Theodore Rodger Kubiak (born May 12, 1942) 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 t ...
player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
.
He played as an
infielder 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), ...
from through , most notably as a member of the
Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive
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 ...
championships between 1972 and 1974.
He also played for the
Milwaukee Brewers,
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
,
Texas Rangers, and the
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 penn ...
.
Baseball career
Kubiak grew up in
Highland Park, New Jersey
Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States Cens ...
and is a graduate of
Highland Park High School, class of 1960.
He was signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
before the 1961 baseball season.
He played in the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
for six seasons before making his major league debut at the age of 24 with the Athletics on April 14,
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
.
The Athletics franchise moved from Kansas City to
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
prior to the 1968 season. On December 7, 1969, the Athletics traded Kubiak along with
George Lauzerique
George Albert Lauzerique (born July 22, 1947) is a Cuban former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1967 to 1970 for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and the Milwaukee Brewers.
196 ...
to the Milwaukee Brewers for
Ray Oyler
Raymond Francis Oyler (August 4, 1937 – January 26, 1981) was an American baseball player, a major league shortstop for the Detroit Tigers (1965–1968), Seattle Pilots (1969), and California Angels (1970). He is best remembered as the slic ...
and
Diego Segui.
Kubiak produced the best offensive statistics of his career while playing for the Brewers in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
, posting career-highs in games played (152), batting average (.252), home runs (4) and runs batted in (41).
Kubiak still holds the Brewers' record for most RBIs in a single game with 7 (later equalled by 8 other Milwaukee players), which he set at Boston on July 18, 1970, the team's first year in Milwaukee.
Managerial career
Kubiak reentered baseball as a manager and took over as the manager of the
Modesto A's in mid-1989 from
Lenn Sakata
Lenn Haruki Sakata (born June 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as a utility player from 1977 to 1987 and was a member of the Baltimore Orioles 1983 World Series Championship tea ...
.
He remained in Modesto for four more years before joining 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 Fi ...
organization in 1994.
He managed the
Canton–Akron Indians in 1994 and 1995, then moved down to 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 ...
for five years.
He was with the
Watertown Indians from 1996 to 1998, and the
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...
in 1999 and 2000.
He moved up to the
Columbus RedStixx
The Columbus RedStixx were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and a farm team of the Cleveland Indians.
The RedStixx played home games at Golden Park, except during 1996. The ...
in 2001, the
Kinston Indians
The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949.
The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...
in 2002, then returned to Mahoning Valley in 2003.
From 2004 to 2008 he was the minor league defensive coordinator for 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 Fi ...
. In 2009, he returned to managing with the Arizona Extended League Indians, in 2010 managed the
Lake County Captains
The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians.
The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...
to the
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...
Championship, and in 2012 he returned to Mahoning Valley to begin his 4th season at the helm of the Scrappers.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubiak, Ted
1942 births
Living people
Kansas City Athletics players
Milwaukee Brewers players
Oakland Athletics players
San Diego Padres players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Texas Rangers players
Major League Baseball infielders
Highland Park High School (New Jersey) alumni
People from Highland Park, New Jersey
Sportspeople from New Brunswick, New Jersey
Major League Baseball second basemen
Major League Baseball third basemen
Major League Baseball shortstops
Minor league baseball managers
Sarasota Sun Sox players
Binghamton Triplets players
Lewiston Broncs players
Dallas Rangers players
Fort Worth Cats players
Austin Senators players
Birmingham Barons players
Vancouver Mounties players
Baseball players from New Jersey