Philadelphia Phillies jack-of-all-trades Kevin Jordan was originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft out of Canada College in Redwood City, California.
A year later he was back in the draft and this time he was taken by the New York Yankees in round 20 after playing transferring to the University of Nebraska for his final season of college ball.
Traded to the Phils, he made his MLB debut in 1995 and spent seven years with the Phils.
Jordan also spent a few years playing for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League. After his retirement from the game, Jordan went on to manage the Bandits. He’s also spent time as a part-time color analyst for Phillies radio broadcasts.
The 52-year-old Jordan is now the owner and operator of www.kjhitting.com in Belmont, CA where he spends time as a baseball and softball instructor.
In our latest Card Back Q&A, Jordan talks about his infamous error card, memorable coaches and pinch hitting at the highest level.
Tony Reid- Your 1996 Score card back actually pictures another Phils player named Jordan–Ricky Jordan. What are your thoughts on the error card back?
Kevin Jordan– One funny note. I saw Ricky Jordan. I always go out and watch the Giants games since I am still in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ricky is up in Sacramento. I actually have a card that is Ricky Jordan. It is Ricky Jordan’s face. It’s Ricky Jordan on the back. I will not sign that card. I did sign it one time. When I was playing I received a note and it was from a nun. I actually signed the card for her and sent it back. (Otherwise) I will not sign that card. It’s not me. It’s my name but its Ricky on the front and Ricky on the back.
TR- Your 1994 Bowman Rookie Card Trey Hillman is quoted on the back saying ‘If a manager had two Kevin Jordans, that team would manage itself.’
KJ-I remember that quote. Trey was my manager in 1990. We won it in the Penn League. The coolest thing about Trey, he was younger, I think he was in his late 20s. We were just out of college. Trey instilled in us a team confidence. We didn’t have stars, per se. A lot of us made the Major Leagues but we didn’t have it. He was very aggressive with us. He wanted us to fail and fail aggressively. That was the theme of our team. We were gung ho. I think we led the Minor Leagues by winning 15 or 16 games in a row.
TR– A number of cards in 1999, including Upper Deck Victory, listed the same information. You had a pinch hit 3-run homer in the top of the 10th inning to beat the Reds on April 28th of 1998. You were a pinch hitter and so versatile. When you completely change and win a game with a swing of the bat, what is that experience like for you?
KJ– Being a pinch hitter, you might get one swing or have one really good AB. It’s one of those jobs that you have to embrace. No one grows up thinking ‘Man, wouldn’t it be fantastic to be a pinch hitter?’ No one wants that. Everybody wants to play every day. I wanted to play every day. I just happened to be playing behind some really great players that I wasn’t allowed to. After about two years, I said I am a pinch hitter. I want to hit against the best. I want to hit against closers. I want to hit against Robb Nenn. I want to hit against Billy Wagner. I want to hit against Trevor Hoffman. I want to face the best guys on the team.
Early on, I pinch hit in the fifth or sixth inning. I really took pride in being the guy that, whether the pitcher was right handed or left handed. Tito let me hit late in the game. I took a lot of pride in it. I put a lot of work into it. There was a lot of preparation. I took notes. I asked a ton of questions to guys that had already faced these guys. I had a lot of help. I would just sit there and ask questions about pitchers because I wanted to get as much information as possible. I had a great AB in New York, a 15 pitch AB. Someone told me it was the most pitches of a pinch hit that someone got a hit since they started keeping track of that stat.
I always took a ton of pride, even as a kid, of being a good two strike hitter. It was a culmination of since I was a child working with my dad, growing up and it all came into one AB. I was able to do things that I never would have dreamed of. Even to this day, I can’t believe I played in the big leagues. I always felt like a fan. I remember my first home run was a pinch hit home run against the Giants. I remember running around the bases. It was on TV. I can’t believe my parents are watching this. My friends are watching. It was a Sunday, so maybe no one was watching it. I score and my buddy Tom Marsh, “Masher,” was in the tunnel and he gave me a hug. I remember going back to the bench. We had those old wooden benches in Philly in Veteran’s Stadium. I think I was half smiling. I knew the cameras were on me. After a couple of seconds of sitting there I thought ‘Damn. This sucks. I have to come back tomorrow wand do it again.’ The moment was over. It was like Crash Davis in Bull Durham where he told Nuke. That’s what it felt like. I was a rookie. I was just trying to prove I was good enough to play in the major leagues.
From a player standpoint, one of the things that helped me is that I understood, even as an instructor, as a coach or manager, I understand the human element of this game. That is one of my strengths or gifts. That is the beauty of baseball. That is the grind. That is the understanding that you enjoy the moments but the moments happen so quickly that you have to ready to move on and make another moment.
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