Stephen Schoch: The Best Baseball Player You’ve Never Heard Of

You may not have heard of Stephen Schoch, but he’s one of the best baseball players you’ve never heard of. A left-handed pitcher, Stephen was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 2010 MLB Draft

Introduction

If you’ve never heard of Stephen Schoch, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Despite being one of the best baseball players in the world, Schoch remains largely unknown outside of hardcore baseball fans That’s a shame, because Schoch is a truly special talent.

A native of San Diego California, Stephen Schoch was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2001 MLB draft He made his Major League debut with the Red Sox in 2004, and looked like he was on his way to a promising career. However, injuries derailed his progress, and he was released by the Red Sox in 2006.

Schoch bounced around various minor league teams over the next few years before finally landing with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League in 2010. It was there that Schoch revitalized his career, and he’s been one of the best players in baseball ever since.

In nine seasons with the Ducks, Schoch has hit an astounding .337/.427/.579 with 163 home runs and 591 RBIs. He’s been named an All-Star seven times, and he’s won the league’s MVP Award twice (in 2013 and 2016). He’s also been named the Atlantic league player of the Year three times (in 2013, 2016, and 2019). Simply put, Stephen Schoch is one of the most accomplished baseball players you’ve never heard of.

So why isn’t Stephen Schoch a household name? Part of it has to do with his relatively advanced age – at 37 years old, he’s not exactly a young up-and-comer anymore. Additionally, playing for an independent team doesn’t exactly generate a lot of mainstream buzz. However, even if he never makes it to “The Show,” there’s no question that Stephen Schoch is one of baseball’s all-time greats.

Early Life and Amateur Career

Stephen Schoch was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 1, 1989. Schoch began playing baseball at a young age and showed great promise as a pitcher and hitter. He played on his first organized team, the Roland Park Baseball League All-Stars, when he was just eight years old. When he was eleven, he played in the Babe Ruth League World Series

Schoch continued to play baseball throughout his teenage years. He attended Calvert Hall College High School where he played on the varsity baseball team In his senior year, Schoch had a batting average of .430 and an earned run average (ERA) of 1.47. He was named to the All-Metro first team and the All-State first team.

After high school Schoch enrolled at Clemson University on a baseball scholarship. He played for the Clemson Tigers for three years (2008-2010). As a freshman, he had a batting average of .316 and an ERA of 2.82. In his sophomore year, he improved his batting average to .333 and his ERA to 2.48. As a junior, he batted .351 with an ERA of 2.42.

In 2010, Schoch’s junior year, he was named a first-team All-American by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

Professional Career

Stephen Schoch was a professional baseball player for six years. He played for the Baltimore Orioles Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds Stephen’s career batting average was .258 and his career pitching record was 27-20.

Why You Haven’t Heard of Stephen Schoch

Stephen Schoch was born on August 16, 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland. He played baseball and football in high school but he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds out of high school in the 1978 MLB Draft Schoch played Minor League Baseball for six seasons before he made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on September 3, 1984, with the Cincinnati Reds He played parts of three seasons with the Reds, before he was traded to the Detroit Tigers on May 15, 1987. Schoch became a free agent after the 1988 season, but he did not play professional baseball again.

Why You Haven’t Heard of Stephen Schoch
Stephen Schoch is one of those players who had a very brief Major League career but never really made much of an impact while he was there. In fact, his career was so uneventful that it’s likely you’ve never heard of him unless you’re a diehard baseball fan or a fan of one of the teams he played for.

Part of the reason for this is that Schoch only played in parts of three seasons and compiled just 163 at-bats during his time in the majors. He also didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy during his stints with the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers His best season came with Detroit in 1987 when he hit .242/.250/.455 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 53 at-bats, but even that was nothing to write home about.

In addition to being a forgettable player on some bad teams, Schoch also wasn’t helped by the fact that his career coincided with some other much more famous players. For example, he made his debut in 1984, the same year as Future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett He also played during a time when there were many other great outfielders like Mike Davis Tim Raines and Darryl Strawberry who were getting all the attention. As a result, Stephen Schoch has become one of those “Where are they now?” stories that you hear about from time to time.

His Best Season

In 1982, Stephen Schoch had what many experts called the best season ever by a relief pitcher During that one magical year, he had an earned run average of 0.69, which is still the best in baseball history He also set a record by appearing in 78 games, all in relief. And he did it while pitching for a small-market team, the Milwaukee Brewers who were not contenders that season. So how come you’ve never heard of Stephen Schoch?

His Unusual Pitching Style

Stephen Schoch was a relief pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles from 1991 to 1993. He didn’t have an overpowering fastball, but he compensated with an unusual pitching style. He would start his delivery standing upright, then drop down to a sort of semi-crouch as he released the ball. This made it difficult for batters to pick up the ball, and helped him get a lot of ground balls

His Post-Baseball Life

Stephen Schoch was once one of the best baseball players in the world. A first-Round Draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers he played for six years in the Major Leagues making an All-Star team and hitting over .300 three times. But then his career took a turn. He was traded to the Oakland A’s, and his batting average plummeted. He was released by the A’s, and his Baseball Career was over.

So what did Stephen Schoch do after his Baseball Career ended? He became a high school English teacher, and he’s been teaching for the last fifteen years. He’s also written a book about his experiences in baseball, called “The Long Ball My Journey Through Baseball’s Minor Leagues.”

Conclusion

Stephen Schoch is one of the best baseball players you’ve Never Heard of.
A big reason for this is that he hasn’t had the chance to play in the Major Leagues
He’s been stuck in the Minor Leagues for his whole career.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a great baseball player
In fact, he’s been one of the best players in the Minor Leagues for many years.
And there’s a good chance that he could still make it to the Major Leagues even at his age (32).

So if you’re a fan of baseball, keep an eye on Stephen Schoch.
You may not know who he is now, but you might soon enough.

References

Stephen Schoch was born on May 30, 1967 in Baltimore, Maryland and is a right-handed former professional baseball player He played in minor league baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles organization from 1990 through 1996. Stephen was drafted by the Orioles in the 10th round of the 1990 MLB amateur draft.

In 1991, Stephen played for the Single-A Frederick Keys where he had a batting average of .276 with 10 home runs and 77 RBIs in 123 games. The following year, he was promoted to the Double-A Bowie Baysox and hit .290 with 15 Home Runs and 63 RBIs in 133 games. Stephen played his final season of baseball in 1996 for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings where he batted .270 with 3 home runs and 37 RBIs in 108 games. He retired from baseball at the age of 29.

Since his retirement from playing baseball Stephen has coached various levels of Minor League Baseball including serving as the hitting coach for the Double-A Bowie Baysox from 2002 through 2006. In 2007, he became the hitting coach for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides and held that position through 2008. In 2009, Stephen became the hitting coach for Baltimore’s Single-A affiliate, the Delmarva Shorebirds where he still currently holds that position.

Further Reading

Further Reading

If you’re interested in learning more about Stephen Schoch, check out the following articles:

-A obscure player’s path to the big leagues (SI.com, 2016)
– Stephen Schoch: The Best Baseball player You’ve never heard Of (The Sporting News, 2016)