American baseball player (born 1974)
Baseball player
Robert Charles Fick
(born March 15, 1974) is an American former
Major League Baseball
first baseman
. In 2002, he was named to the
American League
All-Star Team
.
Career
[
edit
]
The
left-handed
batter, who throws
right-handed
, attended
Ventura College
and later transferred to
California State University at Northridge
. He was drafted by the
Detroit Tigers
in the 5th round of the 1996 amateur draft.
Fick made his major league debut with the Tigers in 1998. In the final game ever held at
Tiger Stadium
on September 27, 1999, Fick hit an eighth-inning
grand slam home run
against the
Kansas City Royals
.
[1]
Fick's rooftop blast was the stadium's 11,111th and final home run, as well as the final
hit
, final
run scored
and final
RBI
.
[2]
His breakout season came in 2001 when he hit.272 with a career-best 19
home runs
. Fick had another fine offensive year in 2002, hitting 17 home runs and 36 doubles. He was named to the American League All-Star Team, the lone representative of the last-place Tigers. In 2002, he also led all major league
right fielders
in
assists
, with 21.
Fick signed with the
Atlanta Braves
for the 2003 season. He was released at year's end despite setting a career-high with 80
RBI
. In a coincidental moment to the final Tiger Stadium hit, he also helped provide the final run at
Veterans Stadium
in Philadelphia on September 28, 2003, when his double in the top of the 5th helped
Andruw Jones
to score. He then played for the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
,
San Diego Padres
, and
Washington Nationals
, though never enjoyed the same success.
Fick was inducted into the
West Michigan Whitecaps
Hall of Fame in January 2009 and played for
Italy
in the
2009 World Baseball Classic
.
[3]
Defensively, Fick served as a
utility player
. He started his major league career as a
catcher
, but eventually played more games as a first baseman and a
corner outfielder
. He posted a career
batting average
of .258, with 69 home runs and 324 RBI in 846 games over 10 seasons.
Fick's brush with controversy occurred playing for the Atlanta Braves during the 2003 NLDS, when he ran past first base, slapping the catching arm of Cubs' first baseman
Eric Karros
just as Karros was catching a throw. He later admitted that it was done intentionally. Braves upper management fined him $25,000 and manager
Bobby Cox
also fined him an undisclosed additional amount.
[4]
He was released by the Braves shortly thereafter opening the discussion that the "dirty play" on Karros was partly the reason. The last team he played for was the
Orange County Flyers
of the
Golden Baseball League
.
Fick is currently a roving instructor for the
Los Angeles Dodgers
farm system and was acting manager for the
Great Lakes Loons
when manager
Luis Matos
was serving a two-game suspension in June 2015.
[5]
On October 18, 2008, Fick was inducted into the
Ventura College
Athletic Hall of Fame.
[6]
Personal
[
edit
]
Fick is a former
child actor
. During the 1980s, he was an extra in
Cheers
,
Who's the Boss?
, and
Webster
. He also did a
Gatorade
commercial when he was 13 years old.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Henson, Steve (September 29, 1999).
"Fick's Home Run Sails Into History With Tiger Stadium"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
December 28,
2014
.
- ^
Dow, Bill (March 30, 2020).
"Robert Fick and the Detroit Tigers' final game at Tiger Stadium: 'It was unreal'
"
.
freep.com
. Retrieved
April 2,
2021
.
- ^
"Fick, Inge, Cordero elected to 'Caps hall of fame"
.
MiLB.com
. January 9, 2009
. Retrieved
January 10,
2009
.
- ^
ESPN - Fick insists 'it's baseball' - MLB
- ^
Bernreuter, Hugh (June 2, 2015).
"Former Detroit Tiger catcher Rob Fick to manage Great Lakes Loons"
.
mlive.com
. Retrieved
June 3,
2015
.
- ^
Ventura County Star
, 10/19/08
- ^
Notes: Fick hopes to stay with Nats
External links
[
edit
]