Steve Kline (klinest02)

Steven James Kline

• Bats Both, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
• School Allegany College, West Virginia University
• High School Lewisburg Area High School
• Debut April 2, 1997
• Final Game September 25, 2007
• Born August 22, 1972 in Sunbury, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Steve Kline was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 60th round of the 1991 amateur draft, but did not sign. He instead attended West Virginia University where he was named Atlantic-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1993. He did sign when he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 8th round in the 1993 amateur draft.

He pitched in the major leagues from 1997, when he made his debut with the Indians, until 2007, when he was with the San Francisco Giants. In all, he appeared in 796 games, making just 1 start, and picking up 39 saves with a record of 34-39 and an ERA of 3.51. Even though he was a lefthanded reliever, he was never confined to the prototypical LOOGY role, as he was regularly asked to save games and had more decisions than the average LOOGY. He led the National League in games pitched for three consecutive seasons, from 1999 to 2001, and in the third of these, he set a major league record for most games pitched by a left-hander in a season, with 89.

Halfway through his rookie season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Jeff Juden. He emerged as a reliable reliever for the Expos in 1998, when he put up an ERA of 2.76 in 78 games. After the 2000 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Dustin Hermanson in return for Britt Reames and Fernando Tatis. He spent four seasons as a key member of the Cardinals' bullpen, appearing in the postseason three times, including in the 2004 World Series which the Cardinals lost to the Boston Red Sox. Overall, his ERA was 0.96 in 13 postseason appearances. Before the 2005 season, he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, then after one year there was traded to the Giants in return for LaTroy Hawkins.

Kline was the pitching coach for the Augusta GreenJackets in 2009-2011, San Jose Giants in 2012 and Augusta again in 2013. He was with the Richmond Flying Squirrels in 2015-2017 and Sacramento River Cats in 2018-2019. He was scheduled to be pitching coach of Richmond in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19. Kline was then pitching coach of Richmond in 2021.

He was named head coach of Indiana University of Pennsylvania for 2022. He was to stay with Richmond until late August. Taking over an IUP program that had won two games in 2021, he made strides quickly, taking them to the 2024 Division II College World Series, their first trip to the Division II World Series.

He is not to be confused with another pitcher named Steve Kline, who was also a left-hander and was active in the 1970s.

Notable Achievements

• 3-time NL Games Pitched Leader (1999-2001)

Records Held

• Games pitched, left-hander, season, 89, 2001