Stephen Christopher Trachsel (born October 31, 1970) 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 ...

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, ...

with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

between 1993 and 2008. He batted and threw right-handed.Wanna Be Sports Guy (July 10, 2010
"Steve Trachsel: The Human Rain Delay"
'The Wanna-Be Sports Guy.''

Amateur career

Trachsel graduated from Troy High School in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

, in 1988. He attended

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest communi ...

and Long Beach State University. In , he led Long Beach to a spot in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

. He was drafted by the

in the eighth round (215th overall)

1991 MLB draft The 1991 Major League Baseball draft began 3 June 1991 to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 1990 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be distributed for players who did ...

Professional career

Minor League Baseball

In , Trachsel began his professional career with the short-season Geneva Cubs and the Class-A Advanced Winston-Salem Spirits. He went a combined 5–4 with a 3.27

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 14 starts. Trachsel was promoted to the Double-A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

of the Southern League in . He was 13–8 with a 3.06 ERA and 135

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

in 29 starts.

Chicago Cubs

He began the season with the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

where he went 13–8 with a 3.95 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 27 games (26 starts). Trachsel was promoted to the Major Leagues in September and made his debut on September 19 against 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 ...

, going seven

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

with five strikeouts while giving up two

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any Run (baseball), run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the ...

and taking the loss. Trachsel would play most of the season with Chicago, pitching just two games in Iowa and going 0–2 with a 10.00 ERA. His major league stats were much better, as he finished 9–7 with a 3.21 ERA in 22 starts. He also had one

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

and struck out 108 total over the season. In , Trachsel spent his first full season at the Major League level. He went 7–13 with a 5.15 ERA, 117 strikeouts and two complete games in 30 games (29 starts). Trachsel was named to the

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

and posted a career-best 3.03 ERA in . He also finished the season with a record of 13–9 with two shutouts, three complete games and 132 strikeouts in 32 starts. His first shutout was a one-hit game against 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 ...

on May 14 where he surrendered the only hit on a lead-off

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

to Brian Hunter. He also made two starts with the Double-A Orlando Cubs, where he went 0–1 with a 2.77 ERA. In , Trachsel started a career-high 34 games with the Cubs, a record he has tied twice. He went 8–12 with a 4.51 ERA and 160 strikeouts. He led the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in home runs allowed and was second in hits allowed. In , Trachsel went 15–8 with an ERA of 4.46, 149 strikeouts and one complete game in 33 starts. On September 8, Trachsel allowed

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

's record breaking 62nd home run, breaking

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (born Maras; September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new List of Major League Baseball p ...

' longtime record of 61. McGwire hit the pitch 341 feet over the left field wall, his shortest of the year. McGwire went on to hit 70 home runs that year. Additionally, Trachsel was the starting and winning pitcher in the Cubs' 5–3 Wild Card tie-breaker game victory over 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 ...

, giving up just one hit through six-plus innings. In , Trachsel's

rose to a career-worst 5.56; his 18 losses were two worse than any pitcher that season. He became a free agent after the season.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

On January 14, 2000, Trachsel signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the

. He began the season going 6–10 with a 4.58 ERA in 23 starts.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 31, 2000, Trachsel was traded to the

along with pitcher Mark Guthrie in exchange for minor league second baseman Brent Abernathy and a player to be named later. In 11 starts with Toronto, Trachsel was 2–5 with a 5.29 ERA. Combined between Tampa Bay and Toronto, he finished 8–15 with a 4.80 ERA in 34 starts.

New York Mets

On December 12, 2000, Trachsel agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract with the

. He got off to a poor start in (including becoming the only pitcher in Mets history to allow four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in one inning), and he was sent to the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

s on May 19. At the time, he had a 1–6 record and a 8.24 ERA. Upon returning to the Mets, his career was reborn. He finished 2001 with an 11–13 record and a 4.46 ERA in 28 starts. He continued to shine in , when he finished 11–11 and had a 3.37 ERA in 30 starts. After entering free agency again following the 2002 season, Trachsel re-signed with the Mets on a two-year, $8 million contract on December 7, 2002. His success continued as he finished 16–10 with a 3.78 ERA in 33 starts in . On August 7, 2003, Trachsel earned the 100th win of his career against the

. Trachsel was even named the National League Player of the Week on August 25, 2003, following a 16.1 inning span in which he allowed no walks, no runs and only six hits. However, after starting well in , he suffered a herniated disc in his back, the first major injury of his career, which also cost him most of the season. He underwent a

discectomy A discectomy (also called open discectomy, if done through a 1/2 inch or larger skin opening) is the surgical removal of abnormal disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord. The procedure involves removing a portion of an int ...

in March 2005, and returned for the final six starts of the season, posting a league-average 4.14 ERA and going 1–4. In , Trachsel recovered to start 30 games and tied

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

for the team lead with 15 wins, despite posting an ERA of 4.97. On September 18, 2006, he had one of his best performances of the season as the Mets clinched the National League Eastern Division Championship. He pitched innings, allowing three hits and three strikeouts in the 4–0 win over the

. He also started the clincher of the NLDS, but was shaky and removed in the fourth inning. In Game 3 of the

NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff, best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Major League Baseball po ...

, he gave up five runs in just one inning before being hit by a hard ground ball. The Mets lost the game 5–0.

Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs

Trachsel was signed by the

as a free agent on February 12, 2007, after Orioles starter and fellow former Mets right-hander Kris Benson was diagnosed with a torn

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

that kept him sidelined for the 2007 season. On August 31, 2007, Trachsel rejoined the Chicago Cubs by being traded for minor league players Rocky Cherry and Scott Moore. On February 11, 2008, he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

with the Baltimore Orioles. On March 27, he was added to the 40-man roster. He was designated for assignment on June 10, 2008. He was released on June 13, 2008.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trachsel, Steve 1970 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baltimore Orioles players Binghamton Mets players California State University, Long Beach alumni Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs players Frederick Keys players Geneva Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Orlando Cubs players Baseball players from Oxnard, California St. Lucie Mets players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Toronto Blue Jays players Winston-Salem Spirits players Mat-Su Miners players Troy High School (California) alumni Baseball players from Fullerton, California