Rob Ducey

{{short description|Canadian baseball player and coach (born 1965)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Rob Ducey

|image=

|position=Outfielder

|team=

|number=

|bats=Left

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1965|5|24}}

|birth_place=Toronto, Ontario, Canada

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 1

|debutyear=1987

|debutteam=Toronto Blue Jays

|debut2league = NPB

|debut2date=April 1

|debut2year=1995

|debut2team=Nippon-Ham Fighters

|final2league = MLB

|final2date=July 22

|final2year=2001

|final2team=Montreal Expos

|finalleague = NPB

|finaldate=September 24

|finalyear=1996

|finalteam=Nippon-Ham Fighters

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.242

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=31

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=146

|stat2league = NPB

|stat21label=Batting average

|stat21value=.248

|stat22label=Home runs

|stat22value=51

|stat23label=Runs batted in

|stat23value=120

|teams=

Toronto Blue Jays ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1992}})
California Angels ({{mlby|1992}})
Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1993}}–{{mlby|1994}})
Nippon-Ham Fighters ({{npby|1995}}–{{npby|1996}})
Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|1997}}–{{mlby|1998}})
Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1999}}–{{mlby|2000}})
Toronto Blue Jays ({{mlby|2000}})
Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|2000}}–{{mlby|2001}})
Montreal Expos ({{mlby|2001}})

| hofcolor= #EC1C40

| hoflink= Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

| hoftype= Canadian

| hofdate= 2013

}}

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).{{cite web |title=Rob Ducey Stats |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/duceyro01.shtml |access-date=January 5, 2020 |work=Baseball-Reference.com}}

Career

Ducey was raised in Cambridge, Ontario{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Josh |date=August 2, 2008 |title=Rob Ducey: Cambridge native's back – as a coach |url=http://news.therecord.com/article/393572 |access-date=January 15, 2009 |work=Waterloo Region Record}} and graduated from Seminole Community College.

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Ducey as a free agent in {{baseball year|1984}}. He debuted in MLB with the Blue Jays in {{baseball year|1987}} and played with the team until the end of July {{baseball year|1992}}. He then played in MLB for the California Angels (1992), Texas Rangers ({{baseball year|1993}}–{{Baseball year|1994}}), Seattle Mariners ({{baseball year|1997}}–{{baseball year|1998}}), Philadelphia Phillies ({{baseball year|1999}}–{{baseball year|2000}}, 2000-{{baseball year|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.{{Sabrbio|rob-ducey}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Rob Ducey |url=https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/rob-ducey/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum}}

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.{{cite news |last=Stark |first=Jayson |author-link=Jayson Stark |date=August 12, 2000 |title=Ducey for Ducey? Not quite, but close enough |url=https://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/679879.html |access-date=June 10, 2015 |work=ESPN}}{{cite news |date=August 10, 2000 |title=Sneed battles self, Altoona |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=20000810&id=mvohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aaMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1324,5689696&hl=en |access-date=June 10, 2015 |publisher=Reading Eagle |pages=C3 |via=Google News Archive}}

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.{{cite web|title=Blue Jays add Ducey to scouting staff|url=http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060109&content_id=1293013&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610085841/http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060109&content_id=1293013&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 10, 2015|access-date=June 10, 2015|website=MLB.com|date=January 9, 2006}} Matt Stairs, Denis Boucher, and Shawn Hill are the only other ballplayers to achieve such distinction.

Subsequently, Ducey spent one year each in the New York Yankees' and Expos organizations as a minor league hitting coach, before being hired in 2006 by the Blue Jays as a talent scout. 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.{{cite news|last1=Griffin|first1=Richard|title=Blue Jays struck by winds of change|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/2009/10/10/blue_jays_struck_by_winds_of_change.html|access-date=June 10, 2015|work=Toronto Star|date=October 10, 2009}}

Ducey was hired to scout for the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2011 season,{{cite news|last1=Gill|first1=Cliff|title=An accomplished athlete in baseball and basketball|url=http://tbo.com/pasco-county/an-accomplished-athlete-in-baseball-and-basketball-6634|access-date=June 10, 2015|work=The Tampa Tribune|date=February 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610092821/http://tbo.com/pasco-county/an-accomplished-athlete-in-baseball-and-basketball-6634|archive-date=June 10, 2015|url-status=bot: unknown}} then joined the Phillies minor league system in 2014, again serving as a hitting coach through 2017.{{cite news |last1=Karbach |first1=Kirsten |date=April 6, 2015 |title=Legg Returns to Lead New-Look Staff |url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-116557422 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610090359/http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150406&content_id=116557422&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t566&sid=t566 |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |access-date=June 10, 2015 |work=Minor League Baseball}}{{Cite web |title=Rob Ducey Intl, MLB, Minor League, Independent Baseball Statistics |url=https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/796/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The Baseball Cube}} In 2020, Ducey was the hitting coach for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Josh |date=2021-05-27 |title=Cambridge's Rob Ducey takes a swing at a new career |url=https://www.therecord.com/sports/baseball/cambridge-s-rob-ducey-takes-a-swing-at-a-new-career/article_5cfa12f2-0c2e-5bdb-8fdc-9ad8f68522ec.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250410072835/https://www.therecord.com/sports/baseball/cambridge-s-rob-ducey-takes-a-swing-at-a-new-career/article_5cfa12f2-0c2e-5bdb-8fdc-9ad8f68522ec.html |archive-date=2025-04-10 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The Waterloo Region Record}}

Ducey also coached Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2008 Olympics, and 2015 WBSC Premier12.{{Cite web |title=Baseball Canada Announces Coaching Staff for World Baseball Classic |url=https://baseball.ca/?alias=baseball-canada-announces-coaching-staff-for-world-baseball-classic |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Baseball Canada}}

Awards

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.{{Cite web |title=James "Tip" O'Neill Award |url=https://baseballhalloffame.ca/james-tip-oneill-award/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum}}{{Cite web |title=Inductees |url=https://baseballhalloffame.ca/inductees/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum}}

Ducey was also inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.{{Cite web |title=Rob Ducey |url=https://cambridgeshf.com/inductees/rob-ducey/ |website=Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame}}

Personal life

Ducey lives in Tarpon Springs, Florida, with his wife Yanitza and their sons Thomas and Aaron and their daughter Jenaka.{{cite news |title=Take 5 With Rob Ducey |url=https://baseball.ca/take-5-with-rob-ducey |access-date=January 21, 2017 |work=Baseball Canada}}

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

References

External links

{{baseballstats|mlb=113585|espn=1948|br=d/duceyro01|fangraphs=1003520|brm=ducey-001rob|retro=D/Pduceb001}}

[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418101243/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/du/rob-ducey-1.html Rob Ducey] at Sports Reference Olympic Sports

Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:Adirondack Lumberjacks players

Category:Baseball players from Toronto

Category:Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Category:Black Canadian baseball players

Category:Black Canadian sportsmen

Category:California Angels players

Category:Canadian baseball coaches

Category:Canadian expatriate baseball players in Japan

Category:Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States

Category:Cardenales de Lara players