Michael Ralph Schooler (born August 10, 1962) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. Schooler pitched 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) from - 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 ...

and the Texas Rangers. He attended

Garden Grove High School Garden Grove High School is a public high school located in Garden Grove, California. It is a member of the Garden Grove Unified School District and serves the northeast portion of the city and a small portion of southern Anaheim. History The G ...

Garden Grove, California Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, located just southwest of Disneyland (located in Anaheim, CA). The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, ...

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

and

Golden West College Golden West College (GWC) is a public community college in Huntington Beach, California. Organization Golden West College, Orange Coast College, and Coastline Community College comprise the Coast Community College District (CCCD). The district ...

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Schooler was selected by the

in the second round, 35th overall, in the

1985 MLB draft First round draft picks The following are the first round picks in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental First Round Selections Background Six of the first eight draft picks from the June regular phase had at least one full ...

. He made his MLB debut on June 10, , against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

pitching one scoreless inning.Minnesota Twins vs Seattle Mariners June 10, 1988 Box Score
''baseball-almanac.com'' Schooler became Seattle's closer in the second half of , saving 15 games and striking out better than a batter an inning. He surpassed that performance in , his first full season, improving his control and finishing third in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in saves, trailing only

Jeff Russell Jeffrey Lee Russell (born September 2, 1961) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played 14 years from 1983 to 1996. Russell played for the Cincinnati Reds of the National League and the Texas Rangers, Oakland A's, Boston Red Sox and Cl ...

and

Bobby Thigpen Robert Thomas "Bobby" Thigpen (born July 17, 1963) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is noted for setting the major league record of 57 saves during the season, which has since been broken by former Los Angeles Angels of An ...

. He was on pace for another good season in , but shoulder stiffness forced him to miss the final month. He ended up posting thirty saves in 1990, good for eighth in the league, but the shoulder injury lingered, and forced him to miss the first half of the season. He returned July 12 and recorded seven saves, but his arm was still showing the effects of the injury. In , he allowed seven home runs, all of which tied the game or put the opposition in the lead. This resulted in a 4.70 ERA, by far the highest of his career. The Mariners released Schooler following the 1992 season. This paved the way for

Norm Charlton Norman Wood Charlton III (born January 6, 1963), nicknamed "The Sheriff", is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Balt ...

to become the Mariners' new closer.

Texas Rangers

On March 22, , he was signed as a free agent by the Texas Rangers but was released on September 11 after going 3-0 with a 5.55 ERA in 17 games.

Post career

Schooler has been a gym teacher at Richardson Middle School, and Calle Mayor Middle School in Torrance, California. He is now a gym teacher at Ladera Ranch Middle School in Ladera Ranch, California. Beginning in 2009, Schooler was the pitching coach for the San Clemente High School baseball team, in

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

, California. He coached high school baseball at

San Juan Hills High School San Juan Hills High School is a high school located in San Juan Capistrano, California, and it is the sixth high school of the Capistrano Unified School District. The school officially opened in the 2007–2008 school year as a new comprehensive ...

San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...

, California, from 2014 to 2016.

References

External links