Kelly Lee Stinnett (born February 14, 1970) is a retired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. He played all or parts of 14 seasons in the majors, from until .

High school years

Stinnett attended Lawton High School in Lawton, Oklahoma and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. As a junior in 1987, he

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

ed Lawton's football team to an undefeated record and state championship alongside fellow juniors

Dewell Brewer Dewell Lerome Brewer (born May 22, 1970) is a former American football running back who played one season with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma and attended Lawton H ...

Butch Huskey Robert Leon "Butch" Huskey (born November 10, 1971), is an American former professional baseball player who played in the major leagues primarily as an outfielder in 1993 and from 1995 to 2000. Early life Huskey was raised in Lawton, Oklahoma al ...

Will Shields Will Herthie Shields (born September 15, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earnin ...

and James Trapp.

College and pro ball

He attended Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma, where in his freshman year he was All-Conference and All-Region after leading all junior college players with 30

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 124

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. In his sophomore year, he was National Junior College Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. That year, he had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .399 and had 22 home runs and 97 RBI, leading his team to a third-place finish in the Junior College World Series. He was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in the amateur draft as the 279th overall pick, and was selected by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the Rule 5 draft on December 13, 1993. He began his first season the following spring, on April 5, , with the Mets. Between 1994 and , Stinnett played in the majors for the Mets, Milwaukee Brewers,

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Kansas City Royals. He made a return to the Diamondbacks on December 13, 2004, when he was signed to a minor league contract. Stinnett made his return to the major leagues on May 28, , in a 5-4 win against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. In late November 2005, Stinnett signed a one-year deal with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. Stinnett was designated for assignment by the Yankees on July 26, , after the Yankees traded for Phillies' back-up catcher Sal Fasano. On August 24, 2006, Stinnett signed a minor league contract with the Mets. He made his return to

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

as a Met on September 9, 2006 against the

, and went 1-3. He finished September with a .083

, and was not included on the 2006

postseason roster. On February 17, , he signed a minor league deal with the

. On June 3, 2007, he was picked up by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for cash considerations. On June 28, 2013, Stinnett was named manager of the Montezuma Federals, a minor league team based in

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona ...

, with the

Freedom Pro Baseball League The Freedom Pro Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in Arizona that played in 2012 and 2013. The league started with four teams, the Scottsdale Centennials, Peoria Explorers, Phoenix Prospectors, and the Prescott Federals in ...

. On April 22, 2015, Stinnett was named the head coach of the Watertown Bucks in their inaugural season in the East Coast Baseball League. Stinnett resigned July 5, 2015 as manager of the Watertown Bucks. , Stinnett is the head baseball coach at

Park University Park University is a private university in Parkville, Missouri. It was founded in 1875. In the fall of 2017, Park had an enrollment of 11,457 students. History The school which was originally called Park College was founded in 1875 by John A ...

's Gilbert, Arizona, campus.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stinnett, Kelly Baseball players from Oklahoma 1970 births Living people Seminole State Trojans baseball players Sportspeople from Lawton, Oklahoma Major League Baseball catchers New York Mets players Milwaukee Brewers players Arizona Diamondbacks players Cincinnati Reds players Philadelphia Phillies players Kansas City Royals players New York Yankees players St. Louis Cardinals players Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players New Orleans Zephyrs players Louisville Bats players Tucson Sidewinders players Norfolk Tides players Las Vegas 51s players Memphis Redbirds players Park–Gilbert Buccaneers baseball coaches