William James "B. J." Surhoff (born August 4, 1964) is an American former

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

third baseman 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

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

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). Over his 18-year MLB career, he played every position except

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 ...

. After playing for the Orioles from 1996 to 2000, he rejoined the team in 2003 and played through the 2005 season. He started his career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1987–1995) and also played for 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) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

(2000–2002). Surhoff began his career as a catcher, and after playing third base in the mid-1990s, shifted to become primarily a

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 ...

Baseball career

Born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, Surhoff attended Rye High School in Westchester, New York. After high school he attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. In 1983, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Surhoff was honored as the 1985 ACC Male Athlete of the Year, and played on the very first (1984) U.S. Olympic baseball team. He was a two-time first team All-American at UNC and his career batting average of .392 was a school record until Dustin Ackley set the mark at .412 in 2009. Surhoff was selected by the Brewers with the first overall pick of the

1985 Major League Baseball draft First round draft picks The following are the first round picks in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental First Round Selections Background Six of the first eight draft picks from the June regular phase had at least one full ...

. He was a very versatile player, having appeared at every position except pitcher over the course of his career. He had 2,326 hits, 188 home runs and 1,153 RBI in his career. Although always a consistent hitter, having

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

over .280 in 12 of his 19 seasons, Surhoff's finest season was his 1999 campaign with the Orioles, in which he led 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 ...

in at-bats (673), ranked second in hits (207), was selected to the American League All-Star team, and ultimately won Most Valuable Oriole honors for the season, becoming one of five players to get 200 or more hits in a season for the team. He also participated in the Home Run Derby. In other notable seasons, he finished sixth in the AL in doubles in 1993 with the Brewers and finished fifth in batting average in the AL with the Brewers in 1995 with a .320 average. In 2007, Surhoff was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame, with the official induction ceremony occurring before the start of the Orioles–

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

game on August 25, 2007, at

Oriole Park at Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

Personal life

Surhoff's father Dick played two years in the NBA in 1952–1953 and 1953–1954 and his brother

Rich Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

appeared in nine games in 1985 as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Texas Rangers. He also has a brother named Mark who lives in Rye, New York. His son, Austin, swam at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and won the 200

individual medley Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay. Individual m ...

and 200

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

at the 2010

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

Championships. Then he won the 200 Individual Medley national title a month later. Surhoff lives in

Cockeysville, Maryland Cockeysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,776 at the 2010 census. History Cockeysville was named after the Cockey family who helped establish the town. Thomas Cockey (1676� ...

, with his wife Polly and their four children. He is the president of Pathfinders for Autism, a Hunt Valley support group for families with autistic children. Surhoff's son, Mason, is autistic. Surhoff is the uncle of former UNC third-team All-American pitcher

Brian Moran Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until 2 ...

, and current Cincinnati Reds third baseman/outfielder

Colin Moran Colin Richard Moran (born October 1, 1992) is an American professional baseball third baseman who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds. Moran attended the Univ ...

. In 2008, 2009 and 2012 Surhoff was a spring training instructor for the Baltimore Orioles.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surhoff, B.J. 1964 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Atlanta Braves players Baseball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Baltimore Orioles players Beloit Brewers players National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees El Paso Diablos players Milwaukee Brewers players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics New Orleans Zephyrs players North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in baseball Baseball players from Atlanta Baseball players from Baltimore Baseball players from Milwaukee Sportspeople from the Bronx Baseball players from New York City Vancouver Canadians players Wareham Gatemen players Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games

Baseball career

Personal life

See also

References

External links