Todd Steverson

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=darkblue
bgcolor2=maroon
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Todd Steverson
position=Outfielder
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1971|11|15|
debutdate=April 28
debutyear=by|1995
debutteam=Detroit Tigers
finaldate=April 3
finalyear=by|1996
finalteam=San Diego Padres
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.256
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=2
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=6
teams=
*Detroit Tigers (1995)
*San Diego Padres (1996)
highlights=
*none

Todd Anthony Steverson (born November 15 1971 in Los Angeles, California) is a former right-handed left and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres. The cousin of Tigers outfielder Ron LeFlore, Steverson attended Arizona State University, where he was part of the famed "Million Dollar Outfield". He was 6'2" tall and he weighed 195 pounds.

Originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round of the by|1989 draft, Steverson opted not to sign. He would have to wait until by|1992 to be drafted again; he was drafted 25th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays, and this time he did sign. His signing bonus was $450,000.

He spent three years in the Blue Jays' farm system, showing nothing more than mediocre statistics-he was speedy (he had a career high 23 stolen bases in 1992 while with the St. Catharines Blue Jays), but he also struck out a lot (118 times in 413 at bats in by|1993 with the Dunedin Blue Jays) and was not an average hitter (.209 batting average in 1992).

He was drafted by the Tigers in the 1994 Rule 5 Draft, and although he had had a fairly unimpressive minor league career, he found himself with the big league club before the end of April 1995. He made his debut on April 28, by|1995 at the age of 23 against the Seattle Mariners. In his only at bat of the game, he hit a fly ball out to right field off of a pitch from Ron Villone. He appeared in 30 games for the Tigers in 1995, collecting 11 hits in 42 at bats for a .262 batting average. He spent nine games in the minors that year, but he hit only .107.

Steverson hit only two home runs in 1995, but they came in back-to-back games. He victimized pitcher Eddie Guardado of the Minnesota Twins on June 10, then pitcher Dave Stevens of the Twins the very next day. The top game of his season may have come on June 15 of that year, though. Playing the New York Yankees, he collected three hits in four at bats, driving in two runs and scoring once. Interestingly, those were the last hits of his career.

Although his rookie season was short but fairly impressive, the Tigers did not keep him for more than a season. Instead, right before the beginning by|1996 season, he was traded by the Tigers with Cade Gaspar and Sean Bergman to the Padres for Raul Casanova, Richie Lewis and Melvin Nieves. That would basically seal the fate for his big league career-it ended on April 3 of that year. Pinch hitting for pitcher Joey Hamilton, he was called out on strikes in his final big league at bat. Turk Wendell was credited with the strikeout.

He played in a total of 31 games in his career, collecting 11 hits in 43 at bats for a .256 batting average. He scored 11 times, hit two home runs and had six RBI. A perfect fielder, he committed no errors in his career. Perhaps it was the number he wore that caused his career to end so quickly-he wore 13 in both his seasons in the big leagues, a traditionally unlucky number.

He stuck around in the minor leagues until 1998. After his playing days ended, he became a minor league baseball coach and manager. He coached the Potomac Cannons in 1999, 2001 and 2002. He coached the Peoria Chiefs in 2000, the Palm Beach Cardinals in 2003 and the Vancouver Canadians in 2004. He managed the Stockton Ports in 2005 and 2006. He was set to manage the Midland RockHounds in 2007. He is the manager of the Sacramento RiverCats in 2008.

At last check, he lived in Phoenix, Arizona.

External links

*baseball-reference|id=s/steveto01