| Pat Tabler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman /Designated hitter /Outfielder | |
| Born: (1958-02-02)February 2, 1958 (age 67) Hamilton, Ohio, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 21, 1981, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 4, 1992, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .282 |
| Home runs | 47 |
| Runs batted in | 512 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American formerMajor League Baseball player. After retiring from professional baseball, he became acolor analyst for theToronto Blue Jays on theCanadian sports television networksTSN andSportsnet from 2001 to 2022.[1][2]
Tabler graduated from St. Mary's Elementary school inHyde Park,Ohio, followed byArchbishop McNicholas High School inCincinnati.[3] Tabler was a first round draft pick of theNew York Yankees (sixteenth overall) in 1976,[4] and entered the organization as anoutfielder, but he never reached the majors with the Yankees and on August 19, 1981, he was traded to theChicago Cubs for players to be named later (the Cubs sentBill Caudill andJay Howell to the Yankees in 1982 to complete the transaction).[5]
Tabler made his debut with the Cubs in 1981 as asecond baseman, hitting .188 in 35 games.[4] In 1982, the Cubs moved him tothird base, and he hit .235 while playing in 25 games.[4] On January 25, 1983, the Cubs traded Tabler along withScott Fletcher,Randy Martz, andDick Tidrow to theChicago White Sox in exchange forSteve Trout andWarren Brusstar.[5]
On April 1, 1983, he was traded to theCleveland Indians in exchange forJerry Dybzinski and became their startingfirst baseman.[5] That year, he hit .291 in 124 games.[4] He became quickly known as aline drive hitter and continued to have modest success at the plate. His best season was in 1987 when he became anall-star, hitting .307 with 11home runs and 86runs batted in.[4] Along with first base, he was well suited for thedesignated hitter role he inherited fromAndre Thornton in 1987.[6] He played in Cleveland until 1988, when he was traded to theKansas City Royals for pitcherBud Black.[7]
He played for Kansas City until the 1990 season, when he was traded to theNew York Mets.[8]
Tabler finished his career with theToronto Blue Jays (1991–1992), winning aWorld Series championship with the club in his final year as a player. Tabler was also known as aclutch hitter and for his ability to hit with the bases loaded, batting just under .500 in such situations (43 for 88) for his career.[9][10]
After his retirement, Tabler joinedTSN as a studio analyst for Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 1993.[10] After the network's color commentator, former Blue Jays catcherBuck Martinez, was named the team's manager in 2001, Tabler replaced him in the broadcast booth alongsideplay-by-play announcerDan Shulman.[10] He continued as TSN color analyst whenRod Black replaced Shulman, who left forESPN. Tabler took over as the main color commentator for TSN's main rival, RogersSportsnet in 2005 after the sudden death of their regular commentator, former pitcherJohn Cerutti, calling the majority of games for both networks from 2005 to 2009 alongsideJamie Campbell and Rod Black.
Tabler worked exclusively for Sportsnet, which is the exclusive Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster. His partners were Martinez, who returned to the Blue Jays broadcast booth as play-by-play announcer in 2010, and Shulman, who returned as a part-time announcer in 2016. On September 25, 2014, Rogers announced a five-year extension with Tabler.[11] On December 2, 2022, Tabler and Sportsnet parted ways.[12] Prior to the 2023 season, he joined theBally Sports Great Lakes as a color commentator for selectCleveland Guardians games.[13]