Steve Stanicek

Much was expected of Steve Stanicek after his first two seasons as a Brewer farmhand. After being traded by San Francisco to Milwaukee during spring training in 1986, the right-handed infielder was assigned to Double-A El Paso and batted .343/.448/.583 across 582 plate appearances and was named the Texas League MVP after leading the league in several offensive categories. His 25 home runs were good for second in the league. The following season, Stanicek was promoted to Triple-A Denver and had an almost identical season, slashing .352/.396/.616 over 515 trips to the plate. What many people didn't factor into the success was that Stanicek played in two hitter-friendly ballparks. Would those numbers translate to the major leagues?

Stephen Blair Stanicek was born in Lake Forest, Illinois and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the 1979 MLB Amateur Draft but elected not to sign. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and hit .449 with 29 homers and 70 RBI in just 185 at-bats. Impressed by those numbers, San Francisco made him the 11th overall pick in the 1982 draft, 14 picks in front of future teammate Dale Sveum. Stanicek played four good, not great years at Single-A and Double-A in the Giants' chain before being traded to Milwaukee. 

After the two stellar seasons at El Paso and Denver, Stanicek was called up in mid-September 1987 and played in just four games, going 2-for-7 and getting his first big league hit off Detroit closer Willie Hernández in his second game. The following year, Stanicek had knee surgery in early March and was sent back to Denver to start the sesaon. After playing in only 27 games with Denver while battling a thigh injury, Stanicek was released by the Brewers in October.

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Stanicek to a minor league contract in January 1989. He spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and batted .285/.337/.443 over 406 ABs before getting called up for a sip of Starbucks in Philadelphia in September. Stanicek played in just nine games, going 1-for-9 serving only as a pinch-hitter. In 1990, Stanicek returned to S/W-B and played in a career-high 127 games and batted .282/.369/.407 but was released by Philadelphia after the season. Stanicek signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in a minor league deal in early 1991 but was released during spring training.  

After his playing career, Stanicek coached high school baseball and retired after 23 years in 2023, including the last 10 years at Glenbrook (IL) South High School. He also coached at two other schools prior to that. He was also an assistant football coach for 25 at various schools. Stanicek was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2019.

During his nine-year minor league career, Stanicek batted .293/.372/.470 across 3,465 plate appearances, Yet his major league career consisted of 16 trips to the plate. He never played a defensive position in the big leagues. Why was he not given a chance by Milwaukee or Philadelphia?