Todd Zeile can be characterized as baseball’s greatest ‘Journey-Man’ from the last 30 years. In 16 seasons in the big leagues, Zeile played for 11 different teams. For Zeile, every game probably felt like a road game as he changed teams 11 times in the last 10 years of his career.
Amazingly enough, Zeile was still able to excel while never given the chance to acclimate himself to a ball park he could call home. A lifetime .265 hitter with 253 home runs and 1110 RBI, Zeile made himself a solid contributor to many of the teams he played for.
Zeile’s willingness to do whatever it took to help his team win is made abundantly clear by the positions he played in the majors. He was drafted into the major leagues as a catcher, but was quickly converted to 3rd base as his coaches wanted his bat in the line-up on a daily basis. Zeile also spent time at 1st base and in the outfield as well. Of the 2,099 career games Todd played in, only 130 of them were at catcher, the position he knew best. Zeile even made 2 pitching appearances during his career. He pitched a total of 2 innings of relief work and has a career ERA of 22.50.
Some very interesting Todd Zeile facts:
- only player in major league history to hit a home run for 11 different teams
- family tree links back to the United States’ 2nd president – John Adams
- hit the last home run against Montreal Expos
- last at-bat as a major league player resulted in a home run
Today, Todd Zeile is enjoying life in California living with his wife and 4 children. He owns a production company and has been spotted in several episodes of ‘The King of Queens’ on CBS.
