Terry Lee Steinbach (born March 2, 1962) 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 ...
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
* Coac ...
. He 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) as a
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
from 1986 to 1999, most notably as a member of the
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
team that won three consecutive
American League pennants and a
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
championship in . He played his final three seasons with the
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 ...
. A three-time
All-Star
An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry.
Sports
"All-star" as a sport ...
player, Steinbach won the 1988
All-Star Game MVP Award and caught two no-hitters during his career. In 2024, he was inducted into the
Athletics Hall of Fame
The Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in West Sacramento, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The ...
.
Amateur career
Steinbach attended
New Ulm High School in
New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm ( ) is a city and the county seat of Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River a ...
. The
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
selected Steinbach in the 16th round of the
1980 Major League Baseball Draft
The 1980 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1980. The draft saw the New York Mets select Darryl Strawberry first overall.
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft.
C ...
, but Steinbach chose not to sign. He enrolled at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
, and played for the
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...
'
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...
team. With the Golden Gophers, Steinbach played as a
third baseman
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 Baseball scorekeep ...
. In 1982, 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
Cotuit Kettleers
The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League ...
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 ...
(CCBL), where he led the league in
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 is ...
with a .431 mark; in 2001 he was inducted into the
CCBL Hall of Fame. In 1983, he was named the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
Co-Player of the Year, with Rich Stoll of the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
.
Professional career
The
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
selected Steinbach in the ninth round of the
1983 Major League Baseball Draft
The 1983 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1983. The draft saw the Minnesota Twins select Tim Belcher first overall.
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.
''*'' D ...
. Steinbach signed with the Athletics, and made his professional debut in the minor leagues. After two years as a third baseman, the Athletics moved Steinbach to
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
, and played him for two years in
Class AA
Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...
of the minor leagues.
Steinbach made his major league debut on September 12, 1986, against the Cleveland Indians. He hit a
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 ( ...
off of
Greg Swindell in his first major league at-bat. During his 1987 rookie year he had a .284/.349/.463 line with 16 home runs, 56 RBIs and 16 doubles. He also caught 37 would-be base stealers, 3rd highest in the American League.
He was elected to the All Star Game in 1988. His selection was controversial because Steinbach had posted modest numbers in the first half of the season. However, during the game he accounted for both AL runs with a home run and
sacrifice fly
In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d):
"Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...
, and was named the game's MVP. The same year he hit .364 with a double in the World Series against 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. In all, Steinbach played for four division championship teams from 1988 to 1992, which won three American League pennants and the 1989 World Series. In the 1989 series, he went 4-for-18 but drove in seven runs to go with a home run in the four-game sweep by Oakland. For his career, he hit .281 with two home runs and fourteen RBIs in 25 postseason games. Offensively, his best year was 1996, when he hit 35 home runs with 100 RBIs, 25 doubles for a .272/.342/.529 slash line, and he finished 21st in the AL MVP ballot. He occasionally played first base, third base and both left and right field. After playing for the Athletics for eleven seasons, he went on to play for his home-state Minnesota Twins for the 1997 season. At ages 35 to 37, he averaged 15 home runs, 71 RBIs and 23 doubles per every 162 games as the Twins starting catcher. He also caught two
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...
s during his career (
Dave Stewart in 1990,
Eric Milton in 1999). He was a free agent after the 1999 season and had offers to play in the fall of 2000 for either St. Louis or the US Olympic team but suffered a torn hamstring in a waterskiing accident. He never played professional baseball again.
On August 17, 2024, Steinbach was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame.
Coaching
From 2008 to 2012, Steinbach was a coach for the
Wayzata High School boys
varsity baseball team in
Plymouth, Minnesota
Plymouth is a city in Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A suburb in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the city is about west of downtown Minneapolis. The population was 81,026 at the 2020 census, making it Minnes ...
. Steinbach's son Lucas played with the team during this time before graduating in June 2012. He also worked as the Twins' minor league instructor for thirteen years.
[
On October 22, 2012, the Twins hired Steinbach to be the ]bench coach
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...
and catching instructor on manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Ron Gardenhire
Ronald Clyde Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets from 1981 to 1985. After another year playing i ...
's coaching staff, succeeding Steve Liddle. Stuart Turner, a catching prospect for the Twins, credited Steinbach's tutelage in 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 ...
for his improvement as a catcher. In 2014, Steinbach managed games in April and August, when Gardenhire was unable to attend the game.
Personal life
Steinbach and his wife, Mary, have three children. Their two sons both played college baseball.[
Terry's brother, Tom, was a teammate on the Golden Gophers' baseball team. Tom was the ]right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
.
In August 2024, Steinbach was inducted into the Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbach, Terry
People from New Ulm, Minnesota
1962 births
American people of German descent
Medford A's players
Cotuit Kettleers players
Madison Muskies players
Huntsville Stars players
Major League Baseball catchers
American League All-Stars
Oakland Athletics players
Minnesota Twins players
Baseball players from Minnesota
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players
Living people
Minnesota Twins coaches
20th-century American sportsmen