Skip Schumaker

Jared Michael "Skip" Schumaker (/ˈʃuːmɑːkər/ SHOO-mah-kər; born February 3, 1980) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cincinnati Reds.

High school and college

Schumaker graduated from Aliso Niguel High School^[1] before a short, two-year career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2001, his only year with regular playing time, Schumaker had 100 total hits for a batting average of an even .400, while achieving 41 RBI.

Professional career

Minor leagues

He was selected in the 5th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Schumaker spent the remainder of 2001 with the short-season New Jersey Cardinals, and in 2002 he had 158 hits for the Potomac Cannons. His minor-league career advanced from Single-A in 2003, when he was promoted to the Tennessee Smokies, where he spent two full seasons. A .316 batting average in 2004 was enough to give him a shot with the Cardinals during spring training in 2005.

St. Louis Cardinals

After spending the first two months of the season in Memphis, Schumaker made his major-league debut on June 8 against the Boston Red Sox at Busch Stadium. Schumaker entered the game as a pinch-hitter for the pitcher, Chris Carpenter, and was struck out by David Wells. Schumaker remained with the club until June 14, failing to pick up a hit in five at bats.

On August 10, he was called back up to the Cardinals and picked up his first major-league hit two days later in a pinch-hit appearance against the Chicago Cubs. On September 8, 2005, Schumaker went over into the stands and made a great catch.^[2] In 27 Major League games of 2005, Schumaker batted .250 with an RBI.

Schumaker hit his first Major League home run on April 5, 2006, in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He played in 28 regular-season games in 2006 for St. Louis, but did not appear in the postseason. He would still receive his first career championship ring as the Cardinals bested the Detroit Tigers in 5 games of the 2006 World Series.^[3]

Schumaker became a capable leadoff hitter and a strong defensive outfielder with an above-average arm. However, he has difficulty against left-handers; from 2007 to 2009, he had a .210 batting average, a .278 on-base percentage, and a .226 slugging percentage against them.^[4]

He had six hits in seven at bats against the New York Mets on July 26, the first Cardinal to do so since Terry Moore against the Boston Braves on September 5, 1935. Combined, Schumaker and his teammate, Albert Pujols, were the first pair of Cardinals to hit five or more hits each since Charlie Gelbert and Taylor Douthit against the Chicago Cubs on May 16, 1930.^[5]

On February 9, 2009, Cardinal 2nd baseman Adam Kennedy was released by the club,^[6] which sparked discussion about placing Schumaker as the regular second baseman in 2009. Schumaker, who played shortstop in high school and college^[7] began working out with Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo in spring training to prepare.^[8] Schumaker would go on to become the Cardinals' starting second baseman during the 2009 season.

On February 8, 2010, Schumaker signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals worth $4.7 million, buying out his final arbitration years.^[9]

On August 9, 2010, Schumaker hit his first major league grand slam against the Cincinnati Reds.

On August 23, 2011, he made his major league pitching debut when he came in as a reliever in the top of the 9th. He faced 5 batters, striking out 2, walking 1, and giving up a 2 run home run to Aaron Miles.

After a great performance in the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies in which he drove in Rafael Furcal for the only run in the Cardinals' 1-0 victory in Game 5, Schumaker was left off the National League Championship Series roster due to an oblique injury. He was added back to the 25-man roster for the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers and won his second championship title after the Cardinals won the series after a deciding 7 games.

Schumaker signed another 2-year deal with the Cardinals on December 12, 2011, for $3 million.^[10]

Los Angeles Dodgers

Schumaker with the Los Angeles Dodgers

On December 12, 2012, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Schumaker to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league shortstop Jake Lemmerman.^[11][12] He played in 125 games for the Dodgers, hitting .263. He also pitched two scoreless innings for the Dodgers during the season.

Cincinnati Reds

On November 18, 2013, Schumaker signed a 2-year, $5 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds with a club option for 2016. He attributed his choice to their playoff contention in recent years.^[13] The deal was finalized on November 26.

San Diego Padres

In February 2016, Schumaker signed a minor league contract with the Padres that included an invitation to Major League spring training. On March 9, Schumaker announced his retirement.^[14]

Personal

Schumaker 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and currently weighs 195 pounds (88 kg). He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.^[15]

Schumaker resides in Ladera Ranch, California. He and his wife, Lindsey, have two children, son Brody Hudson and daughter Presley Rowan.^[16]

When Schumaker was 5 years old and living in southern California, he had a chance encounter with Tommy Lasorda and Orel Hershiser at a restaurant, both of whom signed his baseball glove with "To a future Dodger..."^[17] When he reached the Major Leagues with the Cardinals, Schumaker was given uniform number 55, which "happened to be Orel's number and I stuck with it."^[17] When he joined the Dodgers in 2013, he initially wore #3, but switched to #55 when it became available.^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skip Schumaker.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)