What years did Steve Sparks play?

Steve Sparks played in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2004.

Was Steve Sparks a pitcher?

Yes. Steve Sparks pitched in the major leagues, recording 59 wins and 658 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Steve Sparks hit?

Steve Sparks hit 0 career home runs with 5 hits.

What was Steve Sparks's career batting average?

Steve Sparks batted .122 over his career, with 5 hits in 41 at bats.

How many RBI did Steve Sparks have?

Steve Sparks drove in 3 runs in his career.

What was Steve Sparks's career ERA?

Steve Sparks finished with a 4.88 career ERA, going 59-76 with 658 strikeouts.

Steve Sparks

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1995-2004)

Steve Sparks was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2004 for 5 teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers, a span of 10 seasons. Across 270 career appearances, he went 59-76 with a 4.88 ERA and 658 strikeouts.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 59–76

ERA 4.88

WHIP 1.49

SO 658

Pitcher PIV -13636.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 187 lb
Born: 7/2/1964 in Tulsa, OK, USA
MLB Debut: 1995-04-28
Last Game: 2004-09-26

Full name: Steven William Sparks

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Career Pitching Statistics

Steve Sparks — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
59	76	270	182	16	2	3	1319.2	1,451	716	154	520	658	4.88	-13636.7

Career ERA 4.88 vs. league average 4.50 across their career seasons — 8.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Sparks (b. 1964) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1995	ML4	AL	9	11	33	27	3	0	0	202.0	210	104	86	96	4.63	4.45 (-4%)	-743.6
1996	ML4	AL	4	7	20	13	1	0	0	88.2	103	65	52	21	6.60	4.61 (-43%)	-6059.4
1998	ANA	AL	9	4	22	20	0	0	0	128.2	130	62	58	90	4.34	4.43 (+2%)	-617.5
1999	ANA	AL	5	11	28	26	0	0	0	147.2	165	89	82	73	5.42	4.71 (-15%)	-4187.5
2000	DET	AL	7	5	20	15	1	1	1	104.0	108	47	29	53	4.07	4.77 (+15%)	2198.0
2001	DET	AL	14	9	35	33	8	1	0	232.0	244	94	64	116	3.65	4.42 (+17%)	1400.5
2002	DET	AL	8	16	32	30	3	0	0	189.0	238	116	67	98	5.52	4.28 (-29%)	-2281.9
2003	DET	AL	0	6	42	0	0	0	2	89.2	95	47	34	49	4.72	4.40 (-7%)	-833.0
2003	OAK	AL	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	17.1	19	11	3	5	5.71	4.40 (-30%)	-32.1
2004	ARI	NL	3	7	29	18	0	0	0	120.2	139	81	45	57	6.04	4.46 (-35%)	-2480.2
Career · 10 seasons			59	76	270	182	16	2	3	1,319.2	1,451	716	520	658	4.88	—	-13,637

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Steve Sparks — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
272	41	1	5	1	0	0	3	0	1	17	.122	.143	.146	.289	0

Career AVG .122 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — 54.3% below league average.

Career OBP .143 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 57.6% below league average.

Career SLG .146 vs. league average .426 across their career seasons — 65.6% below league average.

Career OPS .289 vs. league average .763 across their career seasons — 62.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Sparks (b. 1964) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1995	ML4	AL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	ML4	AL	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	ANA	AL	22	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	ANA	AL	29	3	0	1	1	2	0	1	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
2000	DET	AL	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2001	DET	AL	36	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2002	DET	AL	32	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	DET	AL	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	OAK	AL	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	ARI	NL	29	31	0	4	0	1	0	14	.129	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 10 seasons			272	41	1	5	1	3	1	17	.122	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Steve Sparks — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Steve Sparks — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2003	ALDS2	OAK	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Steve Sparks — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	1	0	0	4.0	2	2	3	1	4.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Steve Sparks — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2003	ALDS2	OAK	0	0	1	0	0	4.0	2	2	3	1	4.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (542 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Steve Sparks — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	123	16	0	3	0	1	.188
Away	149	25	1	2	0	2	.080

Pitching — Home / Away

Steve Sparks — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	122	611.1	670	342	242	301	5.03
Away	148	708.1	781	374	278	357	4.75

Last 10 Games — Batting

Steve Sparks — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
2004-09-26	AZ	SDP	L	1	0	0
2004-09-17	AZ	STL	L	0	0	0
2004-09-13	AZ	COL	L	0	0	0
2004-09-03	AZ	SFG	L	1	1	0
2004-08-22	AZ	CIN	L	0	0	0
2004-08-13	AZ	NYN	L	0	0	0
2004-08-08	AZ	ATL	L	0	0	0
2004-08-01	AZ	COL	L	0	0	0
2004-07-27	AZ	HOU	L	1	0	1
2004-07-19	AZ	SFG	L	2	1	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Steve Sparks — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2004-09-26	AZ	SDP	L	4.0	9	5	4	3	1	0
2004-09-17	AZ	STL	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1
2004-09-13	AZ	COL	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0
2004-09-03	AZ	SFG	—	2.0	3	0	0	0	0	0
2004-08-22	AZ	CIN	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004-08-13	AZ	NYN	—	2.0	2	2	2	1	2	1
2004-08-08	AZ	ATL	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004-08-01	AZ	COL	—	2.1	4	3	3	1	1	2
2004-07-27	AZ	HOU	—	3.0	3	4	3	2	2	1
2004-07-19	AZ	SFG	L	6.0	7	5	5	1	3	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Steve Sparks — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	270	182	115	270	13	24

Season-by-Season Fielding

Steve Sparks — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1995	ML4	P	33	27	25	43	2	5
1996	ML4	P	20	13	9	23	1	1
1998	ANA	P	22	20	12	31	0	2
1999	ANA	P	28	26	7	35	3	4
2000	DET	P	20	15	11	17	1	2
2001	DET	P	35	33	20	43	1	1
2002	DET	P	32	30	15	41	2	3
2003	DET	P	42	0	6	12	1	5
2003	OAK	P	9	0	2	4	0	1
2004	ARI	P	29	18	8	21	2	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Steve Sparks (b. 1964) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	270
Designated Hitter	1

Salary History

Steve Sparks — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2004	ARI	NL	$500,000
2003	DET	AL	$4,500,000
2002	DET	AL	$3,000,000
2001	DET	AL	$650,000
1999	ANA	AL	$1,387,500
1997	ML4	AL	$175,000
1996	ML4	AL	$175,000
1995	ML4	AL	$109,000
Total Career Earnings			$10,496,500

College History

Steve Sparks — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Sam Houston State University	Huntsville	TX	1986, 1987

Award Voting History

Steve Sparks — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1995	Rookie of the Year	AL	9th	1.0	140	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Steve Sparks (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Steve Sparks: the record in brief

The profile opens with Steve Sparks's first major league game on April 28, 1995; the last one listed came on September 26, 2004. Club by club, the record runs the Milwaukee Brewers (1995 through 1996), the Anaheim Angels (1998 to 1999), the Detroit Tigers (2000 to 2003), the Oakland Athletics (2003), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2004). Born on July 2, 1964, in Tulsa, OK, USA, Sparks is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-0 and 187 pounds. The given name on file is Steven William Sparks.

Across 270 games (182 starts), Sparks recorded 59 wins against 76 losses with a 4.88 ERA. Sparks had 658 strikeouts and 16 complete games. The league ERA over Sparks's seasons was 4.50, so the 4.88 figure ran 8.4% worse than average. The best win total was 14, in 2001. In 2001, one of the busiest seasons, Sparks posted a 3.65 ERA; the league figure that year was 4.42.

In award voting, Sparks's best finish was 9th for the Rookie of the Year in 1995.

Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Sparks

What years did Steve Sparks play?: Steve Sparks played in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2004.
Was Steve Sparks a pitcher?: Yes. Steve Sparks pitched in the major leagues, recording 59 wins and 658 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Steve Sparks hit?: Steve Sparks hit 0 career home runs with 5 hits.
What was Steve Sparks's career batting average?: Steve Sparks batted .122 over his career, with 5 hits in 41 at bats.
How many RBI did Steve Sparks have?: Steve Sparks drove in 3 runs in his career.
What was Steve Sparks's career ERA?: Steve Sparks finished with a 4.88 career ERA, going 59-76 with 658 strikeouts.