Stephen John Fireovid (born June 6, 1957), 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, who 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) for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

, and Texas Rangers, in all or part of six seasons, between and . He never pitched in more than 10 games in any one MLB season.

Career

He played college baseball at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

, from to . In 1977, 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

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

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 ...

. In , while pitching for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

’ Triple-A affiliate

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

, Fireovid composed a journal of his experiences. The journal was turned into a book, ''The 26th Man: One Minor League Pitcher's Pursuit of a Dream'', in 1991. The book was co-authored by

Mark Winegardner Mark Winegardner (born November 24, 1961) is an American writer born and raised in Bryan, Ohio. His novels include '' The Godfather Returns'', ''Crooked River Burning'', and ''The Veracruz Blues''. He published a collection of short stories, '' ...

. Fireovid's career is also profiled with a chapter in the book ''Journeymen: 24 Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers'' by Kurt Dusterberg. In 1995, Fireovid was a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an sportsperson, athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a Strike action, strike or Lockout (industry), lockout, serving as a strikebre ...

in spring training for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

during the ongoing strike. Fireovid was initially married to Patty, with whom he has three children, Joseph, Samuel, and Thomas. Subsequently, he wed Michele and had two children, Adam and Rachel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fireovid, Steve 1957 births Living people Amarillo Gold Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Ohio Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Chicago White Sox players People from Bryan, Ohio Falmouth Commodores players Hawaii Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Miami RedHawks baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Royals players Oklahoma City 89ers players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Reno Silver Sox players San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players Syracuse Chiefs players Texas Rangers players Walla Walla Padres players