Richmond Lockwood Sexson (born December 29, 1974), nicknamed "Big Sexy", is an American former

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 ...

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 ...

who played for five teams from 1997 to 2008. He is also the field manager for the Windy City ThunderBolts in the West division of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

Amateur career

Sexson was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

. At Prairie High School in

Brush Prairie, Washington Brush Prairie is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,652 at the 2010 census, up from 2,384 at the 2000 census. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of afflue ...

, Sexson was an All-State performer in baseball, basketball, and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. He also set the school record for the most RBI and

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 in a career.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Sexson was drafted in 1993 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 , they have ...

in the 24th round (671st overall) of the baseball amateur draft. He reached the major leagues with five games in 1997. Sexson had a breakout year in 1999 with 31

s, and 116

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 b ...

in 134 games.

Milwaukee Brewers

In 2000, Sexson was traded to the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

with 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 ...

, for Bob Wickman,

Steve Woodard Steven Larry Woodard (born May 15, 1975) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1997 until 2003, for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Boston Red ...

, and

Jason Bere Jason Phillip Bere (born May 26, 1971) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and bullpen coach. He played in Major League Baseball for parts of 11 seasons from 1993 to 2003, for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Bre ...

. In 2001, his 45 home runs tied the Brewers record set by Gorman Thomas in 1979. His 178 strikeouts also broke the Brewers record, but this was surpassed the following season by

José Hernández José Hernández may refer to: Arts and entertainment * José Hernández (writer) (1834–1886), Argentine writer * Pepe Hern (José Hernández Bethencourth, 1927–2009), American actor * José Hernández, American singer (born 1940), better known ...

. On September 25, 2001, Sexson and teammate

Jeromy Burnitz Jeromy Neal Burnitz (born April 15, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player. Burnitz was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Mets (1993–94, 2002–03), Cleveland Indians (1995–96), Milwaukee B ...

each hit three home runs in a 9-4 win against the

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 ...

. It was the first and, as of the 2021 season, only time that two players hit three home runs in the same game, let alone two teammates. In 2002, Sexson represented the Brewers in the

MLB All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

which was played in Milwaukee. In 2003, he played in all 162 games and again tied the Brewers record of 45 home runs while hitting .272 and earning a selection to the

2003 MLB All-Star Game The 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 74th midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and celebrated the 70th anniversary of th ...

Prince Fielder Prince Semien Fielder (born May 9, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected in ...

broke Sexson's and Thomas's team record in 2007, hitting 50 home runs. Sexson was the first of three players in Brewers history to have 100 or more RBIs in three consecutive seasons along with Fielder in 2007–2009 and

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and fi ...

in 2008–10.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Sexson was traded to the

in December 2003 along with pitcher

Shane Nance Joseph Shane Nance (born September 7, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played parts of three seasons in the majors, from to with the Milwaukee Brewers and in with the Arizona Diamondbacks. College career Nance atten ...

and a player to be named later (Noochie Varner) for

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Junior Spivey Ernest Lee "Junior" Spivey Jr. (born January 28, 1975) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. In his five-year major league career, Spivey batted .270 with 48 home runs and 201 runs batted in in 457 games. He made the Nationa ...

Craig Counsell Craig John Counsell (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player who is the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Counsell became the Brewers' manager in May 2015; he became the longest-te ...

Lyle Overbay Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, New York Yan ...

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 ...

Chad Moeller Chad Edward Moeller OE-ler(born February 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000 through 2010 for the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinna ...

, and

pitchers 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 draw a ...

Chris Capuano Christopher Frank Capuano (born August 19, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher whose professional playing career spanned from 2000 through 2016. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwauk ...

and

Jorge de la Rosa Jorge Alberto de la Rosa Gonzalez (born April 5, 1981) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago ...

. This trade proved to be disastrous for the Diamondbacks, as Sexson missed most of the 2004 season after twice suffering a reverse

subluxation A subluxation is an incomplete or partial dislocation of a joint or organ. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a subluxation is a "significant structural displacement", and is therefore always visible on static imaging studies, suc ...

of his left shoulder while attempting to check his swing.

Seattle Mariners

Prior to the 2005 season, Sexson signed a four-year contract with the

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 ...

worth $50 million. Sexson played well in the 2005 season, hitting 39 home runs and 121 RBI and put up similar numbers the following year, hitting 34 home runs and 107 RBI. However, Sexson struggled mightily in the 2007 season, batting .205 with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs, and again in the 2008 season, hitting just .218 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs for Seattle. On May 8, 2008, in a game against the Texas Rangers, Sexson charged the mound towards Rangers

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Kason Gabbard Kason Ronald Gabbard (born April 8, 1982) is a former American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers. High school Gabbard played high school baseball at Royal Palm B ...

and threw his batting helmet at him after Gabbard threw a head-high pitch over the middle of the plate, to which Sexson reacted as if it had hit him. Sexson later stated he was frustrated and had a lot going on in his head, including his son being in the hospital and his club's recent struggles. He was suspended six games for the incident. He later appealed the suspension, and it was dropped to five games. On July 10, 2008, Sexson was released by the Mariners.

New York Yankees

On July 18, 2008, Sexson signed with the New York Yankees. Sexson did well in his Yankee debut, by collecting his first hit as a Yankee in the first inning with a single and also bringing in

Bobby Abreu Bob Kelly Abreu (; ; born March 11, 1974), nicknamed "El Comedulce" and also "La Leche", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New Y ...

for the first

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

that inning. He went 1–3 with one RBI, one

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

, and one strikeout. His only home run (a grand slam) as a New York Yankee came on August 5, 2008, against the Texas Rangers. Sexson was designated for assignment on August 15, 2008, after batting .250 with one home run in 22 games for New York. He was released on August 24, 2008.

Windy City ThunderBolts (Independent Baseball)

On October 20, 2022 Sexson was announced as the new field manager of the ThunderBolts. This is the first professional managerial position for Sexson after coaching at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon. Sexson's first coaching staff hire was Chris Coleman as the third base coach and infield coordinator.

Personal life

In May 2005, Sexson pleaded guilty in

Clark County, Washington Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the first c ...

to second degree negligent driving after initially being charged with drunk driving. He was ordered to pay a $538 fine. Sexson recently lived in

Ridgefield, Washington Ridgefield is a city in northern Clark County, Washington, Clark County, Washington (state), Washington. The population was 10,319 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 4,763 in 2010 United States census, 2010, making ...

with his wife Kerry. Since 2014, he has been a baseball coach at Summit High School in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U ...

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Sexson, Richie 1974 births Living people Baseball players from Portland, Oregon People from Ridgefield, Washington Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders National League All-Stars Cleveland Indians players Milwaukee Brewers players Arizona Diamondbacks players Seattle Mariners players New York Yankees players Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Canton-Akron Indians players Kinston Indians players