Tom Prince

Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 14

Catcher / Coach

Born: August 13, 1964 (age 52)
Kankakee, Illinois

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 22, 1987, for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Last MLB appearance

September 28, 2003, for the Kansas City Royals

MLB statistics

Batting average

.208

Home runs

Runs batted in

140

Teams

As player

As coach

Pittsburgh Pirates (2017–present)

As player

As coach

Thomas Albert Prince (born August 13, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player, manager and current coach. As a player, Prince didn't produce impressive offensive statistics but, he excelled defensively as a catcher, enabling him to sustain a seventeen-year career in Major League Baseball. Prince is the current Bench Coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Primarily a catcher during his playing career, Prince batted and threw with his right hand. He was listed as 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall and 185 lbs. After a successful career at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, Prince was drafted twice by the Atlanta Braves; with the 195th pick of the 1983 January draft, as part of that draft's 8th round, and with the 76th overall pick of that same year's June draft, as part of that draft's 4th round. He elected not to sign both times, instead attending Kankakee Community College. There, he attracted the attention of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who selected him with the 64th overall pick of the 1984 January draft. This time, he signed the deal, and that summer began play with the Pirates' farm club in the Gulf Coast League.

Prince enjoyed a strong defensive reputation as a prospect, but his offensive production fluctuated wildly as he advanced through the system. With the Macon Pirates of the South Atlantic League, he put up an unusually low .208 batting average, but hit for moderate power and drew 96 base on balls in only 360 at bats. Two years later at AA, he put up a .307 batting average with the Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League.

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Wikipedia