Steve Sax

Infobox MLB retired
name=Steve Sax
position=Second baseman
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1960|1|29
city-state|West Sacramento|California
debutdate=August 18
debutyear=by|1981
debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
finaldate=May 8
finalyear=by|1994
finalteam=Oakland Athletics
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.281
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=1,949
stat3label=Stolen bases
stat3value=444
teams=
* Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1981-by|1988)
* New York Yankees (by|1989-by|1991)
* Chicago White Sox (by|1992-by|1993)
* Oakland Athletics (by|1994)
highlights=
* 5x All-Star selection (1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990)
* Silver Slugger Award winner (1986)
* 1982 NL Rookie of the Year

Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960 in West Sacramento, California) is a former star 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).

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 Dodgers on June 6th, 1978 in the ninth round of the 1978 Amateur Draft by|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, though the decision was controversial. Pirates second baseman Johnny Ray had won The Sporting News Rookie of the Year. The Baseball Writers Association of America voted for Sax in a close vote. Many ground level baseball fans have long suspected that the Baseball Writers went with Sax because he was an LA media darling.

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).

Steve is the brother of another former Major League Baseball player, Dave Sax, who also played for the Dodgers.

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 Blass Disease"

Though never regarded as one of the top fielding second baseman 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 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.

Life after baseball

After Steve's playing career ended in by|1994, he has been involved in various ventures, including:

* Steve is currently piloting a new sports networking site called allsportsconnection.com. 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.

* 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.

* Worked as a baseball analyst on television.

* He now works as a financial consultant for RBC Dain Rauscher, LLC, in their Roseville, California office. He has approximately 25 to 30 clients, including several athletes. He is 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.

* He is also co-writing a book on athletes and finances because he hears about too many athletes who have been easy targets by unscrupulous people in the financial world.

* A black belt, he also owns a martial arts studio in Roseville, California.

* Confused with another former baseball analyst, he often finds himself receiving emails from angry baseball fans. He had to create an auto-reply explaining, "I am not Steve Lyons!"

Popular culture

* Steve Sax was one of the baseball players who guest starred on "The Simpsons" in the episode "Homer at the Bat". In the episode, the Springfield police pull him over due to his New York license plate, and he is ultimately blamed for every unsolved murder in New York City.

* Steve Sax guest starred on an episode of the early 1980s cult television series "Square Pegs".

* Steve Sax spoke at the podium of Wally George's show Hot Seat.

* Steve Sax also guest starred on the 1980s sitcom comedy "Who's the Boss".

* Steve Sax also guest starred on the 1980s Showtime sitcom "Brothers".

* Steve Sax is considered to be next in line to take over the analyst position on Fox vacated by Steve Lyons in October 2006.

* Steve Sax is currently piloting a new sports networking site called www.allsportsconnection.com. This sports networking site is designed so athletes of all levels can connect for sports, post local events and places to play as well as work out online with Steve Sax.

* Steve Sax was a contestant on several episodes of the game show "Just Men" hosted by Betty White in 1983.

* Steve Sax was a guest on the Howard Stern Radio Show on 2/6/1991. Promoting his position as Spokesman for the USA Rice Council.

* Steves defensive lapses and recovery were mentioned in 1990's tv show Northern Exposure

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball players with 400 stolen bases

References

External links

*baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=s/saxst01|fangraphs=1011481 |cube=S/steve-sax
* [http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=BBO-STEVESAX-04-04-05&cat=BN April 2005 "Sacramento Bee" article on Steve Sax and his current activities]