Ken Shamburg

Kenneth Lee Shamburg

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight: 215 lb.

• School Butte College

• Born January 31, 1967 in Redding, CA USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ken Shamburg played 11 years as a pro, three at AAA, but did not make the majors.

The Seattle Mariners took him in the 7th round of the January 1986 draft, one pick ahead of Rusty Richards. He did not sign and wound up being signed by scout Ed Sprague Sr. as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Orioles a few years later. In 1989, he hit .254/.329/.398 for the Frederick Keys. He split 1990 between Frederick (.321/.400/.506 in 66 G), the Hagerstown Suns (.276/.316/.404 in 72 G) and the Rochester Red Wings (2 for 6). He had batted .298/.358/.451 with 39 doubles, 7 triples and 96 RBI between the three stops. The first baseman led O's minor leaguers in hits (155, 10 ahead of Scott Meadows), doubles (10 ahead of Meadows again), triples (one more than Pat Austin and Tony Beasley) and total bases (235, four ahead of Leo Gomez) and was second in RBI, one shy of Gomez, not bad for his first full season in the minors. In winter ball, he hit .288/.328/.346 for the Dominican League's Estrellas Orientales.

Shamburg split 1991 between the Suns (.275/.372/.439, 36 2B, 82 RBI) and Rochester (.150/.244/.173 in 15 G). He led the Eastern League in doubles (three ahead of J.T. Snow), was 4th in RBI (between Dave Silvestri and Matt Stairs), tied for 8th in walks (69), was 7th in OBP (between Bobby DeJardin and Paul Carey) and ranked 8th in slugging (between Snow and Rob Natal). He was not named the EL All-Star 1B as Snow was picked instead. Among Orioles minor leaguers, he again led in doubles (37, 8 more than Carey or Brent Miller), led in RBI (85, two ahead of Benny Distefano), was 4th in walks (74) and was 4th with 194 total bases (between Distefano and Mel Wearing).

While productive till that point, he fell off suddenly in 1992 with the Red Wings (.209/.251/.335 in 58 G) and ended the season with the Milwaukee Brewers' Denver Zephyrs affiliate (.281/.339/.404 in 18 G). He went to the Mexican League in 1993 but hit .222/~.300/.267 for the Yucatan Lions only. Fortunately for Shamburg, the independent leagues had recently formed, creating an avenue for players who had washed out of the affiliated minors. Signing with the Tyler Wildcatters, he batted .317/.377/.483 with 63 RBI in 88 games in 1994. He was 9th in the Texas-Louisiana League in RBI.

In 1995, he hit .292/.381/.558 with 32 doubles, 20 home runs and 80 RBI in 99 games for Tyler. He was third in doubles (after Dennis Hood and Jorge Alvarez), 6th in home runs, tied Barry Jones for 6th in RBI and 4th in slugging (between Fletcher Thompson and Kinnis Pledger). He did not make the All-Star team as Mike Cantu was picked at 1B. In his third season for Tyler, his batting line was .289/.371/.501 and he had 15 home runs in 99 games. He tied Chris Norton for 7th in home runs and was 8th in slugging (between Paul Coleman and Cantu).

Moving to the Chico Heat for 1997, he batted .315/.407/.562 with 21 home runs, 74 runs, 73 RBI and 55 walks in 90 games. He tied for 4th in the Western Baseball League in runs, tied Sam Taylor for 5th in home runs, tied Kyle Washington for 8th in RBI, tied Todd Takayoshi for 5th in walks, was 10th in slugging (between Paul Ellis and Bret Barberie) and was 9th in OPS (between Barberie and Mark Charbonnet). He hit .267/.352/.403 for the 1998 Heat. In 1999, he was 3 for 26 with 5 walks for Chico to end his career.

Sources include Dominican League, Mexican League