Steve Kiefer, Everything Hit - 17

Check out the revisited Steve Kiefer feature from October 2012: Steve Kiefer, Everything Hit

One time, Steve Kiefer injured a tendon in batting practice, another time he caught his ankle rounding third on a triple, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Add to those the plain unlucky, a beer bottle to the head in a case of mistaken identity, and the plain awful, his wife having a miscarriage. All those were after after a pretty good 1987 season, making a stretch for Kiefer best forgotten, according to The Times.

"I was looking to be called up (to the Yankees)," Kiefer told The Times in 1989 while rehabbing the ankle injury at AAA Columbus. "It seemed like everything hit when I got to the major leagues to stay. I never had anything that kept me out more than a week."

By that time, July 11, 1989, Kiefer had already played in 100 major league games over four seasons. He would only play in five more, before turning his sights on another career involving those with injuries or ailments, making orthopedic braces.

Kiefer had been taken by Oakland in the first round of the 1981 January draft, having attended Cerritos College and Fullerton College.

He made AA Albany in 1983, hitting .246 and 19 home runs. The next year found Kiefer at AAA Tacoma and in the majors. He hit Oakland as a September call-up, playing in 23 games that year. He hit just .175 for the big club in 40 at bats.

Another 40 games for Oakland in 1985 weren't much better. In spring training 1986, Kiefer and three others were shipped to the Brewers for Moose Haas. Over the next three years, Kiefer only played 37 major league games. Becoming a free agent, Kiefer signed with the Yankees, working for a more permanent trip back to the majors, in the Bronx.

Kiefer rehabbed that ankle injury enough to get that call-up to New York a month later, debuting with the Yankees Aug. 11. It would be another short stay, his last in the majors. Eleven days and five games later, Kiefer got only one hit in eight at bats.

For 1990, Kiefer played at AAA Buffalo, the Pirates top farm team, then moved to the Mets organization at Tidewater and his pro career was done. His brother Mark Kiefer would later make the majors and pitch in parts of four seasons with Milwaukee.

• Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1989: Kiefer is Hoping for Better Breaks

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 114/880 - 13.0%
Made the Majors: 73 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 29
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42