Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) 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), ...
player. After retiring professional baseball, he became a
color analyst for the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
on the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
sports television networks
TSN and
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
.
Playing career
Tabler graduated from St. Mary's Elementary school in
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
Ohio then
Archbishop McNicholas High School
Archbishop McNicholas High School is a coed school in the neighborhood of Mt. Washington in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The school was opened in 1951 and named in honor of John T. McNicholas, Archbishop of Cincinnati.
In 1915, St. Joseph Academy, a ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. Tabler was a first round draft pick of 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 ...
(sixteenth overall) in 1976,
and entered the organization as an outfielder, but he never reached the majors with the Yankees and on August 19, 1981, he was traded to the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
for players to be named later (the Cubs sent
Bill Caudill
William Holland Caudill (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Caudill was one of the top closers in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to .
Early years
Caudill attended Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, C ...
and
Jay Howell
Jay Canfield Howell (born November 26, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1980), Chicago Cubs (1981), New York Yankees (1982–1984), Oakland Athletics (1985–1987), Los Angeles Dodgers (1988–1992), ...
to the Yankees in 1982 to complete the transaction).
Chicago Cubs
Tabler made his debut with the Cubs in 1981 as a
second baseman, hitting .188 in 35 games.
In 1982, the Cubs moved him to
third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
and he hit .235 while playing in 25 games.
On January 25, 1983, the Cubs traded Tabler along with
Scott Fletcher,
Randy Martz
Randy Carl Martz (born May 28, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.
Career
In 1977, after being named the Most Valuable College Player (he went 14–0 for the University of South ...
and
Dick Tidrow
Richard William Tidrow (May 14, 1947 – July 10, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and the senior vice president of player personnel and senior advisor to the general manager for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Basebal ...
to the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
in exchange for
Steve Trout and
Warren Brusstar
Warren Scott Brusstar (born February 2, 1952) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played nine years in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs. He is currently the pitch ...
.
Cleveland Indians
On April 1, 1983, he was traded to 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 ...
in exchange for
Jerry Dybzinski and became their starting
first baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
.
That year he hit .291 in 124 games.
He became quickly known as a
line drive
In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...
hitter and continued to have modest success at the plate. His best season was in 1987 when he became an
all-star, hitting .307 with 11
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 86
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
.
Along with
first base
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
he was well suited for the designated hitter role he inherited from
Andre Thornton in 1987. He gained attention for his amazing success in bases-loaded situations and was even recognized and nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" on his 1986 Donruss baseball card (#129). He played in Cleveland until 1988, when 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 ...
for pitcher
Bud Black
Harry Ralston "Bud" Black (born June 30, 1957) is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Colorado Rockies. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1981 through 1995, most notably ...
.
Kansas City Royals
He played for Kansas City until the 1990 season, when he was traded to the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
.
Toronto Blue Jays
Tabler finished his career with the Toronto Blue Jays (1991–1992), winning a
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
championship with the club in his final year as a player. Tabler was also known as a remarkable
clutch hitter
A clutch hitter is a baseball player who is seemingly adept at getting a hit in high-pressure situations, i.e. Clutch_(sports), in the clutch. This usually refers to getting a hit (particularly a home run) when the player's team is trailing late in ...
and for his uncanny ability to hit with the bases loaded, batting just under .500 in such situations (43 for 88) for his career.
Twice in his career Tabler had 6
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
in one game, on September 25, 1983 and June 8, 1985, both versus 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 ...
.
Broadcasting career
After his retirement, Tabler joined
TSN as a studio analyst for Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 1993.
After the network's color commentator, former Blue Jays catcher
Buck Martinez
John Albert "Buck" Martinez (born November 7, 1948) is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager, and is currently the television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball ( ...
, was named the team's manager in 2001, Tabler replaced him in the broadcast booth alongside
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
announcer
An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event.
Television and other media
Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...
Dan Shulman
Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN.
Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...
.
He continued as the TSN color analyst when
Rod Black
Rod Black (born September 28, 1962) is a Canadian sports announcer best known for his work with CTV Sports and TSN from 1990 to 2021. He is now a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, a brand of NorthStar Gaming.
Education
Black was bor ...
replaced Shulman, who left for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. Tabler took over as the main color commentator for TSN's main rival, Rogers
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
in 2005 after the sudden death of their regular commentator, former pitcher
John Cerutti
John Joseph Cerutti (April 28, 1960 – October 3, 2004) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers between 1985 and 1991, and was later a broadcaster for the Blue Jays.
Playing ca ...
, calling the majority of games for both networks from 2005 to 2009 alongside
Jamie Campbell and
Rod Black
Rod Black (born September 28, 1962) is a Canadian sports announcer best known for his work with CTV Sports and TSN from 1990 to 2021. He is now a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, a brand of NorthStar Gaming.
Education
Black was bor ...
.
Tabler worked exclusively for Sportsnet, which is the exclusive Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster. His partners were Martinez, who returned to the Blue Jays broadcast booth as play-by-play announcer in 2010, and Shulman, who returned as a part-time announcer in 2016. On September 25, 2014, Rogers announced Tabler had signed a five-year extension. On December 2, 2022, Tabler and Sportsnet parted ways.
Personal
Tabler has mentioned on a few occasions he is a fan of the band
Jethro Tull. He is married and has five children.
References
External links
*
List of baseball nicknames
This is a list of nicknames of Major League Baseball teams and players. It includes a complete list of nicknames of players in the Baseball Hall of Fame, a list of nicknames of current players, nicknames of popular players who have played for eac ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabler, Pat
1958 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Canadian television sportscasters
Chicago Cubs players
Cleveland Indians players
Columbus Clippers players
Fort Lauderdale Yankees players
Iowa Cubs players
Kansas City Royals players
Maine Guides players
Major League Baseball first basemen
Nashville Sounds players
New York Mets players
Oneonta Yankees players
Toronto Blue Jays announcers
Toronto Blue Jays players
West Haven Yankees players