Inductee Profile

Mike Koplove

Mike Koplove, a right-handed sidearm relief pitcher for two major league baseball teams, was born in Philadelphia during the bi-centennial year of 1976. He grew up playing little league and American Legion baseball in South Philly and attended Chestnut Hill Academy where he was named a first team All City selection by the Philadelphia Daily News.

Koplove spent his first two years of college at Northwestern University playing shortstop and pitching before transferring to the University of Delaware where the team had a record of 43-8 and led his team to the 1998 America East Championship and the NCAA Atlantic II Regional. In addition, he was voted an Academic All American.

Drafted by Arizona he made his major league debut in 2001 and pitched in the playoffs for the World Series Champions Diamondbacks. The next season, Koplove was 6–1 with a 3.36 ERA, giving up only 47 hits in 61.2 innings. He held batters to a .213 batting average and with men on base he was even stingier – .207/.228). In games that were late and close, he held batters to a .188 batting average.

He finished his major league career with the 2007 American League Central Champion Cleveland Indians.

Another high point came as a member of the 2008 United States Olympic team in Beijing. Over the course of the Olympics, he pitched in five games and was the only American pitcher to not surrender a single hit or a run as the U.S. defeated Japan winning a Bronze Medal.

After his playing career ended, Koplove became a scout for the Los Angeles Angels. He left Anaheim after the 2017 season and currently works as a Special Assignment Scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.

He is the older brother of Kenny Koplove, a pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization.