Kevin Polcovich

Kevin Michael Polcovich (born June 28, 1970) is a former American professional baseball player who was a utility infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates in two Major League Baseball seasons during the 1990s.

Kevin Polcovich
Shortstop
Born: (1970-06-28) June 28, 1970
Auburn, New York
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 17, 1997, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
September 22, 1998, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Batting average.234
Home runs4
Runs batted in35
Teams

Early life

Polcovich was born in Auburn, New York.[1] He attended Auburn High School,[1] and played for the Auburn Maroons baseball team.

Collegiate career

Polcovich attended Gulf Coast Community College, and in 1990 he played collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2] He received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played shortstop for coach Joe Arnold's Florida Gators baseball team in 1991 and 1992.[3] He participated in the College World Series in 1991, and received All-Southeastern Conference (SEC), SEC All-Tournament, and College World Series All-Tournament honors.[3] Polcovich holds the NCAA D1 fielding assists record with 14.[4]

Professional career

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Polcovich in the 30th round of the 1992 amateur draft.[1] He made his Major League debut on May 17, 1997.[1]

Polcovich is most remembered for his key role as a member of Pittsburgh's 1997 "Freak Show" team. Prior to the season, new ownership had dismantled the team and launched one of the Pirates frequent rebuilding plans. Opening day payroll for the '97 team was $9,000,000, by far the lowest in the major leagues. Expectations were very low for the Pirates, but perhaps none were lower than for Polcovich, who was bagging groceries to help support himself during spring training. When the Pirates' starting shortstop was injured in May, Polcovich got his call-up to the majors and the former bag boy was now the new starting shortstop. He quickly became the anchor of the Pirates infield and helped the team compete for the NL Central Division until the final week of the season (when they were finally eliminated by ultimate division champions, the Houston Astros).

Polcovich only played one more year of major league baseball, but his Rocky-like rise from nowhere to help the upstart 1997 Pirates have their most competitive year in the past two decades (as of 2012) against overwhelming odds, remains part of recent Pirate lore.[1][5]

gollark: I need to write a macro for that.
gollark: National security reasons.
gollark: > People with confusing dreams are no longer allowed to reproduceThat would create pressure for less confusing dreams, not realistic ones. Or just lying.
gollark: Do I have to say "chronometer" or something?
gollark: CEASE.

See also

References
  1. Baseball-Reference.com, Players, Kevin Polcovich. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  2. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. 2009 Florida Gators Baseball Media Guide, History Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 96, 104, 115 (2009). Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  4. NCAA Baseball Division I Records Through 2014, , NCAA, pp.3. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
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