Scott Douglas Sanderson (July 22, 1956 – April 11, 2019) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

. He played 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) for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, and

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 ...

. Following his retirement from playing professional baseball he worked as a sports agent and radio broadcaster.

Early life

Sanderson attended

Glenbrook North High School Glenbrook North High School (also known as GBN) is a public high school in Northbrook, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, United States. It was established in 1953 and is part of the Northfield Township High School District 225. In 2022, it ...

Northbrook, Illinois Northbrook is a suburb of Chicago, located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, United States, on the border of Lake County, Illinois, Lake County. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 35,222. When incorpo ...

, and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. Sanderson pitched in only 28 minor league games before being called up to the major leagues.

Career

MLB career

Sanderson went 4–2 in nine starts in his rookie season with the Expos in 1978, posting a 2.51

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

.Scott Sanderson
Baseball-Reference.com, Retrieved on June 22, 2007. Sanderson remained a starter for the next five seasons, averaging over ten wins per season, including sixteen wins in . The Expos dealt him to the Cubs in a three-way team trade in December 1983. He pitched in the 1990 World Series as a member of the Oakland Athletics, making two relief appearances as Oakland was swept by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in four games. He had one of his finest seasons in , when he won 16 games and was named to 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 ...

All-Star Team. The following season, however, he had a league-worst 4.93 earned run average.

Work as an agent

Sanderson became an agent after the end of his time as a professional baseball player. Sanderson's agency has offices in Atlanta and in his hometown of Chicago, where he spent the majority of his time. His clients included, at one time or another, Frank Thomas,

Josh Beckett Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After ...

, and

Lance Berkman William Lance Berkman (born February 10, 1976), nicknamed "Fat Elvis" and "Big Puma", is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Houston Christian H ...

Broadcasting

In 1997, Sanderson briefly filled in as a radio commentator during Cubs broadcasts on

WGN (AM) WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, with studios on the 18th floor of 303 East Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WGN has a news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues an ...

. In August 1997, Sanderson worked two weekend games of Cubs broadcasts on WGN as a color commentator with radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes while Cubs color commentator Ron Santo was sidelined by inflamed vocal cords.

Personal

Sanderson was married with two children, a son and a daughter. He also enjoyed playing in golf tournaments around the United States. In his later years, Sanderson had his voice box removed and suffered a stroke. He died from cancer on April 11, 2019, aged 62.

References

External links

Sanderson's second career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Scott 1956 births 2019 deaths Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela American businesspeople American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Baseball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Baseball players from Michigan California Angels players Chicago Cubs announcers Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Deaths from cancer in Illinois Denver Bears players Iowa Cubs players Lake Elsinore Storm players Lodi Crushers players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chicks players Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Peoria Chiefs players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Dearborn, Michigan Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players West Palm Beach Expos players Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players