Skip Schumaker

Jared Michael "Skip" Schumaker (/ˈʃuːmɑːkər/ SHOO-mah-kər; born February 3, 1980) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He is the bench coach of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cincinnati Reds. He previously served as a coach for the San Diego Padres.

Skip Schumaker
Schumaker with the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 55
Outfielder / Second baseman / Bench coach
Born: (1980-02-03) February 3, 1980
Torrance, California
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 8, 2005, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 2015, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Batting average.278
Home runs28
Runs batted in284
Teams
As player

As Coach

Career highlights and awards

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 five 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 second 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 five batters, striking out two, walking one, and giving up a two-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 two-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]

Post-playing career

San Diego Padres

On December 4, 2017, Schumaker agreed to become the new first base coach for the San Diego Padres. He was promoted to associate manager prior to the 2020 season.[15]

St. Louis Cardinals

On November 6, 2021, Schumaker was hired as the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.[16]

Personal

Schumaker stands 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and the Dodgers listed his weight as 195 pounds (88 kg). He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.[17]

Schumaker and his wife, Lindsey, have two children, a son and a daughter.[18] They previously resided in Ladera Ranch, California but sold the home in 2017.[19] They still live in Orange County, California.[20]

When Schumaker was five 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...".[21] 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."[21] When he joined the Dodgers in 2013, he initially wore #3, but switched to #55 when it became available.[3]

References
  1. "Schumaker player profile page". Stlcardinals.scout.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  2. "Video". Stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  3. "Skip Schumaker Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  4. Jaffe, Jay (May 13, 2010). "Baseball Prospectus". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  5. Game Recap Archived 2008-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Game recap for July 26, 2008
  6. "Cardinals release Adam Kennedy". Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  7. Matthew Leach (January 18, 2009). "Schumaker shrugs off winter of rumors". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  8. Matthew Leach (February 19, 2009). "Schumaker committed to 2nd base". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  9. "Schumaker Cardinals Agree to 2 Year Deal". Stltoday.com. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  10. "Skip Schumaker signs; Ryan Theriot cut". Espn.go.com. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  11. "Dodgers acquire Schumaker to fortify bench". MLB.com. December 12, 2012.
  12. "Cards send Schumaker to Dodgers for shortstop". MLB.com. December 12, 2012.
  13. Sheldon, Mark (November 26, 2013). "Contender status attracted Schumaker to Reds". MLB.com.
  14. "Padres' Skip Schumaker: Announces retirement". Cbssports.com. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  15. "Padres Announce 2020 Major League Coaching Staff". MLB.com. December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  16. "Skip named bench coach; STL finalizes staff". MLB.com. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  17. "Skip Schumaker Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio | dodgers.com: Team". Stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  18. "ST. Louis Cardinals Bio". Stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  19. "Former Dodger Skip Schumaker sells his home with a batting cage for $2.2 million". Los Angeles Times. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  20. "Padres' Skip Schumaker still setting the example". San Diego Union-Tribune. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  21. Mark Simon, Looking back at Orel Hershiser's Major League record scoreless innings streak, ESPN.com, Published 30 August 2013, Accessed 31 August 2013.
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