Chris Speier
Born: 6/28/1950 in Alameda, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1971-04-07 | Final Game: 1989-10-01
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 175 lbs
Full name: Chris Edward Speier
Biography
Chris Speier was a prominent figure in Major League Baseball, known for his versatility and defensive prowess. Born in 1950, he played from 1971 until his retirement on October 1, 1989, with a career that spanned nearly two decades. Over the course of 2,260 games, Speier accumulated 1,759 hits, 112 home runs, and 720 RBIs, showcasing his ability as a reliable hitter and run producer. His career batting average was .246, complemented by 42 stolen bases, reflecting a blend of offensive and defensive skills that made him a valuable asset to his teams.
Speier was selected as an All-Star three times, a testament to his impact during his playing years. He was particularly noted for his contributions at shortstop, where his strong arm and quick reflexes helped him stand out in an era that valued defensive excellence. Throughout his career, Speier played for several teams, but he is best remembered for his time with the San Francisco Giants and the Montreal Expos. His legacy is marked not only by his individual achievements but also by his role in the evolution of the shortstop position during a time when the game was increasingly focused on both offensive output and defensive capabilities.
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2260 | 7156 | 770 | 1759 | 302 | 50 | 112 | 720 | 42 | 847 | 988 | 0.246 | 0.327 | 0.349 | 0.676 | -3037.2 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | SFG | NL | 157 | 601 | 74 | 141 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 46 | 4 | 56 | 90 | 0.235 | -822.7 |
| 1972 | SFG | NL | 150 | 562 | 74 | 151 | 25 | 2 | 15 | 71 | 9 | 82 | 92 | 0.269 | 1767.1 |
| 1973 | SFG | NL | 153 | 542 | 58 | 135 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 71 | 4 | 66 | 69 | 0.249 | -124.9 |
| 1974 | SFG | NL | 141 | 501 | 55 | 125 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 53 | 3 | 62 | 64 | 0.250 | 160.2 |
| 1975 | SFG | NL | 141 | 487 | 60 | 132 | 30 | 5 | 10 | 69 | 4 | 70 | 50 | 0.271 | 1123.1 |
| 1976 | SFG | NL | 145 | 495 | 51 | 112 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 2 | 60 | 52 | 0.226 | -922.5 |
| 1977 | WSN | NL | 139 | 531 | 58 | 125 | 30 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 1 | 67 | 78 | 0.235 | -887.4 |
| 1977 | SFG | NL | 6 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.176 | -887.4 |
| 1978 | WSN | NL | 150 | 501 | 47 | 126 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 51 | 1 | 60 | 75 | 0.251 | -497.4 |
| 1979 | WSN | NL | 113 | 344 | 31 | 78 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 0 | 43 | 45 | 0.227 | -619.0 |
| 1980 | WSN | NL | 128 | 388 | 35 | 103 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 52 | 38 | 0.265 | -157.8 |
| 1981 | WSN | NL | 96 | 307 | 33 | 69 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 38 | 29 | 0.225 | -609.4 |
| 1982 | WSN | NL | 156 | 530 | 41 | 136 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 1 | 47 | 67 | 0.257 | -548.7 |
| 1983 | WSN | NL | 88 | 261 | 31 | 67 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 29 | 37 | 0.257 | -224.4 |
| 1984 | MIN | AL | 12 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0.212 | 0.0 |
| 1984 | WSN | NL | 25 | 40 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0.150 | 0.0 |
| 1984 | STL | NL | 38 | 118 | 9 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 0.178 | 0.0 |
| 1985 | CHC | NL | 106 | 218 | 16 | 53 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 17 | 34 | 0.243 | -423.2 |
| 1986 | CHC | NL | 95 | 155 | 21 | 44 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 2 | 15 | 32 | 0.284 | 323.7 |
| 1987 | SFG | NL | 111 | 317 | 39 | 79 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 39 | 4 | 42 | 51 | 0.249 | 14.3 |
| 1988 | SFG | NL | 82 | 171 | 26 | 37 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 39 | 0.216 | -185.7 |
| 1989 | SFG | NL | 28 | 37 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0.243 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 50 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 0.280 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | NLCS | SFN | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
| 1981 | NEDIV | MON | 5 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0.400 |
| 1981 | NLCS | MON | 5 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.188 |
| 1971 | NLCS | SFN | 4 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.357 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2B | 138 | 78 | 176 | 272 | 6 | 59 |
| 3B | 184 | 75 | 73 | 204 | 7 | 18 |
| SS | 1900 | 1785 | 3057 | 5781 | 275 | 1043 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | SFN | SS | 156 | 155 | 239 | 517 | 33 | 95 |
| 1972 | SFN | SS | 150 | 150 | 243 | 517 | 20 | 69 |
| 1973 | SFN | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1973 | SFN | SS | 150 | 147 | 255 | 470 | 33 | 92 |
| 1974 | SFN | 2B | 4 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 1974 | SFN | SS | 135 | 132 | 210 | 445 | 21 | 82 |
| 1975 | SFN | 3B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1975 | SFN | SS | 136 | 135 | 247 | 420 | 12 | 81 |
| 1976 | SFN | 1B | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | SFN | 2B | 7 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 1976 | SFN | 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 1976 | SFN | SS | 135 | 129 | 225 | 441 | 18 | 81 |
| 1977 | MON | SS | 138 | 138 | 236 | 435 | 21 | 75 |
| 1977 | SFN | SS | 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 1978 | MON | SS | 148 | 148 | 245 | 467 | 18 | 93 |
| 1979 | MON | SS | 112 | 110 | 194 | 355 | 17 | 52 |
| 1980 | MON | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1980 | MON | SS | 127 | 122 | 187 | 396 | 21 | 62 |
| 1981 | MON | SS | 96 | 96 | 175 | 280 | 17 | 57 |
| 1982 | MON | SS | 155 | 152 | 291 | 405 | 13 | 76 |
| 1983 | MON | 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1983 | MON | 3B | 12 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| 1983 | MON | SS | 74 | 62 | 107 | 196 | 12 | 31 |
| 1984 | MIN | SS | 12 | 11 | 14 | 28 | 1 | 6 |
| 1984 | MON | 3B | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | MON | SS | 13 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 4 |
| 1984 | SLN | 3B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | SLN | SS | 34 | 33 | 49 | 124 | 3 | 25 |
| 1985 | CHN | 2B | 13 | 10 | 21 | 28 | 2 | 9 |
| 1985 | CHN | 3B | 31 | 6 | 5 | 24 | 2 | 1 |
| 1985 | CHN | SS | 58 | 30 | 61 | 125 | 7 | 33 |
| 1986 | CHN | 2B | 7 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 1986 | CHN | 3B | 53 | 14 | 21 | 42 | 1 | 3 |
| 1986 | CHN | SS | 23 | 12 | 32 | 46 | 2 | 11 |
| 1987 | SFN | 2B | 55 | 33 | 80 | 105 | 2 | 23 |
| 1987 | SFN | 3B | 44 | 35 | 22 | 84 | 1 | 10 |
| 1987 | SFN | SS | 22 | 7 | 16 | 40 | 1 | 8 |
| 1988 | SFN | 2B | 45 | 22 | 46 | 87 | 2 | 18 |
| 1988 | SFN | 3B | 22 | 8 | 9 | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 1988 | SFN | SS | 12 | 6 | 15 | 29 | 1 | 7 |
| 1989 | SFN | 1B | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1989 | SFN | 2B | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 1989 | SFN | 3B | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | SFN | SS | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| First Base | 2 |
| Second Base | 138 |
| Third Base | 185 |
| Shortstop | 1900 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | TSN All-Star | SS |
Salary History
| Year | Team | League | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | SFN | NL | $425,000 |
| 1988 | SFN | NL | $400,000 |
| 1987 | SFN | NL | $275,000 |
| 1986 | CHN | NL | $275,000 |
| 1985 | CHN | NL | $225,000 |
| Total Career Earnings | $1,600,000 | ||
College History
| School Name | City | State | Years Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laney College | Oakland | CA | 1970 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | CA | 1969 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 28th | 1.0 | 336 | 0 |