Stephen Blair Stanicek (born June 19, 1961) 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 ...

player. He played parts of two seasons in the majors, for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

and for 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 ...

. He played 13 games, twelve as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

and one 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 ...

. He was primarily a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in his professional career, but never played the field in the major leagues.

Amateur career

Stanicek was drafted out of

Rich East High School Rich East High School or REHS was a public four-year high school located in Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago in the United States. Rich East's campus serves the cities of Park Forest, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights ...

Park Forest, Illinois Park Forest is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, Will County. The village was originally designed by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Loebl Schlossman & ...

in the 16th round of the 1979 MLB Draft by 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 ...

. He opted to play collegiate baseball for the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

. In 1981, 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 ...

and was named a league all-star. He was selected in the first round of the 1982 MLB Draft by the

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

Professional career

In a Sept. 16 game at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

, with the visiting Brewers trailing in the seventh inning, Steve Stanicek came to bat for the first time, pinch-hitting. He reached safely against Yankee pitcher

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "the Bionic Man," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Ch ...

on an error, and Milwaukee rallied for three runs in the inning and a 5-4 victory. Two nights later, Stanicek got his first big-league hit. He was a pinch-hitter again, this time in the ninth inning of a game at Tiger Stadium in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

that the Brewers were losing 7-1. After a two-run

Dale Sveum Dale Curtis Sveum ( ; born November 23, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He most recently served as the bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. As a player, Sveum saw action in 12 major league seasons b ...

home run, Stanicek was sent up against

Willie Hernández Guillermo "Willie" Hernández Villanueva (November 14, 1954 – November 20, 2023) was a Puerto Rican baseball relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. He won both the American League Cy Young Award and the American League Most Valuable Playe ...

with a teammate on base and delivered a single. Next batter

Paul Molitor Paul Leo Molitor (born August 22, 1956), nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. During his 21-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1 ...

hit a three-run homer to make it 7-6 and knock Hernandez out of the game, but that's how the game ended.

Personal life

Steve is the brother of fellow former major leaguer

Pete Stanicek Peter Louis Stanicek (born April 18, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball player. Primarily a second baseman and left fielder, Stanicek was a member of the Baltimore Orioles in 1987 and 1988. He was and weighed . He was a switch-hitter and th ...

. The brothers made their Major League debuts 15 days apart in 1987. Stanicek had a successful career as a high school coach in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area and was a head coach at

Glenbrook South High School Glenbrook South High School, or GBS, is a public four-year high school located in Glenview, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Northfield Township High School District, which also includes Glenbrook North H ...

Glenview, Illinois Glenview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop. Per the 2020 census, the population was 48,705. The Village of Glenview is governed by New Trier and Northfield townships. According ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanicek, Steve Major League Baseball designated hitters Milwaukee Brewers players Philadelphia Phillies players Fresno Giants players Shreveport Captains players El Paso Diablos players Denver Zephyrs players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Wareham Gatemen players Baseball players from Lake County, Illinois 1961 births Living people American people of Polish descent All-American college baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen