Thomas Albert Prince (born August 13, 1964) 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 tea ...

player, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. 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), ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

from 1987 to 2003. Although Prince didn't produce impressive offensive statistics, he excelled defensively as a catcher which enabled him to sustain a seventeen-year playing career with several major league teams. After his playing career, he served as a coach and manager in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and 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 ...

minor league organizations.

Baseball career

Primarily a catcher during his playing career, Prince batted and threw with his right hand. He was listed as tall and 185 lbs. After a successful career at

Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School is a comprehensive public four-year high school located in Bradley, Illinois. It is the only school in District 307. As of 2020 the school has an enrollment of 2,026 students. Bradley Bourbonnais offers a v ...

, Prince was drafted twice by the

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 ...

; with the 195th pick of the 1983 January draft, as part of that draft's 8th round, and with the 76th overall pick of that same year's June draft, as part of that draft's 4th round. He elected not to sign both times, instead attending

Kankakee Community College Kankakee Community College (KCC) is a public community college in Kankakee, Illinois. The main campus is located on the southern border of the city of Kankakee and spans along the banks of the Kankakee River. KCC is accredited by the Commissi ...

. There, he attracted the attention of the

, who selected him with the 64th overall pick of the 1984 January draft. This time, he signed the deal, and that summer began play with the Pirates' farm club in the Gulf Coast League. Prince enjoyed a strong defensive reputation as a prospect, but his offensive production fluctuated wildly as he advanced through the system. With the

Macon Pirates Macon may refer to: Places Belgium *Macon, Belgium France *Mâcon ** Ancient Diocese of Mâcon **Mâcon, another name for the Mâconnais wine from that region United States of America * Macon, Alabama * Macon, Georgia *Macon, Illinois *Macon, ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, he put up an unusually low .208 batting average, but hit for moderate power and drew 96

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in only 360 at bats. Two years later at AA, he put up a .307 batting average with the Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League. After a promotion to the AAA

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

the next year, his batting average dropped back down to .260 and his walk rate collapsed, but he started hitting for substantially more power, putting up a .451

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He was generally well regarded as a prospect, but talent evaluators weren't sure exactly which skills he would display after promotion to the majors. Prince ultimately settled in as a backup catcher, relying on solid defense to compensate for a weak bat. He would never total even 200 at-bats in a single major league season, but he spent parts of seventeen years in the big leagues with the Pirates,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. During that time, he caught for some of the best pitchers in baseball, including

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

winners

Doug Drabek Douglas Dean Drabek (born July 25, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Pitching Coach for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

and Johan Santana, and six-time All-Star Curt Schilling.

Career statistics

In a seventeen-year major league career, Prince played in 519

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, accumulating 248

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 1,190 at bats for a .208 career batting average along with 24

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, 140

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 ...

and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .286. He ended his career with a .992

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Prince retained his connection with professional baseball. In , he became the manager of the Williamsport Crosscutters in the New York–Penn League and in his first year, led them to the playoffs. After one more year in Williamsport, Prince became the manager of the Pirates' Gulf Coast League team in Bradenton, Florida in 2007. In 2014, he took the helm as the fourth manager of the Pirates' Advanced-A Bradenton Marauders in Bradenton, Florida. In January 2015, Prince was named as the manager for the Pirates' Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve. He spent 2016 as the Pirates' minor league field coordinator and on October 29, 2016, he was named bench coach for the major league team for the 2017 season.

Toledo Mud Hens

On December 3, 2019, Prince was named the manager of 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 ...

, the

' Triple-A affiliate. After leading the Mud Hens to a first place in the division in 2021, Prince was released by the Tigers organization on October 6, 2021.

References

External links

Tom Prince
at Baseball Almanac
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Tom 1964 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players Altoona Curve managers Baseball coaches from Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Bradenton Marauders managers Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Clearwater Phillies players Florida Complex League Phillies players Gulf Coast Pirates players Harrisburg Senators players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Macon Pirates players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball catchers Minnesota Twins players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Omaha Royals players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates coaches Pittsburgh Pirates players Prince William Pirates players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Sportspeople from Kankakee, Illinois Toledo Mud Hens managers Watertown Pirates players