Sean Frederick Bergman (born April 11, 1970) is an American former right-handed

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)

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 ...

who played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, and

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 ...

between 1993 and 2000. Bergman attended

Joliet Catholic High School Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet Catholic or JCA) is a coed Catholic high school in Joliet, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. One of the oldest Catholic high schools in the Chicago area, Joliet Catholic is perhaps be ...

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, before attending

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. Standing at 6'4", 205 pounds, Bergman was originally drafted by the Tigers 115th overall in the

1991 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental first round selections Compensation picks Other notable players *Kevin Stocker, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Philade ...

. He spent his first professional season, 1991, with the

Niagara Falls Rapids The Niagara Falls Rapids were a Class-A minor league baseball team located in Niagara Falls, New York. The team played in the New York–Penn League throughout its existence. The team played all of their home games at Sal Maglie Stadium. The te ...

of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. In 15 games with them, he went five and seven with a 4.46

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). A

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, he

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

77 batters in just over 84 innings of work. He started the 1992 season with the

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia *Lakeland, Queensland Canada *Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta *Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of La ...

, going five and two with them, with a 2.49 ERA. He finished his second professional season with a nine and nine record, posting a 3.41 ERA. This is because after his promotion to the

London Tigers The London Tigers were a professional Double-A Minor League Baseball team that played in the Eastern League from 1989 to 1993. They played at Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario, and were affiliated with the Detroit Tigers. At the time i ...

, he went only four and seven with a 4.28 ERA. Although his 1993 minor league season was statistically lackluster (eight and nine with a 4.38 ERA), he still must have impressed the big-league Tigers enough to earn a promotion. He made his major league debut on July 7 of that year against the Minnesota Twins. Overall, he went 1–4 in nine games with the Tigers in 1993. He walked 23 and struck out 19 in 39 innings. One notable achievement though is that he pitched a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

in the first start of his career. He spent most of 1994 with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, posting an 11–8 record. He started three games in the majors, going 2–1. Bergman spent the majority of the 1995 season in the majors. In 28 games started, he posted a 7–10 record with a 5.12 ERA. His 13

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

es were second in the league, trailing only

Al Leiter Alois Terry Leiter (; born October 23, 1965) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blu ...

's 14. He did pitch one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, which put him ninth in the league. Right before the 1996 season, he was traded by the Tigers with Cade Gaspar and

Todd Steverson Todd Anthony Steverson (born November 15, 1971) is an American professional baseball coach, and a former left and right fielder. He played for the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres and coached for the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox, al ...

to the San Diego Padres for

Raul Casanova Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

Richie Lewis Richie Todd Lewis (January 25, 1966 – December 8, 2021) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from to for the Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, Detroit ...

, and

Melvin Nieves Melvin Nieves Ramos (born December 28, 1971) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball from 1992 until 1998, and two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1999� ...

. He spent two seasons with the Padres, posting a combined record of 8–12 with an ERA of 5.17. After the 1997 season, he was traded from the Padres to the Houston Astros for

James Mouton James Raleigh Mouton (born December 29, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. An outfielder, he played all or parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1994 until 2001, for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Mont ...

. 1998 was perhaps Bergman's best season—he posted a record of 12–9 with a 3.72 ERA. He walked only 42 batters in 172 innings of work. In 1998, he gave up home runs to both

Sammy Sosa Samuel Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and C ...

and

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardi ...

as they both chased

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...

' single-season home run record. He started 1999 with the Astros, but after posting a 4–6 record with a 5.36 ERA for the Astros to start the season, he was released and signed with the

. He appeared in relief in six games with the Braves, posting a solid 2.84 ERA. Selected off waivers by the Twins after the 1999 season, he was brought in to try to aid a team who had a struggling starting rotation. He did not make it any better. He started 14 games for them, posted a 9.66 ERA, and by late June, was released. His big league career ended on June 17, 2000, but his pro career did not. He bounced around the minors until 2004, even playing in Japan in 2002. Overall, he went 39–47 with a 5.28 ERA in 196 games. He walked 272 batters and struck out 455 in 750 innings of work. Bergman once was the pitching coach at the NCAA Division II level, coaching the Findlay team. He currently lives near

Bryan, Ohio Bryan is a city in, and the county seat of, Williams County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the state's northwestern corner, southwest of Toledo. The population was 8,729 at the 2020 census. History Bryan was platted in 1840 by John ...

and has five children. He teaches physical education at Hicksville Elementary School in

Hicksville, Ohio Hicksville is a village in Defiance County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,581 at the 2010 census. It sits around 2.2 miles east from the Ohio- Indiana border. History Led by Henry W. Hicks, the Hicks Land Company platted the comm ...

. He is also a high school girls golf coach .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Sean 1970 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Illinois Calgary Cannons players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Detroit Tigers players Houston Astros players Lakeland Tigers players London Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players New Orleans Zephyrs players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Ottawa Lynx players People from Bryan, Ohio San Diego Padres players Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Sportspeople from Joliet, Illinois Toledo Mud Hens players Niagara Falls Rapids players