Ronald Joseph Karkovice (born August 8, 1963) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in the 1st round of the 1982

MLB 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 ...

amateur draft, Karkovice would make his

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 ...

debut with the Chicago White Sox on August 17, 1986, and appeared in his final game on September 26, 1997. Based on Karkovice's great defensive prowess in throwing out baserunners attempting to steal bases, White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson nicknamed him "Officer Karkovice," jokingly warning opponents that the catcher would catch them stealing.

Early life

When Karkovice was seven years old, his family moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

after his father, who worked for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

, was transferred. He began playing baseball in Little League at age eight. Karkovice later attended

Boone High School Boone High School is a public high school located in Boone, Iowa, United States. The school's mascot is the Toreadors, and their colors are red and green. It is part of the Boone Community School District. Athletics The Toreadors compete in ...

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, where he first started catching at 14, and was teammates with Joe Oliver. He was named to the 1982 ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America First Team. Karkovice was inducted into Boone's Hall of Fame in 2004.

Playing career

Karkovice was one of the best fielding catchers in the Major Leagues during his time with the White Sox. For his career, he threw out 41% of base stealers. In 1993, he threw out 54% of them. On August 30, 1990, Karkovice hit an inside-the-park grand slam off of

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

pitcher David West at the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League's (NFL) ...

Coaching career

In 2001 Karkovice managed the

Gulf Coast League Royals The Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals were a minor league baseball franchise in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League from 1971–1978, 1982–1983 and 1985–2002. The club was owned and operated by the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. The ...

. He then coached the First Academy baseball team in Orlando in an assistant capacity, before moving on as head coach for Pine Castle Christian Academy. From 2009 to 2011, Karkovice served as hitting coach for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

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 ...

. In 2012, Karkovice was named bench coach for the

Camden Riversharks The Camden Riversharks were an United States, American professional baseball team based in Camden, New Jersey, from 2001 to 2015. They were a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, then unaffiliated with ...

, another Atlantic League team. He was promoted to manager of the club the next year.

Personal life

He is married to Kimberly Fuller Karkovice. In the 1990s, Karkovice was an early investor in Stix Baseball, a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

manufacturer that was eventually bought by Easton. Karkovice opened Ronnie's Big League Deli in Orlando in November 2003. Professional baseball pitcher

Jake Brigham Jacob Daniel Brigham (born February 10, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2015 with the Atlanta Braves, and has also played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagle ...

is Karkovice's nephew.

References

External links