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Rob Ducey

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Rob Ducey
Outfielder
Born: (1965-05-24) May 24, 1965 (age 59)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: May 1, 1987, for the Toronto Blue Jays
NPB: April 1, 1995, for the Nippon-Ham Fighters
Last appearance
NPB: September 24, 1996, for the Nippon-Ham Fighters
MLB: July 22, 2001, for the Montreal Expos
MLB statistics
Batting average.242
Home runs31
Runs batted in146
NPB statistics
Batting average.248
Home runs51
Runs batted in120
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Member of the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2013

Robert Thomas Ducey (born May 24, 1965) is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder and coach who played for six teams in Major League Baseball (MLB).[1]

Career

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Ducey was raised in Cambridge, Ontario[2] and graduated from Seminole Community College.

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Ducey as a free agent in 1984. He debuted in MLB with the Blue Jays in 1987 and played with the team until the end of July 1992. He then played in MLB for the California Angels (1992), Texas Rangers (1993–1994), Seattle Mariners (1997–1998), Philadelphia Phillies (1999–2000, 2000-2001), and Montreal Expos (2001), with a brief return to Toronto in 2000. He ended his 13-year major league career with a .242 batting average and 31 home runs in 703 games.[1][3] He also played for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1995 and 1996, hitting 51 home runs, topping his 31 home runs in MLB.[1][4]

Ducey was part of a major league anomaly in 2000, when he was traded by the Phillies to the Blue Jays on July 26 for minor league pitcher John Sneed, and was then traded by the Blue Jays back to the Phillies on August 7 for Mickey Morandini.[5][6]

Ducey served as a designated hitter for Canada in the 2004 Summer Olympics, which finished in fourth place. As a result, he became the first Canadian to have played for two Canadian MLB teams, the Expos and Blue Jays, and the Canadian Olympic team.[7] Matt Stairs, Denis Boucher, and Shawn Hill are the only other ballplayers to achieve such distinction.[4]

Subsequently, Ducey spent one year each in the New York Yankees' and Expos organizations as a minor league hitting coach,[8] before being hired in 2006 by the Blue Jays as a talent scout.[7] His responsibilities included covering both the major and minor leagues, as well as spring training camp before moving to the Pacific Rim department. In October 2009, he was dismissed by then-new Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos when coverage of Asia was not a priority for the organization.[9]

Ducey was hired to scout for the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2011 season,[10] then joined the Phillies minor league system in 2014, again serving as a hitting coach through 2017.[8][11] In 2020, Ducey was the hitting coach for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).[12]

Ducey also coached Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2008 Olympics, and 2015 WBSC Premier12.[13][3]

Awards

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In 1986, Ducey won the Tip O'Neill Award, given annually to the top Canadian baseball player. He was inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013. When he was inducted, Ducey joined Terry Puhl and Larry Walker as the only Canadian baseball players to achieve both of those milestones. Corey Koskie, Jason Bay, Ryan Dempster, Justin Morneau, and Russell Martin have since garnered both honors.[4][14][15]

Ducey was also inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.[16]

Personal life

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Ducey lives in Tarpon Springs, Florida, with his wife Yanitza and their sons Thomas and Aaron and their daughter Jenaka.[17][12]

In 2021, Ducey began working as a life insurance agent in Florida.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Rob Ducey Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  2. ^ Brown, Josh (August 2, 2008). "Rob Ducey: Cambridge native's back – as a coach". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Rob Ducey at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
  4. ^ a b c "Rob Ducey". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  5. ^ Stark, Jayson (August 12, 2000). "Ducey for Ducey? Not quite, but close enough". ESPN. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  6. ^ "Sneed battles self, Altoona". Reading Eagle. August 10, 2000. pp. C3. Retrieved June 10, 2015 – via Google News Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Blue Jays add Ducey to scouting staff". MLB.com. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Karbach, Kirsten (April 6, 2015). "Legg Returns to Lead New-Look Staff". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ Griffin, Richard (October 10, 2009). "Blue Jays struck by winds of change". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  10. ^ Gill, Cliff (February 11, 2011). "An accomplished athlete in baseball and basketball". The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ "Rob Ducey Intl, MLB, Minor League, Independent Baseball Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Brown, Josh (May 27, 2021). "Cambridge's Rob Ducey takes a swing at a new career". The Waterloo Region Record. Archived from the original on April 10, 2025. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  13. ^ "Baseball Canada Announces Coaching Staff for World Baseball Classic". Baseball Canada. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  14. ^ "James "Tip" O'Neill Award". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  15. ^ "Inductees". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  16. ^ "Rob Ducey". Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame.
  17. ^ "Take 5 With Rob Ducey". Baseball Canada. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
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