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Steve Sax

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Steve Sax
Sax as a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013
Second baseman
Born: (1960-01-29) January 29, 1960 (age 64)
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
MLB statistics
Batting average.281
Home runs54
Runs batted in550
Stolen bases444
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he won two world championships in 1981 and 1988. A five-time All-Star player, Sax was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1982 and won the Silver Slugger Award in 1986. He also played for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and the Oakland Athletics. Sax currently hosts on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.

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.[1] Sax was a late season call up in 1981, playing 31 games.[2] Sax broke into the majors as a regular in 1982, earning the National League Rookie of the Year award.[3] 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 different seasons, finishing with a career total of 444 stolen bases.[4] 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.[5] Sax was also a higher-up in the Players Association during his career.[6] He controversially opined that major league players should not speak to or assist anyone who was a replacement player during the infamous 1994–95 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.[7] 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 (also known as "The Yips"). As his accuracy suffered, fans sitting behind the first base dugout began wearing batting helmets as mock protection.[8] (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.")[9] By 1989, however, Sax seemed to be completely "cured", leading the American League in both fielding percentage[10] and double plays.

Post-career

Sax piloted a new networking site called allsportsconnection.com. Sax has made television cameos, including the "Homer at the Bat" episode of The Simpsons[11], as well as episodes of Square Pegs, Who's the Boss, Hollywood Squares and Sabrina The Teenage Witch.[12] He has also been on the Fox News show Hannity. Sax played a supporting character in the 1998 movie Ground Control.[13]

He briefly ran for a seat in the California State Assembly 5th District as a Republican in 1996.[14] Sax later dropped out of the race, when his divorce became publicized. A black belt, he was also a part-owner of a martial arts studio in Roseville, California.[15]

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.[16]

As of 2015, Sax returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as an Alumni member of the team's Community Relations team.

Sax currently hosts SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.[17]

Personal life

Steve is the brother of another former Major League Baseball player, Dave Sax, who also played for the Dodgers.[18] He is the father of Lauren Ashley (Sax) Bliss and son John Jeremy Sax. His nephew David Sax Jr. (son of Dave Sax) was seen on an episode of Intervention in 2015, .[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cohen, Alan. "Steve Sax". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Steve Sax Stats". ESPN.com. ESPN, Inc. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. ^ Moreno, Matthew. "This Day In Dodgers History: Steve Sax Wins Rookie Of The Year". dodgersnation.com. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Steve Sax Stats". ESPN.com. ESPN, Inc. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  5. ^ "New Book by Two-Time World Series Champion Steve Sax Motivates Readers SHIFT Book Tour to Begin in February". businesswire.com. Business Wire, Inc. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  6. ^ Oliver, Richard. "Richard Oliver: Sax hits sour notes over Dodgers' ownership woes". mysanantonio.com. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. ^ Mead, Doug. "40 Worst Fielders in Baseball History". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  8. ^ Braswell, Sean. "THE BIG LEAGUER WHO FORGOT HOW TO THROW". ozy.com. OZY. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  9. ^ Vecsey, George. "SPORTS OF THE TIMES; PEDRO GUERRERO: DODGERS' WARRIOR". nytimes.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  10. ^ Boswell, Thomas. "WHEN YOU CALL THE HALL, SAX CERTAINLY HAS APPEAL". washingtonpost.com. WP Company, LLC. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  11. ^ Curtis, Charles. "For the 25th anniversary of the Simpsons softball episode, 6 facts you didn't know". usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Steve Sax". IMDB.com. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Steve Sax". IMDB.com. IMDB.com, Inc. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Steve Sax Takes Swing At Politics". sfgate.com. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Niavaroni-Sax Kickboxing Inc – Roseville CA 95661 | 916-782-4757". Merchantcircle.com. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  16. ^ "Charles Nagy, Steve Sax fired". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  17. ^ McIntosh, Whitney. "Former Dodger Steve Sax explains the backstory of that amazing Three Stooges mural". sbnation.com. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  18. ^ Bogovich, Rich. "Dave Sax". sabr,org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  19. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb. "Intervention No. 200 Sneak Peek: MLB Star's Meth Addict Son Acts Out". tvline.com. TVLine Media, LLC. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steve Sax.

Preceded by National League Player of the Month
September, 1986 		Succeeded by
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