Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He played as a second baseman in

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 (AL) ...

from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member 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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

with whom he won two world championships in and . A five-time All-Star player, Sax was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1982 and won the Silver Slugger Award in 1986. He also played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

. Sax currently hosts on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

's MLB Network Radio.

Career

Sax starred at James Marshall High School (now known as River City High School) in

West Sacramento, California West Sacramento (also known as West Sac) is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. The city is separated from Sacramento by the Sacramento River, which also separates Sacramento and Yolo counties. It is a fast-growing community; the p ...

, from 1975 to 1978. The

selected Sax in the ninth round of the 1978 MLB draft. Sax was a late season call up in 1981, playing 31 games. Sax broke into the majors as a regular in 1982, earning the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Rookie of the Year award. Throughout his career, Sax was on the All-Star team five times and had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

over .300 in three seasons. He had great success on the basepaths,

stealing Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

over 40 bases in six different seasons, finishing with a career total of 444 stolen bases. His best year arguably came in 1986, when he finished second in the NL with a .332 batting average, 210 base hits, and 43 doubles and won a Silver Slugger Award. He also set the Yankees team record for most singles in a season (171 in 1989). Sax has two

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

s, both with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 and 1988. Sax was also a higher-up in the Players Association during his career.

Steve Sax Syndrome

Though never regarded as one of the top fielding second basemen in the league, Steve Sax inexplicably became incapable of making routine throws to first base in 1983, committing 30 errors that season. This is referred to in baseball terminology as "Steve Sax Syndrome", the fielder's variant of " Steve Blass disease," named after the Pirates pitcher who suffered a similar breakdown of basic mechanics (also known as "The

Yips In sports, the yips (in gymnastics, lost move syndrome or the twisties) are a sudden and unexplained loss of ability to execute certain skills in experienced athletes. Symptoms of the yips are losing fine motor skills and psychological issues that ...

"). As his accuracy suffered, fans sitting behind the first base dugout began wearing batting helmets as mock protection. (Teammate Pedro Guerrero, an

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 c ...

pressed into service at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in 1983, once reportedly stated that his first thought whenever he was in the field was "I hope they don't hit it to me", while his second thought was "I hope they don't hit it to Sax.") By 1989, however, Sax seemed to be completely "cured", leading the American League in both

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

and

double plays In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leagu ...

Post-career

Sax piloted a new networking site called allsportsconnection.com. Sax has made television cameos, including the " Homer at the Bat" episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', as well as episodes of '' Square Pegs'', '' Who's the Boss'', ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...

'' and '' Sabrina The Teenage Witch''. He has also been on the Fox News show ''

Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American conservative television political talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that air on Fridays are pre-recorded, with a repeat ...

''. Sax played a supporting character in the 1998 movie '' Ground Control''. He briefly ran for a seat in the California State Assembly 5th District as a Republican in 1996. Sax later dropped out of the race, when his divorce became publicized. A

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

, he was also a part-owner of a martial arts studio in

Roseville, California Roseville is the most populous city in Placer County, California, located within the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of 2019, the US Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 141,500. Interstate 80 runs through Roseville and State Rout ...

. He worked as a financial consultant for

RBC Dain Rauscher Dain Rauscher Wessels was a brokerage and investment banking firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm traced its origins to a number of smaller regional securities firms founded in the 1920s and 1930s. In 2000, Dain Rauscher Wessels was a ...

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

, in their Roseville, California office. He had approximately 25 to 30 clients, including several athletes. He was a partner in the Sax/Hinman Sports Professional Group at RBC Dain Rauscher providing professional wealth management for sports professionals at every level of all professional sports. In December 2012 he was named the first base coach for 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 Diamondbacks fired Sax on October 8, 2013. As of 2015, Sax returned to the

organization as an Alumnus member of the team's Community Relations team. Sax currently hosts

's MLB Network Radio.

Personal life

Steve is the brother of another former Major League Baseball player,

Dave Sax David John Sax (born September 22, 1958) is a former Major League Baseball player and the older brother of All-Star second baseman Steve Sax. He played as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1982–83) and Boston Red Sox (1985–87) in his br ...

, who also played for the Dodgers. He is the father of Lauren Ashley (Sax) Boyd and son John Jeremy Sax. His nephew David Sax Jr. (son of Dave Sax) was seen on an episode of '' Intervention'' in 2015. His son John, a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

, was one of five Marines killed in a

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

training accident near

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

on June 8, 2022.🖉

References

External links