Rob Deer
| Rob Deer | |
|---|---|
| Right fielder | |
| Born: September 29, 1960 Orange, California |
|
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 4, 1984 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 5, 1996 for the San Diego Padres | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .220 |
| Home runs | 230 |
| Runs batted in | 600 |
| Teams | |
Robert George Deer (born September 29, 1960 in Orange, California) is a former American baseball player. He attended Canyon High School in Anaheim and Fresno City College, and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 4th round of the 1978 amateur draft.
Deer is famous for hitting the game-tying home run on Easter Sunday in 1987,[1] to give the Milwaukee Brewers their 12th straight win to start the season.[2] The home run was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[3][4] He holds the dubious honor of having the lowest official batting average while still qualifying for the batting title when he batted .179 in 1991. He is the only player since 1910 to have a batting average less than .220 in at least 400 at-bats in at least four seasons.
Deer held the American League record for strikeouts in a season (186 strikeouts in 1987) until being passed by Jack Cust in 2008, and had at least 140 strikeouts on seven occasions.[5]
Deer has also gained some notoriety among studiers of baseball statistics due to his propensity for the Three True Outcomes (defined as a strikeout, home run, or bases on balls.) [6] Because of his ability to hit home runs and take walks, he remained a moderately valuable player despite his complete inability to hit for average, as evidenced by his career 17.0 Wins Over Replacement.[7]
Since his playing days, Deer has served as a roving hitting instructor for the San Diego Padres minor league system and is currently the owner of Viz-U-Bat.[8].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Milwaukee Brewers 6, Texas Rangers 4". Retrosheet. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1987/B04190MIL1987.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ^ Braun, Rick (April 9, 2007). "Easter of '87 memories remain vivid; Sveum recalls role in keeping streak alive". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: p. 5. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20070409/ai_n18995721.
- ^ Wagner, Andrew (2007-04-08). "A blast from Brewers history: Easter Sunday '87". OnMilwaukee.com. http://www.onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/brewerseaster87.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ^ Newman, Bruce (1987-04-27). "Brewing Up a Storm". Sports Illustrated. http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/1987/0427.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ^ "Single Season Leaders for Strikeouts in the American League". Baseball-Almanac.com. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrk2al.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
- ^ "Doctoring the Numbers". Baseball Prospectus. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=724. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
- ^ "Rob Deer >> Statistics >> Batting". http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1003137&position=OF. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
- ^ "Rob Deer Visz-U-Bat". http://vizubat.com.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Jazayerli, Rany (2000-08-15). "Doctoring the Numbers: The Doctor is...Gone.". Baseball Prospectus. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=724. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
