American baseball player
Baseball player
Stephen Louis Sax
(born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional
baseball
player and
coach
. He played as a
second baseman
in
Major League Baseball
from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the
Los Angeles Dodgers
with whom he won two world championships in
1981
and
1988
. 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
,
Chicago White Sox
, and the
Oakland Athletics
. Sax currently hosts on
SiriusXM
's
MLB Network Radio
.
Career
[
edit
]
Sax starred at James Marshall High School (now known as River City High School) in
West Sacramento, California
, from 1975 to 1978. The
Los Angeles Dodgers
selected Sax in the ninth round of the
1978 MLB draft
.
[1]
Sax was a late season call up in 1981, playing 31 games.
[2]
Sax broke into the majors as a regular in 1982, earning the
National League
Rookie of the Year
award.
[3]
Throughout his career, Sax was on the
All-Star
team five times and had a
batting average
over .300 in three seasons. He had great success on the basepaths,
stealing
over 40 bases in six different seasons, finishing with a career total of 444 stolen bases.
[2]
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 rings
, both with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 and 1988.
[4]
Sax was also a higher-up in the
Players Association
during his career.
[5]
Steve Sax syndrome
[
edit
]
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.
[6]
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
"). As his accuracy suffered, fans sitting behind the first base dugout began wearing batting helmets as mock protection.
[7]
(Teammate
Pedro Guerrero
, an
outfielder
pressed into service at
third base
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.")
[8]
By 1989, however, Sax seemed to be completely "cured", leading the American League in both
fielding percentage
[9]
and
double plays
.
Post-career
[
edit
]
Sax piloted a new networking site called allsportsconnection.com. Sax has made television cameos, including the "
Homer at the Bat
" episode of
The Simpsons
,
[10]
as well as episodes of
Square Pegs
,
Who's the Boss
,
Hollywood Squares
and
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
.
[11]
He has also been on the Fox News show
Hannity
. Sax played a supporting character in the 1998 movie
Ground Control
.
[11]
He briefly ran for a seat in the
California State Assembly
5th District as a
Republican
in 1996.
[12]
Sax later dropped out of the race, when his divorce became publicized. A
black belt
, he was also a part-owner of a
martial arts
studio in
Roseville, California
.
[13]
He worked as a financial consultant for
RBC Dain Rauscher
,
LLC
, 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 Diamondbacks fired Sax on October 8, 2013.
[14]
As of 2015, Sax returned to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
organization as an alumnus member of the Dodgers' Community Relations team.
Sax currently hosts
SiriusXM
's
MLB Network Radio
.
[15]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Steve is the brother of former Major League Baseball player
Dave Sax
, who also played for the Dodgers.
[16]
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.
[17]
His son John, a
captain
in the
United States Marine Corps
, was one of five marines killed in a
V-22 Osprey
training accident near
San Diego, California
, on June 8, 2022.
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Cohen, Alan.
"Steve Sax"
.
sabr.org
. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Steve Sax Stats"
.
ESPN
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
Moreno, Matthew (November 22, 2014).
"This Day In Dodgers History: Steve Sax Wins Rookie Of The Year"
.
dodgersnation.com
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
"New Book by Two-Time World Series Champion Steve Sax Motivates Readers SHIFT Book Tour to Begin in February"
(Press release). Business Wire
. Retrieved
August 14,
2019
.
- ^
Oliver, Richard (July 3, 2011).
"Richard Oliver: Sax hits sour notes over Dodgers' ownership woes"
.
mysanantonio.com
. Retrieved
August 18,
2019
.
- ^
Mead, Doug.
"40 Worst Fielders in Baseball History"
.
bleacherreport.com
. Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
Braswell, Sean (May 28, 2015).
"The Big Leaguer Who Forgot How to Throw"
.
ozy.com
. OZY. Archived from
the original
on July 8, 2022
. Retrieved
August 21,
2019
.
- ^
Vecsey, George (August 28, 1985).
"Sports of the Times; Pedro Guerrero: Dodgers' Warrior"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 21,
2019
.
- ^
Boswell, Thomas.
"When You Call the Hall, Sax Certainly Has Appeal"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
Curtis, Charles (February 22, 2017).
"For the 25th anniversary of the Simpsons softball episode, 6 facts you didn't know"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
August 3,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Steve Sax"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
"Steve Sax Takes Swing At Politics"
.
sfgate.com
. April 7, 1995
. Retrieved
August 3,
2019
.
- ^
"Niavaroni-Sax Kickboxing Inc"
. Merchantcircle.com. November 20, 2014
. Retrieved
April 1,
2015
.
- ^
"Charles Nagy, Steve Sax fired"
. Associated Press
. Retrieved
October 8,
2013
.
- ^
McIntosh, Whitney (August 8, 2017).
"Former Dodger Steve Sax explains the backstory of that amazing Three Stooges mural"
.
sbnation.com
. Vox Media, Inc
. Retrieved
August 3,
2019
.
- ^
Bogovich, Rich.
"Dave Sax"
.
sabr,org
. Society for American Baseball Research
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 7, 2015).
"Intervention No. 200 Sneak Peek: MLB Star's Meth Addict Son Acts Out"
.
TVLine
. Retrieved
August 7,
2019
.
- ^
??
"Placer County Marine Capt. John Sax, son of former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Sax, among killed in a training helicopter crash"
.
www.abc10.com
. June 11, 2022.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Steve Sax
.