Brook Fordyce: Mid Nineties Mets Backup Catcher (1995)

Brook Alexander Fordyce was born on May 7, 1970, in New London, Connecticut. He attended high school in the town of Uncasville, Conn., which is now the famous location of the Mohegan Sun Hotel & Casino.

The catcher was drafted in the third round of the 1989 draft by the New York Mets. He spent six years in the Mets organization, before making the team out of Spring Training in 1995.

MLB Debut: On April 26th, 1995, Fordyce made his MLB debut as a pinch runner in an 11-9 loss in Colorado. 

On April 28th, he had his first MLB at bat drawing a walk as pinch hitter. He scored his only career Mets run crossing the plate on Rico Brogna's fielder's choice. 

He made two more pinch hit appearances getting his only Mets hit, in a May 12th loss to the Montreal Expos at Shea, where he doubled off Jeff Fassero.

That season the Mets had Todd Hundley as their main catcher with Kelly Stinnett & Alberto Castillo as backups. Fordyce was placed on waivers two days later & got picked up by the Cleveland Indians.

Post Mets Career: Fordyce was soon signed by the Cincinnati Reds, playing there for three seasons. With the Reds he played behind catchers Joe Oliver & Ed Taubensee under managers Ray Night & Jack McKeon in 108 games.

In 1999 he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for a minor leaguer, becoming the team’s main catcher that season. That year he hit .297 with 9 HRs 25 doubles & 49 RBIs in 105 games played. Fordyce made eight errors behind the plate & threw out 33% of would-be base stealers.

In 2000 after 40 games with the White Sox, he was batting .272 & got traded on July 31st to the Baltimore Orioles for Harold Baines & Charles Johnson. 

In Baltimore Fordyce would hit .322 with 9 HRs the rest of the season, finishing with career bests in batting average (.301) & HRs (14) for the season. He would spend four seasons in Baltimore, becoming a solid defensive catcher.

Near Death Home Accident: In January of 2002 he collapsed after hitting his head in the bathroom of his Ft. Lauderdale home. An artery had burst & sent five pints of blood gushing into his stomach. He spent four days in intensive care & almost died from losing too much blood, while not having enough blood reach his head. 

Brook recovered well enough to return for 56 games later that season.

In 2003 he became the Orioles main catcher hitting .273 with 6 HRs & 31 RBIs. That season he finished third in the A.L. with a .996 fielding %, he had also finished third in 2000 with a .990%.

He was granted free agency & signed on as a free agent with the Tampa Rays playing in 54 games behind main catcher, Toby Hall. Fordyce retired after the 2004 season.

Career Stats: In a ten-year career, he batted .258.
with 467 hits 41 HRs 103 doubles 188 RBIs & 172 runs scored. He struck out 295 times drew 119 walks with a .309 on base % & .697 OPS in 623 games played. 

Behind the plate he played in 591 games posting a .988 fielding% & a 24% caught stealing average.

 
Retirement: After his playing career he owned and operated a baseball training center in Stuart, Florida. 

Since 2018 he has been a successful head coach at Keiser University for the Seahawks in West Palm Beach.

Family: Brook & his wife Jaci, have two daughters & he lives in Jensen Beach, Florida.