Sean Casey

Sean Thomas Casey (born July 2, 1974), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach.

He was the hitting coach for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2023.

He played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Red Sox.

Casey was selected to the MLB All-Star Game three times during his career.

He was a broadcaster and commentator for the MLB Network.

Casey was born in Willingboro, New Jersey, the son of Joan and Jim Casey.

He and his family moved to Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania, when he was a child.

He graduated from Upper St. Clair High School in Upper St. Clair, and the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, where he played college baseball for the Richmond Spiders.

As a freshman for the Spiders in 1993, Casey had a .386 batting average, a .447 on-base percentage (OBP), and a .526 SLG, with two home runs.

He was named a freshman All-American and second team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

As a sophomore in 1994, Casey batted .371 with a .656 SLG, 13 home runs, and 57 runs batted in (RBIs).

He was named first team All-CAA.

Following his sophomore season at Richmond, Casey played collegiate summer baseball for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), where he batted .338 with one home run and 30 RBIs, and was named a league all-star.

In the 1995 season as a junior, Casey hit for a .461 batting average to lead all Division I players.

Casey was again named first team All-CAA and won the CAA Player of the Year.

He was also named a Second Team All-American and ECAC Player of the Year while becoming the first player to ever win the CAA Triple Crown.

He graduated from Richmond and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

The Cleveland Indians chose Casey in the second round, with the 53rd overall selection, of the 1995 MLB draft.

Casey began his professional career with the Watertown Indians of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, where he batted .329 with two home runs.

He was promoted to the Kinston Indians of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League to begin the 1996 season.

He hit .331 with twelve home runs for Kinston.

Casey started 1997 with the Akron Aeros of the Class AA Eastern League.

On June 18, the Indians promoted Casey to the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA American Association after batting .386 with 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 66 RBIs in 62 games with Akron.

In 20 games with Buffalo, Casey hit five home runs and 18 RBIs.

On September 12, Casey was promoted to the Cleveland Indians as a September call-up.

He appeared in six games for the Indians, going 2-for-10 (.200) with two walks and one RBI.

Casey won the Lou Boudreau Award as the Cleveland Indians' top minor-league position player, at the conclusion of the 1997 season.

Baseball America named him the No. 20 prospect in baseball before the 1998 season.

On March 30, 1998, Casey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Burba.

On April 3, 1998, Casey was hit in the eye with a ball thrown by teammate Damian Jackson during batting practice, resulting in a fractured orbital, and subsequent surgery.

Casey's surgery took two surgeons, operating for four hours to fix his fracture.

Just three weeks after the surgery, Casey began his rehab assignment with the Indianapolis Indians, and just a week after joining the Indians, he was recalled to the Reds.

Casey struggled during his first season with the Reds, his average dipped to .133, and he was sent back to Indianapolis.

On June 18, Casey was recalled to the Reds.

On May 19, 1999, the Reds defeated the Colorado Rockies in a 24−12 final, tied for the fourth-highest run-scoring output in MLB history.

Casey hit two of the Reds' six home runs, and reached base seven times with four hits and three walks.

He also scored five runs and drove in six.

He was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in 1999.

Casey produced a breakout offensive season in 1999, batting .332 with 25 home runs, 99 RBIs, 42 doubles, and 103 runs scored in 151 games.

In 2003, he was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame.