Jeff Suppan - Baseball Career

Baseball Career

Suppan was drafted out of high school (Crespi Carmelite High School) by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 1993 amateur draft, and rapidly ascended to the Majors making his debut at the age of 20. He played with the Red Sox through the 1997 season and then was picked up by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks for 1998. Late in the 1998 season, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals, where he stayed through 2002. In 2003, he opened the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was dealt at the trading deadline back to the Red Sox for their playoff stretch run.

The Cardinals signed Suppan as a free agent in 2004, and he embarked upon a career year, posting a 16–9 won-lost record and a 4.16 earned run average, with 110 strikeouts, 65 walks, and 192 hits allowed in 188 innings. Suppan helped lead the Cards to the 2004 World Series, where he started Game 3.

In 2005 he improved on his previous year's performance, going 16–10 with a 3.57 ERA. He started Game 4 of the National League Championship series against the Houston Astros, allowing one run over five innings but came away with a no-decision after the Astros took the lead later in the game.

Suppan has hit two career Major League home runs, both off Steve Trachsel of the New York Mets. His first was on September 10, 2005. The Cardinals won the game 4–2. He hit his second in Game 3 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. The Cardinals would win the game 5–0 to take a 2–1 lead in the series.

Suppan started Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS against the New York Mets. He did not factor in the decision, giving up only one run in seven innings, but the Cardinals won 3–1, earning him the National League Championship Series MVP. Suppan in the 2006 NLCS had a 0.60 ERA in 15 innings pitched.

During the 2006 offseason Suppan signed a four-year, $42 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Initial excitement in Milwaukee quickly waned as Suppan's performance declined over time. From 2007 to 2009, his walk rate, home runs allowed, and ERA climbed while his strikeouts have declined. While pitching in Milwaukee fans began an odd practice of wearing paper bags over their heads and throwing soup cans on to the field during Suppan's starts. Between 1995 and 2006, Suppan held a career ERA of 1.76 at Miller Park, where he was to pitch for the Brewers in 2007. Suppan is one of only 8 ballplayers who pitched in the NL in 2007 who won at least 12 games in each year from 2004–07, the others being Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux, Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Jason Marquis and Johan Santana.

Suppan, along with teammates J. J. Hardy, Bill Hall, and Chris Capuano appeared in an episode of The Young and the Restless which aired on CBS on June 20, 2007. On June 7, 2008, Suppan was placed on the 15-day disabled list, his first DL stint since 1996.

On June 7, 2010, the Brewers released Suppan. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on June 14.

On January 25, 2011, the San Francisco Giants signed Suppan to a minor league deal. On March 29, the Giants released Suppan.

On April 4, 2011, the Kansas City Royals signed Suppan to a minor league deal.

He signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres on February 8, 2012. He made his first start on May 2, 2012. It was his first time making a start since the 2010 season. Suppan opted for free agency over a minor league assignment with the Padres on June 5, 2012, according to the Padres' official website.