Sean Bergman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sean Bergman | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| July 7, 1993 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Final game | |
| June 17, 2000 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Career statistics | |
| ERA | 5.28 |
| Record | 39-47 |
| Strikeouts | 455 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Sean Frederick Bergman (Born: April 11, 1970 in Joliet, Illinois) is a former righthanded Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins between 1993 and 2000. Bergman attended Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet, Illinois, before attending Southern Illinois University.
Standing at 6'4", 205 pounds (one source puts him at 225 pounds), Bergman was originally drafted by the Tigers 115th overall in the 1991 draft.
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 ERA. A starter, 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, 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 Twins. Oddly, the first team he faced in his career would end up being the last team he played for. Overall, he went one and four 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 the first start of his career.
He spent most of 1994 with the Toledo Mud Hens, posting an 11 and 8 record with them. He did start three games in the Majors, going 2 and 1. His 5.60 was still unimpressive. Although he spent one game in the minors in 1995, he spent the majority of the season in the Majors. In 28 games started, he posted a seven and ten 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, which put him ninth in the league.
The Tigers might have been unimpressed with what they saw from Bergman, and they may have prompted his trade to the Padres. Right before the 1996 season, he was traded by the Tigers with Cade Gaspar and Todd Steverson to the Padres for Raul Casanova, Richie Lewis and Melvin Nieves.
He spent two seasons with the Padres, posting a combined record of eight and 12 with an ERA of 5.17. After the 1997 season, he was traded from the Padres to the Astros for James Mouton. 1998 was perhaps Bergman's best season-he posted a record of 12 and 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 as they both chased to break Roger Maris' home run record.
He started 1999 with the Astros, but after posting a four and six record with a 5.36 ERA (and also a 9.95 ERA in a short stint in the minors) for the Astros to start the season, he was released and signed with the Braves. He appeared in relief in six games with them, 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. He also gave up Cal Ripken, Jr.'s 3,000th basehit in 2000.
Overall, he went 39 and 47 with a 5.28 ERA in 196 games. He walked 272 batters and struck out 455 in 750 1/3 innings of work.
Although he was a terrible hitter overall (.113 average in 133 at-bats, 59 strikeouts, zero walks), when he hit, he hit well. Seven of his fifteen career hits were for extra bases (four doubles and three home runs).
He had a .951 fielding percentage.
Overall, his career statistics compare most to those of Chris Haney. He spent six seasons as a teammate of Chris Gomez-longer than any other teammate.
At last check, he lived in Bryan, Ohio.
