Bill Schroeder (baseball)

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#ffba00
bgcolor2=#0e3292
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Bill Schroeder
|width=180px
position=Catcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1958|9|7
debutdate=July 13
debutyear=1983
debutteam=Milwaukee Brewers
finaldate=September 9
finalyear=1990
finalteam=California Angels
stat1label=Batting Average
stat1value=.240
stat2label=Home Runs
stat2value=61
stat3label=Hits
stat3value=303
teams=
*Milwaukee Brewers (1983-1988)
*California Angels (1989-1990)
highlights=
*Caught no-hitter, April 15th, 1987

Bill Schroeder (born Alfred William Schroeder on September 7, 1958 in Baltimore, Maryland) is a former Major League Baseball player and a current television sports broadcaster. He currently provides color commentary for the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he played six of his eight Major League seasons.

Nickname

The "Rock"

Early life

Schroeder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. He is a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now WW-PHS South). While playing high school baseball, he earned All-State honors in his junior and senior years. [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=mil Broadcasters profiles] , Milwaukee Brewers. Accessed October 14, 2007.] He attended Clemson University, and assisted the Clemson Tigers in capturing the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in 1978 and 1979.

Playing career

He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round of the 1979 amateur draft. Throughout his career, he was typically used as a platoon or bench player, a common subject of jokes by Schroeder and others.

Until the 2007 season, Schroeder was the fastest Brewers rookie to reach 15 home runs, achieving the milestone in only 71 games. In 2007, the record was bested by Ryan Braun, who hit 15 home runs in his first 50 games. [ [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=636271 JS Online: Sunday game report ] ]

The 1987 season was Schroeder's best. He batted .332, and was a key member of "Team Streak", the Brewers team that won its first 13 games, tying an MLB record. On April 15, 1987, Schroeder caught the only no-hitter in Brewers' history, pitched by Juan Nieves.

In 1988, he was traded to the California Angels, where he played even less and was less productive than in Milwaukee. In 1990, he was released by the Angels, retiring shortly thereafter.

Announcing career

Schroeder began his post-playing career by appearing as an analyst for a Milwaukee-area baseball television show, "Baseball Sunday", in 1994. For the following season, he was asked to be the color commentator for the Milwaukee Brewers' television broadcasts, a position he has held ever since. This duration is a rarity as broadcasters for small-market baseball teams generally change teams often. Milwaukee's reaction to Schroeder is generally positive.

In addition to his television duties, Schroeder appeared on WTMJ Radio's "Talking Brewers" from 1998 to 2000.

Schroeder also manages the Brewers Fantasy Camp in Maryvale, Arizona, and will often discuss it during broadcasts.

References

External links

* [http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=mil#schroeder Milwaukee Brewers: Team Broadcasts]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/schrobi01.shtml Bill Schroeder at baseball-reference.com]