#44 Kevin Seitzer

About the Front: Is there a duller "action shot" than "position player makes routine throw"? Kevin Seitzer is practically standing still here.

About the Back: It's easy to forget that Kevin was an offensive force as a rookie in 1987. He led the Royals in hits, runs, doubles, batting average, and on-base percentage (.399). All that, and he still had to play second fiddle in Rookie of the Year voting to Mark McGwire and his 49 homers and .618 slugging percentage. I guess that's just bad timing on Seitzer's part.

Triple Play:

1. Kevin's batting performance declined steadily during his time in Kansas City, leading to his release in the spring of 1992. But the infielder rebounded in his thirties, batting .318 with a .400 on-base percentage from 1994 through 1996 with the Brewers and Indians. He made the All-Star team in 1995, the only time he received that honor after his stellar rookie season.

2. He was hit in the face by a pitched ball in each the 1994 and 1995 seasons, which prompted him to wear a "c-flap" extension on his batting helmet for the rest of his career. The flap jutted out from his left earflap, and covered the side of his jaw that faced the pitcher.

3. During the past decade, Seitzer has had stints as the hitting coach for the Diamondbacks and Royals.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: There was always a silly little thrill in learning about big leaguers who shared my first name. At that time, there was Seitzer, McReynolds, Brown, Reimer...

Bill James Said: "He's 32 now, and going to be out of the game soon if he doesn't go back to hitting .300." Lucky for Kevin, that's exactly what he did.

On This Date in 1993: July 26. Kevin Seitzer (hey, how about that!) is released by the Athletics (oops) after batting .255/.324/.357 in 73 games. Three days later, he would re-sign with Milwaukee and bat .290/.359/.457 in 47 games for the rest of the season. That's more like it.