Robert Elden Caffrey (born January 7, 1962) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Career

Caffrey attended

Loara High School Loara High School is a public four year American high school in the Anaheim Union High School District, located in the Southwest Anaheim region of Anaheim, California. Loara is a Title I school that serves many students from low-income families, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, and

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball The Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team represents California State University, Fullerton in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with the other CSUF athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big West Conference. Since its e ...

team. In the 1984 season, Fullerton won the 1984 College World Series. That year, his 28

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 90

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 ...

were both the fifth-most in college baseball. He played for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. He appeared in the Olympics as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

, catching only four innings, and had a .196

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 ...

. The

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

selected Caffrey in the first round, with the 13th overall selection, of the

1984 MLB Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable players * Jeff Blauser†, 1st round (secondary phase), 4th overall by the Atlanta Braves *Greg Maddux‡, 2nd round, 31st ...

. He received a $100,000 signing bonus from the Expos. He made his professional debut with the

West Palm Beach Expos The West Palm Beach Expos were a Florida State League minor league baseball team which existed from 1969 through the 1997 season in West Palm Beach, Florida. History The West Palm Beach Expos were a Class A affiliate of the Montreal Expos and pla ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Florida State League, and batted .132 in 12 games. In 1985, Caffrey underwent

arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the ...

on his shoulder. He had

reconstructive surgery Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition. Description Reconstructive surgery is a term with training, clinical, and reimbursement implicat ...

performed on his shoulder the next year, and missed the first half of the 1986 season. When he was activated, he played for West Palm Beach. He only appeared in 13 games in 1986. The Expos moved Caffrey to first base in 1987, and he split the season between West Palm Beach and the Burlington Expos of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He hit .243 with 20 home runs combined over the season. In 1988, he was promoted to the Jacksonville Expos of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Southern League, where he served as the backup catcher. He batted .263 with four home runs. The Expos released him during spring training in 1989.

Personal life

Caffrey met his wife in Burlington, Iowa. He worked there in a beer distributing warehouse for a year and a half after his retirement from baseball, and then the couple moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. Caffrey and his wife have two children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caffrey, Bob Living people 1962 births Baseball players from Anaheim, California Baseball catchers West Palm Beach Expos players Burlington Expos players Jacksonville Expos players Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball players Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball