Topic: Jeff Suppan

Jeffrey Scot Suppan ( /ˈsuːpɑːn/; born January 2, 1975, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), is a Major League Baseball pitcher who signed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals

Suppan was drafted out of high school (Crespi Carmelite High School) by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 1993 amateur draft, and rapidly ascended to the Majors making his debut at the age of 20. He played with the Red Sox through the 1997 season and then was picked up by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks for 1998. Late in the 1998 season, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals, where he stayed through 2002. In 2003, he opened the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was dealt at the trading deadline back to the Red Sox for their playoff stretch run.

The Cardinals signed Suppan as a free agent in 2004, and he embarked upon a career year, posting a 16–9 won-lost record and a 4.16 earned run average, with 110 strikeouts, 65 walks, and 192 hits allowed in 188 innings. Suppan helped lead the Cards to the 2004 World Series, where he started Game 3.