| Ken Phelps | |
|---|---|
 Phelps in 1980 | |
| Designated hitter /First baseman | |
| Born: (1954-08-06)August 6, 1954 (age 70) Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 20, 1980, for the Kansas City Royals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 8, 1990, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .239 |
| Home runs | 123 |
| Runs batted in | 313 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Kenneth Allen Phelps (born August 6, 1954) is an American former professionalbaseballdesignated hitter andfirst baseman. He played for six differentMajor League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1980 to 1990, primarily with theSeattle Mariners. Baseball statisticianBill James cited Phelps as an example of a player who was unfairly denied a chance to play in the majors, despite compiling strongminor league statistics.
Born and raised inSeattle,Washington, Phelps graduated fromIngraham High School in north Seattle in 1972. He played a year atWashington State inPullman underBobo Brayton,[1] then headed toMesa Community College, looking for an opportunity to play atArizona State inTempe.
In his only season at MCC in 1974, Phelps was named a junior collegeAll-American. He was drafted twice in the first round (January and June drafts) by theNew York Yankees andPhiladelphia Phillies, respectively.[2] He had previously been drafted out of high school by theAtlanta Braves in the eighth round (179th overall) of1972 Major League Baseball draft.[3]
All this earned Phelps a chance from CoachJim Brock to play at ASU, where he was named to theCollege World Series All Star team in1976, when the Sun Devils lost to rivalArizona after having defeated the Wildcats seven times that season, including a first-round game in Omaha.
The left-hittingfirst baseman was selected by theKansas City Royals in the 15th round (354th overall) of the1976 Major League Baseball draft.[4] Phelps hit a combined 43home runs from1980–81 for theOmaha Royals, KC'sTriple-A affiliate in theAmerican Association.[5] On September 20, 1980, he made his major league debut against theOakland Athletics, appearing as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and grounding out in his onlyat bat.[6] Phelps appeared in 24 career games with Kansas City, posting a .115 batting average and oneRBI.[2]
In January 1982, the Royals traded Phelps to theMontreal Expos in exchange forpitcherGrant Jackson.[7] In the American Association in 1982, Phelps hit .333 with 46 home runs and 141 RBI in 132 games for the Triple-AWichita Aeros.[5] He had only eight major league at bats that year, as there was no room on a very talented Montreal roster for Phelps to break in.[2] Instead, Phelps' hometown club, theSeattle Mariners, purchased him from the Expos on March 30, 1983.[8]
An average defensive player, Phelps was better suited to play with the Mariners, as he could serve as thedesignated hitter, and the struggling franchise also had plenty of room for advancement. Phelps split time in1983 between Seattle and itsPacific Coast League, the Triple-ASalt Lake City Bees. Again, he hit minor league pitching well (.341 with 24 home runs and 82 RBI in 74 games),[5] but he did not play much in the majors (.236, seven home runs and 16 RBI in 50 games).[2]
In1984, Phelps played in 101 games, batting .241 while hitting 24 home runs and recording 51 RBI in only 290 at-bats.[2] Bad luck intervened early that year when a pitch broke his hand in the third game of the season;[9] he had won the regular first base job,[10] and hit two home runs in his first three-game and had five hits in his first ten at-bats.[11] The injury resulted in the call-up of first basemanAlvin Davis after just one game in Triple-A,[12][13] who immediately produced; Davis was named to the American LeagueAll-Star team and was the league'sRookie of the Year.[14]
Thenext season, Phelps found himself behind Davis at first andGorman Thomas at DH, who had been signed as a free agent the previous season as anoutfielder.[15] He was limited to a mere 116 major league at bats, and hit just .207 with nine home runs and 24 RBI in 61 games.[2]
In1986 at the age 31, Phelps got into the major league lineup on a more-or-less regular basis. Although he was normally platooned against left-handed pitchers, Phelps still clocked 51 home runs from1986–87.[2] It was at this time that his career travails inspired authorBill James to create the "Ken Phelps All-Star" team. As James described it:
Ken Phelpses are justavailable; if you want one, all you have to do is ask. They are players whose real limitations are exaggerated by baseball insiders, players who get stuck with a label -- the label of their limits, the label the things theycan't do -- while those that they can do are overlooked... The Ken Phelps All-Stars [are] a whole teamful of guys who are wearing labels, but who nonetheless can play major-league baseball, and will prove it if they ever get the chance.[1]
Phelps batted .284 with 14 more home runs and 32 RBI in 72 games for Seattle in the first half of1988.[2] Impressed, ownerGeorge Steinbrenner of theNew York Yankees traded Triple-A prospectJay Buhner to Seattle in exchange for Phelps,[16][17] despite already havingDon Mattingly andJack Clark to play first base and DH. With limited playing time, Phelps found it difficult to maintain his production of the previous four-and-a-half seasons, while Buhner went on to become an All-Star and legendary Mariners player. ASeinfeld episode in early1996 ("The Caddy") depicted Yankee fanFrank Costanza (played byJerry Stiller) as more upset about the Buhner trade than about the supposed death of his own sonGeorge.[18][19][20][21] Phelps only hit 17 home runs for the Yankees before being traded to theOakland Athletics for relief pitcher Scott Holcomb on August 31, 1989.[2][22] The A's won theWorld Series, but Phelps had just two at bats in the post-season, with a pinch-hit double in the third game of theleague championship series.[23]
Phelps' final home run might have been his most notable; it came with Oakland before a sell-out home crowd in1990 on April 20, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth that Friday night. Phelps was called out of the dugout to pinch hit againstBrian Holman of the Mariners,[24] who had retired the first 26 batters in succession; he homered on the first pitch to ruin theperfect game.[25][26][27][28]
Years later, Phelps said he wanted to hit it out because he did not want to watch himself onESPN'sSportsCenter all season making the out to complete Holman's gem.[citation needed] He was traded to theCleveland Indians for cash considerations on June 17, 1990.[29] In 1991, after playing seven games for theSan Francisco Giants' Triple-A affiliate, thePhoenix Giants, Phelps retired from baseball at the age of 36.[5]
Phelps' career .239 batting average hides the things that, as James pointed out, hecould do. Thanks to outstanding power and strike zone judgment, his careerOPS is a strong .854.[2] Phelps hit 123 home runs in 1,854 careerat bats, the 28th best ratio in major league history through 2004 (min. 1,500 plate appearances).[citation needed] Phelps hit his first 100 home runs in 1,322 at-bats — the second fastest, as measured by at bats, in MLB history, behindRyan Howard in 1,141 at-bats; Phelps still holds the AL record.[30]
In 2004, Phelps didcolor commentary on the radio forArizona Diamondbacks baseball games.[31] He has since done baseball analysis forFox Sports, along with community and media work for the state's largest electric utility,Arizona Public Service. Programs that Phelps has been involved with (The ABC's of Baseball, and Life and Power Players) have received national recognition for having positive impact on children.[30]
