Peter Louis Stanicek (born April 18, 1963 in

Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor and Riverdale to the north; Dolton, Phoenix, and South Holland to the east; East Hazel C ...

) is a 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. Primarily a second baseman and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, Stanicek was a member of 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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in 1987 and 1988. He was 5'11" (1.8 m) and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). He was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.

Amateur career

Stanicek is an alumnus of

Rich East High School Rich East High School or REHS was a public four-year high school located in Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago in the United States. Rich East's campus serves the cities of Park Forest, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights ...

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village located south of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village was originally designed as a planned community for veterans returning from World War II ...

and Stanford University. In 1984, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the

1984 MLB Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable players * Jeff Blauser†, 1st round (secondary phase), 4th overall by the Atlanta Braves *Greg Maddux‡, 2nd round, 31st ...

, but did not sign with the team. He was again selected by the Orioles in the ninth round of the 1985 MLB Draft, and signed this time.

Professional career

He spent the 1986 season with the class A

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home ga ...

, being selected as second baseman for

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

's end-of-season All Star Team. He was called up to the Baltimore Orioles and batted leadoff on September 1, 1987 in a home game against 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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. Stanicek had one of Baltimore's two hits that night off Seattle's Scott Bankhead in a 5-0 defeat. His sixth-inning leadoff single was his first MLB hit, but he was stranded by the next three batters, brothers Billy and

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his posit ...

and

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie," is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

. Stanicek played in 30 games that fall with a batting average of .274. He began the 1988 season with

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, an AAA team, but was called up on April 29, 1988, after the Orioles began the season with a record-breaking 21-game losing streak. Manager

Cal Ripken, Sr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Sr. (December 17, 1935 – March 25, 1999) was an American baseball player, scout, coach and manager. who spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He played in the Orioles' farm system beginning in 1957, and ...

was fired in the midst of it and replaced by

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...

. The losing streak came to end April 29 at Comiskey Park in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, with Stanicek batting leadoff and collecting two hits in a 9-0 Baltimore victory. He came up to the Orioles as a multi-purpose man, able to play second base,

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

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. In 1988, he led his team in stolen bases with 12 and had a batting average of .230. But he was plagued by injuries, and the 1990 season, which Stanicek spent between Hagerstown and Rochester in the minors, turned out to be his last in professional baseball.

Personal

He is the brother of major leaguer

Steve Stanicek Stephen Blair Stanicek (born June 19, 1961) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played parts of two seasons in the majors, for the Milwaukee Brewers and for the Philadelphia Phillies. He played 13 games, twelve as a pinch hitter and ...

. They made their big-league debuts 15 days apart in 1987.

References

External links

Stanicek's major league statistics
at Baseball-Reference.com
A partial listing of Stanicek's minor league statistics
at The Baseball Cube 1963 births Hagerstown Suns players Baltimore Orioles players Living people Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Orleans Firebirds players Charlotte O's players Newark Orioles players Rochester Red Wings players Sportspeople from Harvey, Illinois Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois {{Baseball-left-fielder-stub