Ken Phelps
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Allan Phelps, nicknamed "Digger", is a former Major League Baseball
designated hitter
and first baseman
. During an 11-year baseball career, he played from 1980-1990 for six different teams, but he played primarily with the Seattle Mariners
. He achieved lasting notice when the pioneering baseball statistician, Bill James
made him an emblem for a class of Minor League Baseball
players who are unfairly denied a chance to play in the Majors despite compiling Minor League Baseball
statistics that would indicate an ability to succeed in the Majors. Phelps eventually played a major role on the 1984 Mariners and went on to enjoy a successful, if brief, career despite not becoming established until age 29.
Phelps' aforementioned nickname was often used by usual broadcast partner Greg Schulte
. However, he should not be confused with noted college basketball broadcaster Digger Phelps
.
he played a year at Washington State University
before he headed south to Mesa Community College
looking for an opportunity to play at Arizona State University
, the school of his dreams. He gained national acclaim in his only season at MCC and was named a Junior College All American. At Mesa, he was drafted twice in the first round (January and June drafts) by the New York Yankees
and Philadelphia Phillies
, respectively. He had previously been drafted by the Atlanta Braves
in the eighth round out of high school. All this earned Phelps a chance from Coach Jim Brock to play at ASU, where he was named to the College World Series
All Star team in 1976, when the Sun Devils lost a heart breaker to the University of Arizona
after having defeated the Wildcats seven times previously that season. The left-hitting first baseman
was selected by the Kansas City Royals
in the 15th round of the 1976 baseball amateur draft
. Phelps became a feared minor league
hitter, clubbing a combined 43 HR from 1980-81 for Kansas City's Omaha
affiliate in the American Association
. Nonetheless, the Royals traded him to the Montreal Expos
in the 1981-82 offseason for pitcher
Grant Jackson. Phelps proceeded to demolish the American Association in 1982, hitting .333 with 46 home run
s and 141 RBI for Montreal's Wichita
affiliate. However, the Expos still saw fit to give him only eight major league at-bats that year. That gave him a grand total of 32 in his career. There was no room on a very talented Montreal roster for Phelps to break in. Instead, Phelps' hometown club, Seattle, purchased him from the Expos during the 1982-83 offseason.
Phelps, an average defensive player, was better suited to play with Seattle in the American League
, as he could serve as the designated hitter
there. The struggling Mariners franchise also had plenty of room for advancement. Phelps split time in between Seattle and its Pacific Coast League
affiliate in Salt Lake City. Again, he destroyed minor league pitching (.341 with 24 HR and 82 RBI in 74 games), but did not play much in the majors. In , he played a bit more for Seattle, clobbering 24 HR in only 290 at-bats. Bad luck intervened that year when he broke his hand in the third game of the season after winning the regular first base job and hitting two home runs in his first three game and five hits in his first 10 at bats. The next season, he found himself behind Gorman Thomas who had been signed as a free agent, which limited Phelps to a mere 116 major league at-bats.
to create the "Ken Phelps All-Star" team. As James described it:
and his New York Yankees
made a trade that the Yankee franchise would soon regret, shipping youngster Jay Buhner
to Seattle in exchange for the now aging slugger. The trade made little sense to begin with for the Yankees, who already had Don Mattingly
and Jack Clark
to play first base and DH. With limited playing time once again, Phelps found it difficult to maintain his production of the previous four-and-a-half seasons, while Buhner went on to become an All-Star and legendary Mariners player. A Seinfeld
episode depicted Yankee fan Frank Costanza as more upset about the Buhner trade than about the supposed death of his own son George
. Phelps only hit 17 home runs for the Yankees before finishing his career with the Oakland A's and Cleveland Indians
. He won the World Series with Oakland in 1989, but had just two postseason at-bats, including a double in the AL Championship Series.
Phelps' final home run might have been his most notable. It came on April 20, 1990 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Mariners (Phelps was playing for Oakland). Phelps was called out of the dugout to pinch hit against Brian Holman
, who had retired the first 26 batters in succession. Phelps homered to ruin a perfect game. Years later, Phelps said he wanted to hit it out because he did not want to watch himself on ESPN
's SportsCenter
all season making the out to complete Holman's gem.
is a strong .854. Phelps hit 123 home runs in 1854 career at-bats, the 28th best ratio in major league history through 2004 (min. 1500 plate appearances).
baseball games. In 2006, Phelps was replaced as the Diamondbacks color analyst by former Major League pitcher Tom Candiotti
. Today, he does baseball analysis for Fox Sports in Arizona along with community and media work he does for the state's largest electric utility, Arizona Public Service
. Two of the programs in which he has been involved—the ABC's of Baseball and Life and Power Players—have gained national recognition for their positive impact on children.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
and first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
. During an 11-year baseball career, he played from 1980-1990 for six different teams, but he played primarily with the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
. He achieved lasting notice when the pioneering baseball statistician, Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
made him an emblem for a class of Minor League Baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
players who are unfairly denied a chance to play in the Majors despite compiling Minor League Baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
statistics that would indicate an ability to succeed in the Majors. Phelps eventually played a major role on the 1984 Mariners and went on to enjoy a successful, if brief, career despite not becoming established until age 29.
Phelps' aforementioned nickname was often used by usual broadcast partner Greg Schulte
Greg Schulte
Greg Schulte is an American sportscaster, and is best known as the radio voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team. Schulte joined the Diamondbacks for their inaugural season 1998 and in February 2007 signed a contract extension that will keep him in the Diamondback booth through...
. However, he should not be confused with noted college basketball broadcaster Digger Phelps
Digger Phelps
Richard "Digger" Phelps is a former American college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team from 1971 to 1991. Since 1993, he has served as an analyst on ESPN.-Career:...
.
Amateur/Minor Leaguer
Phelps was born August 6, 1954 in Seattle, Washington. After attending Seattle's Ingraham High SchoolIngraham High School
Ingraham High School is a public high school serving grades 9-12 located in the Haller Lake neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA. Opened in 1959, it is named after Edward Sturgis Ingraham, the first superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools. Since 2002, Ingraham has been an International...
he played a year at Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
before he headed south to Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District and is the largest in the United States. MCC began in 1963 as a branch of Phoenix College and later granted independent status in 1965.MCC offers more than 200...
looking for an opportunity to play at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, the school of his dreams. He gained national acclaim in his only season at MCC and was named a Junior College All American. At Mesa, he was drafted twice in the first round (January and June drafts) by the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, respectively. He had previously been drafted by the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
in the eighth round out of high school. All this earned Phelps a chance from Coach Jim Brock to play at ASU, where he was named to the College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...
All Star team in 1976, when the Sun Devils lost a heart breaker to the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
after having defeated the Wildcats seven times previously that season. The left-hitting first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
was selected by the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
in the 15th round of the 1976 baseball amateur draft
1976 Major League Baseball Draft
-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by many to be the best collegiate team ever, played a major role in the draft. Floyd Bannister was picked number one...
. Phelps became a feared minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
hitter, clubbing a combined 43 HR from 1980-81 for Kansas City's Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
affiliate in the American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...
. Nonetheless, the Royals traded him to the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
in the 1981-82 offseason for pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Grant Jackson. Phelps proceeded to demolish the American Association in 1982, hitting .333 with 46 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 141 RBI for Montreal's Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
affiliate. However, the Expos still saw fit to give him only eight major league at-bats that year. That gave him a grand total of 32 in his career. There was no room on a very talented Montreal roster for Phelps to break in. Instead, Phelps' hometown club, Seattle, purchased him from the Expos during the 1982-83 offseason.
Phelps, an average defensive player, was better suited to play with Seattle in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
, as he could serve as the designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
there. The struggling Mariners franchise also had plenty of room for advancement. Phelps split time in between Seattle and its Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
affiliate in Salt Lake City. Again, he destroyed minor league pitching (.341 with 24 HR and 82 RBI in 74 games), but did not play much in the majors. In , he played a bit more for Seattle, clobbering 24 HR in only 290 at-bats. Bad luck intervened that year when he broke his hand in the third game of the season after winning the regular first base job and hitting two home runs in his first three game and five hits in his first 10 at bats. The next season, he found himself behind Gorman Thomas who had been signed as a free agent, which limited Phelps to a mere 116 major league at-bats.
Seattle
Finally, in , at the age of 31, Phelps got into the major league lineup on a more-or-less regular basis. Although he was normally platooned against left-handed pitchers, Phelps still clocked 51 HR from 1986-87. It was at this time that Phelps' career travails inspired author Bill JamesBill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
to create the "Ken Phelps All-Star" team. As James described it:
Ken Phelpses are just available; if you want one, all you have to do is ask. They are players whose real limitations are exaggerated by baseball insiders, players who get stuck with a label -- the label of their limits, the label the things they can't do -- while those that they can do are overlooked... The Ken Phelps All-Stars [are] a whole teamful of guys who are wearing labels, but who nonetheless can play major-league baseball, and will prove it if they ever get the chance.
The Buhner Trade
Phelps banged 14 more home runs in half a season in . Impressed by his continued onslaught, George SteinbrennerGeorge Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
and his New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
made a trade that the Yankee franchise would soon regret, shipping youngster Jay Buhner
Jay Buhner
Jay Campbell Buhner , nicknamed "Bone", is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. He was among the most recognizable players of his day, noted for his shaved head, thick goatee, and patch of pine tar on the right hip of his uniform...
to Seattle in exchange for the now aging slugger. The trade made little sense to begin with for the Yankees, who already had Don Mattingly
Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur "Don" Mattingly is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "The Hit Man" and "Donnie Baseball", he played his entire 14-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
and Jack Clark
Jack Clark (baseball)
Jack Anthony Clark , also known as "Jack the Ripper," is a former Major League Baseball player. From 1975 through 1992, Clark played for the San Francisco Giants , St. Louis Cardinals , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox...
to play first base and DH. With limited playing time once again, Phelps found it difficult to maintain his production of the previous four-and-a-half seasons, while Buhner went on to become an All-Star and legendary Mariners player. A Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
episode depicted Yankee fan Frank Costanza as more upset about the Buhner trade than about the supposed death of his own son George
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
. Phelps only hit 17 home runs for the Yankees before finishing his career with the Oakland A's and Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
. He won the World Series with Oakland in 1989, but had just two postseason at-bats, including a double in the AL Championship Series.
Phelps' final home run might have been his most notable. It came on April 20, 1990 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Mariners (Phelps was playing for Oakland). Phelps was called out of the dugout to pinch hit against Brian Holman
Brian Holman
Brian Scott Holman is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is now the Managing Director and Principal for Ronald Blue & Co.'s branch office in Kansas City, Kansas....
, who had retired the first 26 batters in succession. Phelps homered to ruin a perfect game. Years later, Phelps said he wanted to hit it out because he did not want to watch himself on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
all season making the out to complete Holman's gem.
Summary
Phelps' career .239 batting average hides the things that, as James pointed out, he could do. Thanks to outstanding power and strike zone judgment, his career OPSOn-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
is a strong .854. Phelps hit 123 home runs in 1854 career at-bats, the 28th best ratio in major league history through 2004 (min. 1500 plate appearances).
Phelps today
As of 2005, Phelps did color commentary on the radio for Arizona DiamondbacksArizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
baseball games. In 2006, Phelps was replaced as the Diamondbacks color analyst by former Major League pitcher Tom Candiotti
Tom Candiotti
Thomas Caesar Candiotti is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was known for his knuckleball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers...
. Today, he does baseball analysis for Fox Sports in Arizona along with community and media work he does for the state's largest electric utility, Arizona Public Service
Arizona Public Service
Arizona Public Service Company is the largest electric utility in Arizona and the principal subsidiary of publicly-traded S&P 500 member Pinnacle West Capital Corporation , which in turn had been formerly named AZP Group, when Arizona Public Service reorganized as that holding company in 1985.With...
. Two of the programs in which he has been involved—the ABC's of Baseball and Life and Power Players—have gained national recognition for their positive impact on children.