Steven Clark Ellsworth (born July 30, 1960) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in . He is the son of former MLB pitcher, Dick Ellsworth. Towering over most of his teammates at 6'8" tall (and 220 pounds), this right-hander attended Bullard High School in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. He then went on to attend

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as o ...

and

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semeste ...

. He was drafted twice in 1980, once by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in the seventh round and once 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in the third round. He didn't sign either time. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the 1981 draft, 9th overall. This time, he did sign. His professional career started that year, though he appeared in only one professional game, with the low-A

Elmira Pioneers The Elmira Pioneers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They have been affiliated with many major league teams throughout their history. Currently, Elmira Pioneers play as members of the Perfect Game Collegiate Base ...

of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. In that one game, he gave up two runs in one inning pitched, while walking two and striking out zero. Between 1981 and 1988, he was used both as a starter and a reliever in the minors. In 1983 with the

Winston-Salem Red Sox Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he went 13-8 with a 3.29 ERA in 164+ innings as a starter. In 1986 with the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

, he went 6-2 with a 3.36 ERA in 83 innings of work as a reliever. On April 7, 1988 at the age of 27, he made his Major League debut. He pitched two innings that game, giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs. He struck out two, but still earned a loss. The rest of his career didn't fare him too well either – overall, he went 1 and 6 with a 6.75 ERA in 36 innings. He gave up seven home runs, walked 16 and struck out 16. He also hit one batter and threw one wild pitch. Perhaps the best start of his career was his second: On April 16, 1988, he gave up only one run while striking out five in seven innings against the Texas Rangers. Even though he pitched well that game, he still got the loss. His only win came on April 21 against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. In the field, he made no errors for a

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

of 1.000. Ellsworth played his final game on July 8, 1988.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellsworth, Steve Boston Red Sox players Winston-Salem Spirits players Pawtucket Red Sox players Winter Haven Red Sox players Elmira Pioneers players New Britain Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Clovis, California Baseball players from Fresno County, California Fresno City Rams baseball players Cal State Northridge Matadors baseball players Baseball players from Chicago 20th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links