{{short description|American baseball player (born 1965)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |image= <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people. See WP:NONFREE --> |name=Kevin Ritz |position=Pitcher |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1965|6|8}} |birth_place=Eatontown, New Jersey, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=July 15 |debutyear=1989 |debutteam=Detroit Tigers |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=May 16 |finalyear=1998 |finalteam=Colorado Rockies |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=45–56 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=5.35 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=462 |teams= * Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|1989}}–{{mlby|1992}}) * Colorado Rockies ({{mlby|1994}}–{{mlby|1998}}) }} '''Kevin D. Ritz''' (born June 8, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Ritz grew up in Bloomfield, Iowa. He is an alumnus of William Penn University and Indian Hills Community College.<ref>{{cite news | title=Amateur Draft, List | date=June 4, 1985 | agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
Ritz was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1985 MLB amateur draft. He pitched for the Detroit Tigers (1989–92) and the Colorado Rockies (1994–1998). In 1989, Ritz was honored as Tigers' Rookie of the Year.<ref>{{cite book |title=2015 Detroit Tigers Media Guide. pg 371}}</ref>
Ritz had his big break when he joined the Rockies in 1994, where he found some success in his career. He was a member of the first Colorado Rockies team to reach the playoffs, being the ace of the 1995 team that won the Wild Card with 11 wins and a 4.21 ERA. His best season was in 1996, when he went 17-11 in 213 innings pitched, despite recording a high ERA of 5.28 in hitter-friendly Coors Field and leading the National League in Earned Runs Allowed (125). That year, Ritz won 10 games before the All Star break; the only other Rockies pitchers to have done so through 2010 were Shawn Chacón (2003), Aaron Cook (2008), Jason Marquis (2009), and Ubaldo Jiménez (2010).<ref>[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-N0FShyB-DFjiS1lIwsHoXk_-XgD995EPH00]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref>
Ritz was an excellent fielding pitcher in his major league career. In 753.1 innings pitched in 151 games, he committed only two errors in 211 total chances for a .991 fielding percentage.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=r/ritzke01}}
{{Colorado Rockies Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritz, Kevin}} Category:1965 births Category:Colorado Rockies players Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:New Haven Ravens players Category:Lakeland Tigers players Category:Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Category:Toledo Mud Hens players Category:Glens Falls Tigers players Category:Gastonia Tigers players Category:Living people Category:Indian Hills Warriors baseball players Category:William Penn Statesmen baseball players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Baseball players from Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:People from Eatontown, New Jersey Category:People from Bloomfield, Iowa Category:Baseball players from Iowa Category:Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players Category:20th-century American sportsmen
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