Kelly Brian Shoppach (pronounced SHOP-ick; born April 29, 1980) 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 ...

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 cat ...

. He 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) 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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 , they have ...

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

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 lea ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

High school career

Shoppach attended Brewer High School in White Settlement, Texas, and was a student and a letterman in baseball and football. In football, he played quarterback, running back and linebacker, was a three-time all-district selection and as a senior, he was named the district's most valuable player.

College career

Shoppach attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of th ...

, where he played three seasons of

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 ...

for the Baylor Bears baseball team. For the Bears, he hit .333 (168-for-505) with 26 home runs and 121 RBIs. He recorded a .993 career

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

, with seven

errors An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

in 953 total chances. In 2000, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Shoppach began his junior season in 2001 by being named the Most Outstanding Player of the

Houston College Classic The Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic is an annual six-team college baseball tournament held in Houston and hosted by the Astros Foundation. The 15th annual tournament was held at Minute Maid Park in March 2015. It was initially ca ...

. He hit .397 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs in 69 games for the season. He also posted a .998 fielding percentage with only one error in 406 chances. After the season, Shoppach received the

Johnny Bench Award The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, was created in 2000 to honor college baseball's top catcher in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The award is administered by the Greater Wichita Area S ...

as the nation's top collegiate catcher. In addition to being selected "Big 12 Player of the Year", Shoppach was named First Team All-America in 2001 by ''Baseball America'', ''Baseball Weekly'', ''Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball'' and the ''

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nat ...

''.

Career

Boston Red Sox

The

selected Shoppach in the second round of the

2001 Major League Baseball Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ...

. In , playing for 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 ...

in the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

, Shoppach appeared in a career-best 101

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

behind the plate for Pawtucket and threw out 35 of 101 potential base stealers (34.7 percent) on his way to a spot on the International League's end-of-season All-Star Team. He also set a single-season home run record for Pawtucket catchers with 21 and also hit one 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 t ...

. His 22 homers matched his previous career total over two years and 208 games. Shoppach added career bests with 62 runs scored and a .461

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

.47 of his 93

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

(51 percent) went for extra bases. On May 26, , Shoppach was recalled from Pawtucket. He was hitless in 15 at-bats with seven strikeouts. Kelly Shoppach

Cleveland Indians

On January 27, 2006, Shoppach was traded from the Red Sox to the

, along with

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

prospect Andy Marte,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the 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 dr ...

Guillermo Mota, a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

, and cash considerations. The Indians in turn sent

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Coco Crisp Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp (born November 1, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and MiLB team manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland ...

, catcher Josh Bard, and pitcher

David Riske David Richard Riske ( ; born October 23, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Career Riske was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 56th round of the June amateur draft. In January , he was traded along with outfielder Coc ...

to the Red Sox. The Indians received minor league pitcher Randy Newsom from the Red Sox to complete the trade. He did better in 2006 after the trade. He went 27 for 110. On June 26, 2007, Shoppach hit a pinch-hit 3-run walk off home run to defeat the

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 ...

8–5. On July 30, 2008, Shoppach became the second American League player in history, and eighth player overall in

, to record five extra-base hits in a game. He had three doubles and two home runs (including a game-tying HR in the ninth inning) 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He came to bat twice in extra innings with a chance to get a sixth extra-base hit, but he was intentionally walked in the 10th and struck out in the 12th inning. The Indians lost, 14–12, in 13 innings. On April 16, 2009, Shoppach drove in the first-ever run at the new Yankee Stadium, his fourth-inning double driving in

Ben Francisco Louis Benjamin Francisco (born October 23, 1981), is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who is currently a major league scout for the Los Angeles Angels. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Philade ...

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 1, 2009, Shoppach was traded from the

to the

for pitcher Mitch Talbot. On July 26, 2010, Shoppach caught a no hitter thrown by Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays. In the 2011 offseason the Rays signed former Red Sox teammates

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

and Johnny Damon. On September 30, 2011, Shoppach, in the first game of the

2011 American League Division Series The 2011 American League Division Series (abbreviated ALDS) were two best-of-five playoffs comprising the opening round of the Major League Baseball postseason, played to determine the participating teams in the 2011 American League Championsh ...

against the Texas Rangers, hit two home runs, accounting for 5 RBIs. Kelly Shoppach on May 23, 2012

Return to Red Sox

On December 13, 2011 Shoppach signed a 1-year, $1.35 million contract with the Red Sox with up to $400K in incentives. He began serving as the backup to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, replacing retired Red Sox Captain

Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded ...

and allowing prospect Ryan Lavarnway to return to the AAA

to further his minor league development.

New York Mets

On August 14, 2012, Shoppach was traded from the Red Sox to the

for a

, later identified as

Pedro Beato Pedro Beato (born October 27, 1986) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies. Early life Beato was born in Sa ...

. On August 17 he had his first home run as a Met.

Seattle Mariners

Shoppach signed with the

for 2013. The Mariners also signed former teammate from the Mets

Jason Bay Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978) is a Canadian-American former professional baseball left fielder. Bay played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Seattle ...

. He was designated for assignment on June 14 after Henry Blanco was signed. In 35 games with Seattle, Shoppach batted only a .196 batting average. He was given his release on June 20.

Washington Nationals

Shoppach signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

on July 3, 2013 and went to Triple-A Syracuse. He opted out of his contract and became a free agent July 31.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Shoppach signed a minor league contract with the

on August 12, 2013 and was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis. He was released August 28.

Second stint with Indians

Shoppach signed a minor league contract with the

on August 30, 2013. He became a free agent after the 2013 season.

Awards and highlights

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox sys ...

player of the year () *International League All-Star () *Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Month (April 2005) *2005 Pawtucket Red Sox Player of the Year *Led AL in Hit By Pitch (2009) * Caught Matt Garza's no hitter (July 26, 2010) *8th player to record five extra-base hits in a game (July 30, 2008)

References

External links

*
SoxProspects.com BioMinor League Splits and Situational Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoppach, Kelly 1980 births Living people Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians players Tampa Bay Rays players New York Mets players Seattle Mariners players Major League Baseball catchers Baylor Bears baseball players Harwich Mariners players Baseball players from Texas People from Fort Worth, Texas Sarasota Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Durham Bulls players Syracuse Chiefs players Indianapolis Indians players Columbus Clippers players All-American college baseball players