Scott Rolen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scott Rolen

St. Louis Cardinals — No. 27
Third base
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
August 1, 1996 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Selected MLB statistics (through October 2, 2006)
Batting average	.285
Home runs	253
RBI's	954
Former teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1996-2002) St. Louis Cardinals (2002-present)

Scott Bruce Rolen (born April 4, 1975 in Evansville, Indiana) is an American baseball player, who currently plays at third base for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rolen grew up in Evansville, Indiana. Although drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the 1993 amateur draft, he didn't receive playing time until 1996. In the next season, he was named National League Rookie of the Year.

Rolen, after being welcomed as a conquering hero by the Philadelphia fans, even after being placed in the rarefied stratum with Michael Jack Schmidt, decided that surliness and mercenary tactics would be the norm and dictate his future in the game of baseball. Despite a dismal spring in the 2001 season (well into June, he was stuck at .259 with a paltry 7 home runs and had a mere 3 hits over a 25 at-bat spread), Rolen still had the temerity to question the management's commitment to winning, and regularly sparred with manager Larry Bowa, who often showed frustration with his cleanup hitter's sagging numbers.

Rolen's standing amongst the die-hard Phillies fans hit rock bottom after a combination of his disappointing play, dissent with team management, and continuing refusal to consider to commit to the team for the long term, preferring instead to cryptically announce to a team that was managing to win despite his performance that he would only commit to a team who showed him a "commitment to winning". He then proceeded to demand, during contract talks and despite having not so much as a single days' experience as a Major League GM, that Philadelphia insert a clause in his contract that guaranteed that the Phillies would be "among the top" teams in payroll figures in the National League. His insouciance towards the very fans who welcomed him with open arms in 1996 can be summed up in one single gesture: after belting his second home run in an 8-4 win over the Montreal Expos on June 1, Rolen refused to emerge from the dugout for a curtain call, turning his back for the final time on the city who wanted nothing more than for him to continue to live up to his potential at the hot corner. This sort of behavior is what prompted an anonymous teammate to saddle him with the moniker, "clubhouse cancer".

Rolen then turned his back on a ten-year, 140 million dollar contract that would have, as demanded, significantly boosted the Phillies' payroll. Then the man who swore he did not list monetary compensation as one of his motivations for playing refused to accept a long-term contract from the St. Louis Cardinals, opting instead for a one-year, 8.6 million windfall and making it clear he would be a free agent at the termination of this contract.

On July 29 2002, Rolen was traded, along with Doug Nickle, to the Cardinals for Plácido Polanco, Mike Timlin, and Bud Smith. Later that year, he received an eight-year contract extension. Though his play was solid in St. Louis, his antics continued; even as recently as the start of the 2007 Major League season, he could be found publicly sniping with skipper Tony LaRussa.

Rolen's 2004 season has arguably been his best to date. For much of the season, he led the National League in RBIs, often ranked among the league leaders in most offensive statistics, and had the highest vote total of any player for the All-Star Game. Despite being injured for the last stretch of the season, he finished the year with a career-high .314 batting average, 34 home runs, and 124 RBIs. He finished fourth in the National League MVP voting.

In the 2005 season, Rolen only played 56 games due to a shoulder injury. He eventually opted to have surgery on his shoulder, rather than attempt to let it heal on its own and return for the playoffs. He returned to full-time duties in 2006, a year in which Rolen was one of six nominees for the National League Comeback Player of the Year award.

After a disappointing playoff series against the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets, in the 2006 World Series Rolen led the St. Louis Cardinals in batting average. He hit .421 with a homer, three doubles and two RBIs. His opposite-field single in the seventh inning of game 5 drove in the final run in St. Louis' 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Cardinals took the Series four games to one.

On September 15, 2005^{[citation needed]}, Rolen set a personal record for RBIs in a game with 7 in a 13-4 win against the San Fransisco Giants, hitting 2 home runs.

A middle-of-the-order hitter throughout his career, Rolen has a career .285 batting average as well as a .376 on-base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage. He has 1,454 hits, 253 home runs, and 954 RBIs, as well as having scored 834 runs.

However, while Rolen is a fine hitter, it is his glove that attracts the most attention. In a ten-year career, Rolen has won seven Gold Glove Awards. Only Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson (16) and Mike Schmidt (10) have more. Schmidt himself has said that Rolen is a better gloveman than he was, and many analysts and baseball experts agree. During the 2006 World Series, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "Let me tell you something about the Cardinals. They've got one of the greatest -- and some people think the best -- defensive third basemen of all time."link title

Scott Rolen is known throughout the baseball community as one of the hardest working players in the game. He was also a star basketball player growing up in Indiana. This athleticism and determination make him one of the game's best third basemen.

Rolen's charitable foundation to brighten the lives of children and their families who struggle with an illness, hardship, or other special needs is the Enis Furley Foundation. link title.

Rolen currently splits his time between residences in Saint Charles, Missouri, Carmel, Indiana, Bloomington, Indiana and Bradenton Beach, Florida

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time

[edit] External links

• Scott Rolen at ESPN.com
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Cardinals profile

Preceded by Todd Hollandsworth	National League Rookie of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Kerry Wood
Preceded by Ken Caminiti	NL Third Base Gold Glove Winner 1998	Succeeded by Robin Ventura
Preceded by Robin Ventura	NL Third Base Gold Glove Winner 2000 - 2004	Succeeded by Mike Lowell
Preceded by Mike Lowell	NL Third Base Gold Glove Winner 2006	Succeeded by Current