Nicholas Lee Stavinoha (born May 3, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) from 2008 to 2010 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Early life

He played football and baseball at

Jersey Village High School Jersey Village High School is located in Jersey Village, Texas, United States, in the Houston metropolitan area. The school, which serves grades nine through twelve, is a part of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Maggie Wiley serves as its principal, ...

(Graduated in 2000) before attending the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

for football. He later transferred to

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College () is a public community college in the Greater Houston area, with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Chan ...

and played there for two seasons as a catcher. While at San Jacinto, Stavinoha hit 49 Home Runs and is a member of the Golden Anniversary all 50 Greatest JUCO World Series Participants. Stavinoha went on to attend

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. In 2003, 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

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

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 1,000 forme ...

. He is one of the few players in college baseball to participate in both the JUCO World Series in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

(twice) and also at the NCAA D1 World Series in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Stavinoha was drafted by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, but did not sign. He was drafted again by the

in the 7th round, with the 230th overall selection, of

2005 Major League Baseball draft The 2005 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory. ''SourceMajor L ...

, and signed. He hit for a .337 average with 16 home runs for the Cardinals' Triple–A affiliate, the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

in . He hit .261 with 13 home runs in 2007 while stealing seven bases, also at Memphis. He hit .297 with 12 home runs at Double–A Springfield in 2006. That batting average ranked fourth among all Cardinal minor league players that played a full season. In 2005, he hit .344 with 14 home runs in 65 games at Single–A Quad Cities in 2005 as a 23–year–old. He has 55 career minor league home runs. He also has a career average of .304 in the minors. Stavinoha made his big-league debut on June 22, , as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

, and getting the first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

of his major league career against 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

. On November 19, 2010, Stavinoha was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A Memphis. He became a free agent after the 2011 season.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

On November 9, 2011, Stavinoha signed a minor league contract with the

that included an invitation to spring training. However, he was released on December 14, in order to sign with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. In 52 games for the Carp in 2012, Stavinoha batted .238/.324/.431 with nine home runs and 24 RBI. In 2013, he played in 14 games for Hiroshima's main club, hitting .154/.175/.231 with one home run and three RBI.

Sugar Land Skeeters

Stavinoha signed with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

for the 2014 season, and was named the All–Star Game MVP at midseason. In 90 games for the Skeeters, he slashed .252/.295/.418 with 14 home runs and 54 RBI.

Personal life

Stavinoha resides in

Cypress, Texas Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Route 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty ...

with his wife, Casey, and two daughters.Nick Stavinoha Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights
stlcardinals.com

References

External links

Nick Stavinoha at St. Louis Cardinals.Scout.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stavinoha, Nick 1982 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Houston Memphis Redbirds players St. Louis Cardinals players San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Sugar Land Skeeters players Wareham Gatemen players Peoria Saguaros players Springfield Cardinals players Swing of the Quad Cities players