Kevin Douglas Stocker (born February 13, 1970) is an American former
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 ...
shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...
and
switch hitter
In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers, although there are some exceptions.
Characteristics
Right-han ...
. Stocker played with the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
(1993–1997),
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...
(1998–2000) and
Anaheim Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...
(2000).
A 1988 graduate of
Central Valley High School in
Spokane Valley
The Spokane Valley is a valley of the Spokane River through the southern Selkirk Mountains in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington.
The valley is home to the cities of Spokane and its suburbs Spokane Valley, Washington, Spokane Vall ...
, Stocker attended the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, where he played
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...
for the
Huskies from 1989–1991.
Stocker was also a member of the fraternity
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...
.
Stocker was selected by Philadelphia in the
1991 MLB draft
The 1991 Major League Baseball draft began 3 June 1991 to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 1990 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be distributed for players who did ...
, taken in the second round with the 54th overall selection. He made his major league debut in
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
on July 7 at
Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating ca ...
in a marathon game that lasted 6 hours and 10 minutes. Stocker played all 20 innings in the defeat of 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
7-6. Stocker had nine
plate appearance
In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...
s in the game, the most by any player in his Major League debut. , no other player has had more than seven.
In his rookie season, Stocker
batted .324 with two
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s and 31
RBI in 70 games. He was the regular Phillies shortstop through the 1997 season. In 1997 he enjoyed his best season, compiling career-highs in
games played
Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.
Associat ...
(149),
runs (51),
doubles (23) and
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...
s (11), adding five
triples
TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...
, four homers and 41 RBI.
During the 1997 expansion draft, Stocker was traded to Tampa Bay in exchange for
Bobby Abreu
Bob Kelly Abreu (; ; born March 11, 1974), nicknamed "El Comedulce" and "La Leche", is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Ne ...
. After two-plus seasons, he was released and signed with Anaheim. In an eight-season career, Stocker batted .254 with 23 home runs and 248 RBI. He now owns an Emerald City Smoothie franchise in
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
.
Post-playing career
Stocker has served as a color analyst for 14 seasons (as of 2014). He is currently in his second season with the
Pac-12 Network
The Pac-12 Network (P12N), sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks, was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities were headquartere ...
, after a stint with
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...
.
In January 2018, it was announced that Stocker would be serving as a part-time color analyst for Phillies radio broadcasts during the 2018 season. Stocker rejoined the radio broadcast team on a part-time basis again in 2022.
His role expanded in 2023, handling the vast majority of Phillies away games and home broadcasts in which
Larry Andersen
Larry Eugene Andersen (born May 6, 1953) is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball and current radio color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies. From through , Andersen played for the Cleveland Indians (1975, , ), Sea ...
is not available.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stocker, Kevin
1970 births
Living people
Philadelphia Phillies players
Tampa Bay Devil Rays players
Anaheim Angels players
Baseball players from Spokane, Washington
Major League Baseball shortstops
Washington Huskies baseball players
Spartanburg Phillies players
Clearwater Phillies players
Reading Phillies players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players
St. Petersburg Devil Rays players
Las Vegas 51s players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Philadelphia Phillies announcers