Steve Sax
| Steve Sax | |
|---|---|
 Sax as a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 | |
| Second baseman | |
|
Born: January 29, 1960 West Sacramento, California | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| August 18, 1981 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 8, 1994 for the Oakland Athletics | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .281 |
| Hits | 1,949 |
| Home runs | 54 |
| Runs batted in | 550 |
| Stolen bases | 444 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball. He was a right-handed batter for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1988), New York Yankees (1989–1991), Chicago White Sox (1992–1993), and the Oakland Athletics (1994).
Career
Sax starred at James Marshall High school (now known as River City High School) in West Sacramento from 1975 to 1978 before being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 6, 1978 in the ninth round of the 1978 Amateur Draft 1978. Sax was a late season call up in 1981, playing 29 games. Sax broke into the majors as a regular in 1982, earning the National League Rookie of the Year award. Throughout his career, Sax was on the All-Star team five times and had a batting average over .300 in three seasons. He had great success on the basepaths, stealing over 40 bases in six seasons for a career total of 444 stolen bases. He also set the Yankees team record for most singles in a season (171 in 1989).
Sax has two World Series rings, both with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 and 1988. Sax was also a higher-up in the Players Association during his career. He controversially opined that major league players should not speak to or assist anyone who was a replacement player during the infamous 1994 Major League Baseball strike and later joined a club when the strike had ended. He also opined that such players should be denied pensions by the union.
Steve Sax Syndrome
Though never regarded as one of the top fielding second basemen in the league, Steve Sax inexplicably became incapable of making routine throws to first base in 1983, committing 30 errors that season. This is referred to in baseball terminology as "Steve Sax Syndrome", the fielder's variant of "Steve Blass disease", named after the Pirates pitcher who suffered a similar breakdown of basic mechanics. As his accuracy suffered, fans sitting behind the first base dugout began wearing batting helmets as mock protection. (Teammate Pedro Guerrero, an outfielder pressed into service at third base in 1983, once reportedly stated that his first thought whenever he was in the field was "I hope they don't hit it to me," while his second thought was "I hope they don't hit it to Sax.") By 1989, however, Sax seemed to be completely "cured", leading the American League in both fielding percentage and double plays.
Post-career
After Steve's playing career ended in 1994, he has been involved in various ventures, including working as a baseball analyst on television. He is currently piloting a new sports networking site called allsportsconnection.com. Sax has made television cameos, including The Simpsons, Square Pegs, Who's the Boss, Hollywood Squares and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. He has also been on the Fox News show Hannity.
Steve is focused on fitness and took the initiative to sponsor and develop a tool for athletes to form teams, post local events, and find places to play. Memberships are free to the public as a means to combat sedentary lifestyles and afford everyone an opportunity to compete at any level.
He briefly ran for a seat in the California State Assembly 5th District as a Republican in 1996. Sax later dropped out of the race, when his divorce became publicized. In the mid-1990s, he was a part-owner of a nightclub and restaurant called the Twin Palms, located in Folsom, California.[citation needed] A black belt, he was also a part-owner of a martial arts studio in Roseville, California.[1]
He worked as a financial consultant for RBC Dain Rauscher, LLC, in their Roseville, California office. He had approximately 25 to 30 clients, including several athletes. He was a partner in the Sax/Hinman Sports Professional Group at RBC Dain Rauscher providing professional wealth management for sports professionals at every level of all professional sports.
In December 2012 he was named the first base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks fired Sax on October 8, 2013.[2]
Personal
Steve is the brother of another former Major League Baseball player, Dave Sax, who also played for the Dodgers. He is the father of Lauren Ashley Sax now Lauren Ashley Bliss, and son John Jeremy Sax.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
References
- ↑ http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Niavaroni-Sax.Kickboxing.Inc.916-782-4757
- ↑ "Charles Nagy, Steve Sax fired". The Associated Press. The Associated Press. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- April 2005 Sacramento Bee article on Steve Sax and his current activities
- Steve Sax at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview/story by Steve Sax describing his Steve Sax Syndrome years
| Preceded by Dale Murphy |
National League Player of the Month September, 1986 |
Succeeded by Eric Davis |
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