| |||||||||||||||||||
Professional Baseball Career - Signed a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians' organization in July of 2002 as a free agent ... Had an excellent debut in professional baseball for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Short Season A New York-Penn League in the summer of 2002, posting a 1-0 record and a 2.70 ERA with four saves and 20 strikeouts in 23.1 innings ... Appeared in 21 games, all out of the bullpen ... Graduated in June of 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics.
  | |
As a Senior in 2002 - Had his best season in his final campaign with a team-best 2.45 ERA and six saves (second on the club and tied for fourth in the Pac-10) ... Also posted a 2-2 record in 20 appearances, all out of the bullpen ... Struck out 42 batters in 36.2 innings for a 10.31 strikeouts per nine innings average ... Had saves in each of his four postseason outings as he developed into the team's top closer late in the campaign ... Posted his first career College World Series save versus Notre Dame (6/18) with 3.1 innings of one-hit scoreless baseball and three strikeouts in his last career outing ... Had a pair of saves against USC (6/7 - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO; 6/8 - 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) in the NCAA Super Regional and one versus Long Beach State (6/1 - 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) in the NCAA Regional as the only reliever used during the Regional ... Stranded the tying run on third base and the winning run on second in the bottom of the ninth in the save against Long Beach State ... Gave up two hits and a run with three strikeouts versus Washington State (5/25) in his final regular season appearance ... Pitched 2.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts at UCLA (5/19) ... Charged with the loss in a 9-4 defeat at UCLA (5/18) after giving up a pair of seventh inning singles to hitters that eventually scored ... Impressive in 2.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts at Nevada (4/14) ... Recorded his second save of the season with 3.0 scoreless, one-hit innings and three strikeouts versus California (5/4) ... Took the loss at Oregon State (4/27), allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 4-3 loss ... Picked up his first victory since 1999 in one of the best outings of his career at Washington (4/20), striking out a career-high six batters and allowing just three hits in a career-best 4.2 scoreless innings ... Also pitched 2.0 scoreless one-hit innings in his previous performance versus Saint Mary's (4/16) ... Pitched 3.0 scoreless, two-hit innings with three strikeouts for his first save of the season at USC (3/24) ... Struck out five in 2.2 innings and limited California (3/10) to two hits and one run ... Tossed 3.1 innings without allowing an earned run and struck out four at Santa Clara (2/23).
As a Junior in 2001 - Pitched in two games before suffering a season-ending arm injury ... Finished with an 0-0 record and a 5.40 ERA in 1.2 innings.
As a Sophomore in 2000 - Pitched in only six games, primarily in a middle relief role ... Compiled an 0-2 record with an 11.37 ERA ... Had 11 strikeouts in 6.1 innings, including an impressive 1.1 inning, three-strikeout performance versus Nebraska (6/2) in the NCAA Super Regional ... Also had strong outings versus Sacramento State (4/4 - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) and USC (3/18 - 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO).
As a Freshman in 1999 - Had a successful rookie year with a 3-1 mark, two saves and a 3.66 ERA, which ranked second on the club only to All-American Jason Young ... Racked up 20 strikeouts in 19.2 innings of work ... Picked up a huge save in the NCAA Regional title game versus Nevada (5/30), retiring all four batters he faced ... Suffered his only defeat of the season when Florida State beat Stanford in the first game of a CWS bracket final (6/17) ... Did not allow an earned run in the first nine appearances of his career ... Earned his first collegiate victory with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in a 10-7 win at USC (2/26) ... Picked up his first career save with 1.1 scoreless innings in an 11-8 victory over Arizona State (3/7) ... Credited with the victory in the Cardinal's 7-3 win over USF (4/31), working 2.2 innings without giving up an earned run and striking out a season-high four ... Picked up the win in an exciting 10-inning, 16-14 victory at Nevada (5/4) by working the final 2.2 innings.
High School - A 1998 graduate of Bay High School ... Southwestern Conference MVP and named First Team All-Ohio as a senior ... Selected First Team All-Southwestern Conference in his final two seasons (1997, '98) as team won both the Regional and District championships ... Attended the same high school as former Stanford baseball standout Joe Kilburg (1995-97) ... Also a four-year member of the school's golf team, earning three All-SWC selections (1996-98) and twice being named team MVP (1997, '98) ... Shot a school-record score of 31 for nine holes ... Graduated with a 4.0 GPA ... Four-year Academic Award winner ... Coached in baseball by Cliff Cooke.
Amateur Summer Baseball - Did not pitch in the summer of 2001 while recovering from an arm injury ... Had an excellent summer in 2000, ranking third in the Cape Cod League with 10 regular season saves (13 appearances) for the league champion Brewster Whitecaps ... Shared the 2000 Russ Ford Relief Pitcher of the Year honors for the CCBL with Taft Cable of UNC-Greensboro ... Recorded a 1-0 record and an 0.63 ERA, striking out 23 batters while allowing only four hits, one earned run and one walk in 14.1 innings ... Saved games in both of his postseason appearances in 2000 ... Also had a successful 1999 summer season with the Fairbanks Goldpanners of the Alaska Baseball League, recording a 2-2 record and a team-low 1.53 ERA in 35.1 innings.
Personal - Son of Thomas and Ann Rich ... Enjoys movies and playing golf ... Lists the best sporting event he has ever attended as the last Cleveland Indians game at the old Municipal Stadium.
Rich's Final Career Stats