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 (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

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,

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 B ...

, 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 ...

between 1993 and 2000. Bergman attended Joliet Catholic High School in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East sect ...

, before attending Southern Illinois University. 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 Philad ...

. He spent his first professional season, 1991, with the Niagara Falls Rapids of the New York–Penn League. 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 numb ...

(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 pitc ...

, he struck out 77 batters in just over 84 innings of work. He started the 1992 season with the Lakeland Tigers, 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 it ...

, 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—pit ...

in the first start of his career. He spent most of 1994 with the Toledo Mud Hens, 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 pitches were second in the league, trailing only Al Leiter'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 to the San Diego Padres for Raul Casanova, Richie Lewis, and Melvin Nieves. 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. 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 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 Card ...

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