Todd Van Poppel
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Todd Matthew Van Poppel (born December 9, 1971, in Hinsdale, Illinois) was a Major League Baseball pitcher with an 11-year career from 1991, 1993-1996, 1998, 2000-2004. He played for the Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds. He retired during spring training with the New York Mets in 2005.
Van Poppel was 11-3 with a 0.97 ERA and 170 strikeouts as a senior at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. He was drafted in the first round, 14th overall, by the Athletics directly out of high school in 1990. The Atlanta Braves had seriously considered using their No. 1 overall selection on the highly touted pitcher. But because of concerns about his signability, the team opted instead to take shortstop Chipper Jones, who wound up with a far superior career.
Van Poppel was the first of four starting pitchers selected by the A's in the first 36 picks of the 1990 draft, referred to at the time as "The Four Aces". The other three draftees were Don Peters, Dave Zancanaro and Kirk Dressendorfer. All four struggled with injuries after being drafted, and only Van Poppel and Dressendorfer ever reached the major leagues.[1]
Because Van Poppel was signed to a major league contract rather than the standard minor league contract, the A's only had a limited number of minor league options they could use on him. By all accounts his lack of seasoning in the minors cost both the A's and Van Poppel. He pitched just 37.2 innings in A-ball in 1990, spent 1991 at AA Huntsville, and was the hurt for much of 1992 at AAA Tacoma before splitting time between Oakland and Tacoma in 1993. In all he made only 32 minor league starts.[2][3]
Armed with a blazing fastball that had little movement, Van Poppel struggled with the A's -- his best season in Oakland was probably 1995, when he went 4-8 with a 4.88 ERA, splitting time as a starter and a reliever. He also notched 122 strikeouts (and 56 walks) in 138.1 innings that year.
In 1996 his numbers dropped sharply, and he was released by the A's mid-season. After unremarkable stops in Detroit, Texas and Pittsburgh, Van Poppel did have two successful years (2000 and 2001) as a middle reliever with the Cubs, before his effectiveness declined.
Van Poppel's career record was 40-52. He never won more than seven games in a season.
Shortly after his retirement from baseball in 2005, Van Poppel announced he was investing in the Denton Outlaws, a Texas Collegiate League team. The Outlaws went on to win the league championship that year.[4]
