseason appearances with Cleveland, mostly coming off the bench, he hit .192 with a double, one run scored and four runs batted in. He retired following the
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
season with a career batting average of .295.
During the final years of his career, Seitzer wore an attachment to his batting helmet called a C-flap which was an extra piece of plastic attached to the ear flap that covered the left side of his jaw. He was forced to wear this protection after being hit in the face twice by a pitch; once in 1994 and again in 1995. The helmet evidently did not obscure his batting eye, as he wore it for the rest of his career.
Coaching career
On October 27, 2006, Seitzer was named hitting coach of the
Arizona Diamondbacks. Seitzer was replaced by
Rick Schu on July 11, 2007 as the Diamondbacks' hitting coach. On February 7, 2009, Seitzer was named hitting coach of 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 ...
. On October 4, 2012, the Royals announced Seitzer's contract would not be renewed.
Seitzer was hired by the
Toronto Blue Jays to be their hitting coach on October 31, 2013. He joined the Braves in the same role on October 27, 2014.
High school and college highlights
*In 1992, Seitzer was inducted into the
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...
Athletics Hall of Fame.
*Seitzer was a member of Lincoln Community High School's fourth-place finish (Lincoln, Illinois) in the 1980 Class AA
Illinois High School Association basketball tournament. He scored 46 points in four games in the tournament.
*in 1981 Seitzer played for Galesburg, Illinois in the Central Illinois Collegiate League.
*In 1982 Seitzer 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 ...
for the
Chatham A's 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 ...
, and won the championship that summer.
*In 1983 Seitzer played for the Butte Copper Kings (Mont.) Pioneer League; The Copper Kings were affiliated with the Kansas City Royals.
*In 2012 Seitzer had his number retired by Eastern Illinois University.
Personal life
Seitzer and his wife, Beth, reside in
Leawood, Kansas. They have four sons, Tyler, Brandon, Nick and Cameron. They have two grandsons, Weston and Max. His stepson Nick Graffeo was drafted as a pitcher by 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 ...
in the 2010 draft. He was released on March 29, 2013 by the Royals. His son Cameron was an infielder in the
Chicago White Sox organization from 2011 to 2018; he is now a coach for the
Great Falls Voyagers.
Seitzer owns and operates a baseball and softball training facility in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
called Mac-N-Seitz Baseball and Softball with former Royals teammate
Mike Macfarlane.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seitzer, Kevin
1962 births
Living people
American League All-Stars
Arizona Diamondbacks coaches
Atlanta Braves coaches
Baseball coaches from Illinois
Baseball players from Illinois
Beloit Brewers players
Butte Copper Kings players
Charleston Royals players
Chatham Anglers players
Cleveland Indians players
Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball players
Eastern Illinois University alumni
Fort Myers Royals players
Kansas City Royals coaches
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Major League Baseball third basemen
Memphis Chicks players
Milwaukee Brewers players
Oakland Athletics players
Omaha Royals players
Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois
Toronto Blue Jays coaches