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Pat Tabler

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Pat Tabler
First baseman / Designated hitter / Outfielder
Born: (1958-02-02) February 2, 1958 (age 66)
Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 21, 1981, for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1992, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
Batting average.282
Home runs47
Runs batted in512
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring from professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and Sportsnet from 2001 to 2022.[1][2]

Playing career

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Tabler graduated from St. Mary's Elementary school in Hyde Park, Ohio, followed by Archbishop McNicholas High School in Cincinnati.[3] Tabler was a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees (sixteenth overall) in 1976,[4] and entered the organization as an outfielder, but he never reached the majors with the Yankees and on August 19, 1981, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for players to be named later (the Cubs sent Bill Caudill and Jay Howell to the Yankees in 1982 to complete the transaction).[5]

Tabler with the Nashville Sounds in 1980

Chicago Cubs

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Tabler made his debut with the Cubs in 1981 as a second baseman, hitting .188 in 35 games.[4] In 1982, the Cubs moved him to third base, and he hit .235 while playing in 25 games.[4] On January 25, 1983, the Cubs traded Tabler along with Scott Fletcher, Randy Martz, and Dick Tidrow to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar.[5]

Cleveland Indians

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On April 1, 1983, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Jerry Dybzinski and became their starting first baseman.[5] That year, he hit .291 in 124 games.[4] He became quickly known as a line drive hitter and continued to have modest success at the plate. His best season was in 1987 when he became an all-star, hitting .307 with 11 home runs and 86 runs batted in.[4] Along with first base, he was well suited for the designated hitter role he inherited from Andre Thornton in 1987.[6] He played in Cleveland until 1988, when he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Bud Black.[7]

Kansas City Royals

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He played for Kansas City until the 1990 season, when he was traded to the New York Mets.[8]

Toronto Blue Jays

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Tabler finished his career with the Toronto Blue Jays (1991–1992), winning a World Series championship with the club in his final year as a player. Tabler was also known as a clutch hitter and for his ability to hit with the bases loaded, batting just under .500 in such situations (43 for 88) for his career.[9][10]

Broadcasting career

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After his retirement, Tabler joined TSN as a studio analyst for Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 1993.[10] After the network's color commentator, former Blue Jays catcher Buck Martinez, was named the team's manager in 2001, Tabler replaced him in the broadcast booth alongside play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman.[10] He continued as TSN color analyst when Rod Black replaced Shulman, who left for ESPN. Tabler took over as the main color commentator for TSN's main rival, Rogers Sportsnet in 2005 after the sudden death of their regular commentator, former pitcher John Cerutti, calling the majority of games for both networks from 2005 to 2009 alongside Jamie Campbell and Rod Black.

Tabler worked exclusively for Sportsnet, which is the exclusive Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster. His partners were Martinez, who returned to the Blue Jays broadcast booth as play-by-play announcer in 2010, and Shulman, who returned as a part-time announcer in 2016. On September 25, 2014, Rogers announced a five-year extension with Tabler.[11] On December 2, 2022, Tabler and Sportsnet parted ways.[12] Prior to the 2023 season, he joined the Bally Sports Great Lakes as a color commentator for select Cleveland Guardians games.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Pat Tabler". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012.
  2. ^ "Pat Tabler". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012.
  3. ^ Fritsch, Jodi (February 19, 2008). "Legendary coach Jerry Doerger inducted Hall of Fame". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Pat Tabler". Baseball Reference.
  5. ^ a b c "Pat Tabler Trades and Transactions". Baseball Almanac.
  6. ^ "Pat Tabler". Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  7. ^ Schneider, Russell (2006). Whatever happened to "Super Joe"? : catching up with 45 good old guys from the bad old days of the Cleveland Indians. Gray & Co. p. 38. ISBN 1598510274.
  8. ^ Sexton, Joe (August 31, 1990). "Mets Scramble to Assemble Contender". The New York Times. p. 25. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  9. ^ Vader, J.E. (April 24, 1989). "Mr. Bases Loaded". SI.com. Sports Illustrated.
  10. ^ a b c "Blue Jays Broadcasters". MLB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  11. ^ "Sportsnet locks up Blue Jays broadcast duo". Sportsnet. September 25, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  12. ^ "Thank you, Tabby!". Sportsnet. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  13. ^ Thomas, George. "Bally Sports Great Lakes tweaks Cleveland Guardians broadcast coverage teams". BeaconJournal.com.
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