Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967) is an American former professional

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 ...

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 ...

. Karros played in

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 (A ...

(MLB) from 1991 to 2004 for 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) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

. He was the

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

in 1992 and won a

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters ...

in 1995. Karros currently works as a sportscaster, covering the Dodgers on Spectrum SportsNet LA.

Early life

Karros was born in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jer ...

, and graduated from Patrick Henry High School in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. He attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, where he played on the Bruins baseball team and, in 1993, earned a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

Playing career

Los Angeles Dodgers

Karros was selected by the

in the sixth round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. He made his Major League debut as a pinch runner on September 1, 1991, against the

. He made his first start, at

first base 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 ...

, on September 4, 1991, against the St. Louis Cardinals, when he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Karros recorded his first Major League hit as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

in the bottom of the 12th inning against

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

pitcher Milt Hill on September 16, 1991. It was a two-run RBI double to left field, his only hit in 14 batting appearances during the 1991 season. In his first at-bat of the 1992 season, on April 9 against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, Karros hit a two-run shot to deep left field off of

Craig Lefferts Craig Lindsay Lefferts (born September 29, 1957) is a German-American former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and California Angels ...

for his first career

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 ...

. He became a full-time starter for the Dodgers that season, appearing in 149 games and hitting 20 home runs while driving in 88 runs. He was named the 1992

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Rookie of the Year. Karros put up consistent numbers throughout his career with the Dodgers, with a batting average just under .270 and an average of almost 25 home runs a year. He became the third Dodgers player in history to record 30 home runs and 100 RBI in five different seasons (alongside

Duke Snider Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (M ...

and Gil Hodges). Karros also remains the only player in Dodgers history to hit two homers in the same inning, accomplishing the feat on August 22, 2000. was his best statistical year with the Dodgers, when he hit .304 with 34 home runs and 112 RBI. His career 270 home runs as a Los Angeles Dodger are the most since the team moved to Los Angeles, and third in all-time Dodgers history.

Chicago Cubs

On December 2, 2002, he was traded along with

Mark Grudzielanek Mark James Grudzielanek (; born June 30, 1970) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop. Grudzielanek played for six different teams during his 15-season career. He batted and threw right-handed. He was most recently the m ...

to the

in exchange for

Todd Hundley Todd Randolph Hundley (born May 27, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He was a two-time All-Star who played for 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Early life Hundley was born i ...

and

Chad Hermansen Chad Bruce Hermansen (born September 10, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Career Hermansen played amateur ball as a shortstop at Green Valley High School of Henderson, Nevada, and the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the firs ...

. Karros started the season as the Cubs' backup first baseman but took over the role at the beginning of June after

Hee-seop Choi Hee-seop Choi (; Hangul: 최희섭; Hanja: 崔熙燮; ; born March 16, 1979) is a South Korean former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers ...

was injured in a collision with Cubs teammate

Kerry Wood Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. Wood first came to prominence as a 20-year-old ro ...

. After playing the season with the Cubs he was granted free agency from the team at the end of the year. In 114 games with the Cubs, he hit .286 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

Oakland Athletics

He then signed with the

before the start of the season. Karros’ final MLB game was on July 21, 2004, and he was released by the Athletics on August 3, 2004. He only appeared in 40 games with the team, hitting .194 with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Career statistics

In 15 postseason games, in the 1995, 1996 and 2003

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ...

and 2003

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

Karros batted .300 (15-for-50) with nine runs, four home runs and six RBI.

Highlights

*1992 National League Rookie of the Year *1995 National League Silver Slugger Award at First Base *Finished 5th in voting for 1995 National League MVP *Los Angeles Dodgers Career Sacrifice Flies Leader (74) *Second-most career home runs for a Player Born in New Jersey (284) *Second-most career home runs (behind

Tim Salmon Timothy James Salmon (born August 24, 1968), nicknamed "King Fish", is an American former professional baseball player and current sportcaster. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to with the Anaheim Angels as an ...

) for any player in MLB history who never appeared in the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

Broadcasting career

Karros works as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for baseball on Fox. He previously worked for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

in 2004 doing the pregame shows for the Major League Baseball playoffs, and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

until 2006 as a studio and game analyst. He previously worked on

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the CBS ...

in Los Angeles, where he did the pre-game show for Dodger games. Karros was a co-broadcaster in the MLB: The Show titles, debuting on '' MLB 11: The Show'', commentating with Matt Vasgersian, Dave Campbell and Steve Lyons. Karros was hired to call regional games for '' Fox Saturday Baseball'' in 2007. He was promoted to the secondary team in 2011, primarily calling games with

Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American television sportscaster. He is the son of former Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman. Broadcasting career After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati's Anderson High Sch ...

. In March 2014, it was announced that Brennaman and Karros would continue to call FOX games together, and the pair called the first regular season game ever on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

. In March 2022, Karros returned to his Dodger broadcasting post as he joined the Spectrum SportsNet LA network.

Personal life

Karros and his wife Trish have three children. Their sons Kyle and Jared both 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 pl ...

. Jared was selected by the Dodgers in the

2022 MLB Draft The 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 ...

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacThe Baseball GaugeVenezuela Winter League

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karros, Eric 1967 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from New Jersey Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball broadcasters Great Falls Dodgers players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Los Angeles Dodgers announcers Los Angeles Dodgers Legend Bureau Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Oakland Athletics players Sportspeople from Hackensack, New Jersey San Antonio Missions players San Bernardino Stampede players UCLA Bruins baseball players University of California, Los Angeles alumni Silver Slugger Award winners