Rookie of the Year: Pat Listach, 1992

Shortstop, Milwaukee Brewers

Age:  25 (Sept. 12)

Bats – Both, Throws – Right

Height: 5’9”    Weight: 170

Prior to 1992:

A native of Natchitoches, Louisiana, Listach developed his baseball skills from Little League through high school and then moved on to McClennan Junior College in Texas and Arizona State University, after which he was drafted by the Brewers in 1987. First assigned to Beloit of the Class A Midwest League, Listach played 50 games at shortstop and batted .240 with 20 stolen bases. Moving on to Stockton of the Class A California League in 1989 his batting average dropped to .229 while he played at second base as well as shortstop. He was back with Stockton in 1990 where he raised his average to .272 and stole 78 bases while leading the league with 116 runs scored. Listach also led all second basemen with 276 put outs. He spent 1991 with El Paso of the Class AA Texas League and Denver of the Class AAA American Association. He hit a combined .252 and stole 23 bases and primarily saw action at second base and shortstop. Listach was slated to return to the minors in 1992 but was instead called up to the Brewers in April to fill in for injured shortstop Bill Spiers and established himself as the sparkplug of the team’s offense.

1992 Season Summary

Appeared in 149 games

SS – 148, PR – 2, 2B – 1, CF – 1, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 649

At Bats – 579

Runs – 93 [13]

Hits – 168 [17]

Doubles – 19

Triples – 6 [12, tied with Shane Mack & Chuck Knoblauch]

Home Runs – 1

RBI – 47

Bases on Balls – 55

Int. BB – 0

Strikeouts – 124 [12]

Stolen Bases – 54 [2]

Caught Stealing – 18 [2, tied with Chad Curtis]

Average - .290 [15, tied with Dave Winfield]

OBP - .352

Slugging Pct. - .349

Total Bases – 202

GDP – 3

Hit by Pitches – 1

Sac Hits – 12 [4, tied with Steve Sax & Greg Gagne]

Sac Flies – 2

Midseason snapshot: HR - 0, RBI – 21, SB – 29, AVG – .293, OBP - .356

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Detroit 8/22, (in 6 AB) at Toronto 8/28

Longest hitting streak – 17 games

Most HR, game – 1 (in 5 AB) at Boston 9/17

HR at home – 0

HR on road – 1

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 2 on eleven occasions

Pinch-hitting – 0 of 1 .000

Pinxh-running – 1 SB & 2 runs scored

Fielding

Chances – 711

Put Outs – 238

Assists – 449

Errors – 24

DP – 89

Pct. - .966

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

18^th in AL MVP voting (8 points, 2% share)

AL ROY Voting:

Pat Listach, Mil..: 122 pts. – 20 of 28 first place votes, 87% share

Kenny Lofton, Clev..: 85 pts. –7 first place votes, 61% share

Dave Fleming, Sea.: 23 pts. – 16% share

Cal Eldred, Mil.: 22 pts. – 1 first place vote,16% share

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Brewers went 92-70 to finish second in the AL Eastern Division, 4 games behind the division-winning Toronto Blue Jays while leading the league in stolen bases (256). Surprise contenders in the AL East, the Brewers went 21-7 in the season’s last month to pull within 2 games of Toronto heading into the final weekend when they were swept by the Yankees.

Aftermath of ‘92:

Listach followed up his Rookie of the Year campaign with an injury-plagued season in 1993 in which he was limited to 98 games and batted .244 with 18 stolen bases and 50 runs scored. Further injuries limited him to just 16 games in the strike-abbreviated 1994 season and significantly robbed him of his speed. Returning in 1995 he appeared in 101 games but hit only .219 with 13 stolen bases. In August of 1996 Listach was traded to the New York Yankees but was returned to the Brewers when it was discovered that he had a broken foot. In 87 games he hit .240 with 25 stolen bases and 51 runs scored and played primarily in the outfield. A free agent in the offseason, he signed with the Houston Astros in 1997, appeared in 52 games in which he batted a paltry .182, and was released in July. Signed by the Cleveland Indians, he was assigned to Buffalo of the American Association where he hit .260 in 25 games. Listach started the 1998 season with Buffalo until he was released in May. The Philadelphia Phillies gave him a trial with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of the Class AAA International League during which he batted .221 in 55 games, which marked the end of his active playing career. Overall for his major league career, Listach hit .251 with 444 hits that included 63 doubles, 13 triples, and 5 home runs. He also accumulated 143 RBIs and 116 stolen bases. His rookie season was by far the best of his injury-shortened career. Listach went on to become a coach at the major and minor league levels, and managed minor league teams as well.  

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.