Obituary: Kevin Batiste (1966-2024)

RIP to Kevin Batiste, an outfielder in professional baseball whose 6-year career included 6 games for the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays. He died on April 2 at HCA Healthcare Hospital in Tomball, TX. He was 57 years old.

Kevin Wade Batiste was born in Galveston, TX, on October 21, 1966. The two main sports he played throughout his youth were baseball and football, and he was highly skilled at both. He played multiple positions in baseball and threw a no-hitter in 1981 while playing for his Galveston Pony League team. He frequently helped his own cause on the mound with his heavy hitting, and when he wasn’t pitching, he was playing shortstop. In football, he established his credentials as an excellent quarterback in youth leagues and kept that position when he entered Ball High School.

In his senior year of high school, quarterback Batiste led Ball High to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs, and Southern Methodist University offered him a full scholarship. However, many pro baseball teams were interested in him as well, and he was expected to be a high draft pick in the 1985 June Amateur Draft. “We expect him to go in the first or second round,” said Ball High assistant baseball coach Ron Holmes. He was right, as Toronto selected him with its second-round pick. After some negotiations, Batiste signed the contract. When asked about his chances of reaching the majors, he said, “I feel all right. If I play well starting off, I can make it a lot faster. It’s all up to me and how well I play.”

Source: *The Toronto Star*, June 26, 1989.

Batiste had played all over the diamond prior to entering pro ball, but Toronto made him an outfielder and assigned him to Medicine Hat in the Pioneer League. He played 70 games there in 1985 and hit .248 with a home run and 13 stolen bases. He struck out 83 times and walked just 14. As he rose through the minors, he learned to take more walks, though his strikeout totals remained high. Batiste also harnessed his speed to great effect. In 1986, he stole a combined 34 bases for two different Class-A teams and was only caught 8 times. He began the season with Florence of the Sally League and hit .265 in 49 games, with 3 homers. He was promoted at the end of May to Ventura County of the California League, but he failed to hit .200 there and ended the 1986 campaign with a .216 batting average.

In 1978, Batiste spent the entire season with Class-A Dunedin. Toronto attempted to make him a switch hitter to take advantage of his speed, but he struggled with hitting from the left side and abandoned it in mid-season to become a right-handed hitter. The move paid off, as his batting average improved. He ended up with a .267 batting average, and he also added 70 stolen bases in 95 attempts. “He’s working on getting a better jump. He’s so aggressive,” said Dunedin manager Bob Bailor. “He’ll take his lead and if the pitcher throws over and he gets back safely, then he’ll take an even bigger lead and dare the pitcher to throw over.”

Batiste was invited to the Toronto spring training camp in 1988 but was reassigned to the minor league camp. He suffered a broken nose in training camp when a ball bounced off his bat in a bunting drill and caught him in the face, but he didn’t miss any time. Batiste split the year at Double-A Knoxville and Triple-A Syracuse and batted .233 with 39 stolen bases. He was added to the Jays’ 40-man roster and given a chance to make the team in 1989. It came down to a spring training battle between Batiste and fellow rookie Junior Felix, and Toronto manager Jimy Williams opted to take Felix. Batiste reported to Double-A Knoxville and batted .222 while attempting to switch-hit again. When Toronto outfielder Rob Ducey suffered an injured knee, The Blue Jays brought Batiste to the majors.

Batiste made his debut as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of a game against Milwaukee on June 13. He was the starting right fielder the very next day and went 1-for-4 with 3 strikeouts and an infield single off reliever Mark Knudson. He made one more start, this time in left field, on June 19 against the California Angels. In his first at-bat, he reached on a bunt single and made it to second base when Angels pitcher Chuck Finley made a poor throw to first base. He advanced to third base on a Nelson Liriano sacrifice bunt and scored the first run of the game on a Junior Felix sacrifice fly. Batiste also struck out twice in the game, which Toronto won 8-1. In his other appearances with the Jays, Batiste was a late-inning defensive replacement and never batted.

Toronto sent Batiste back to Knoxville on June 23. Two days later, while catching a flight at Oakland Airport to Toronto to gather his belongings, he was arrested on gun charges. Police said that Batiste had a loaded gun in his bag and was charged with carrying a concealed weapon on a vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm in a public place and possession of stolen property. He spent 12 hours in a city jail before the Blue Jays were able to pay his bail. Once he was released, Batiste gave his side of the story. The gun wasn’t stolen, he said. It was given to him by a friend in Galveston. “I was kind of using it for protection. You know, just in case,” the 22-year-old said. “You never know what’s going on these days, especially where I come from in Texas. It was still in the suitcase I’d packed to come to Toronto. When I was packing stuff to come here [to Oakland], I forgot the thing was in there.” Ultimately, he was given a suspended sentence.

After the season, The Blue Jays traded Batiste and veteran catcher Ernie Whitt to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Rick Trlicek. It was an unsurprising move. After the arrest, Toronto had insisted that Batiste go to counseling, over his objections. “Toronto felt like I had some kind of paranoia that I didn’t believe I had. I had just made a mistake,” he later explained. “Eventually, they felt like if I didn’t want the counseling, they didn’t want me. So, it was off to the Braves.”

The Braves sent Batiste to Double-A Greenville, where he batted .235 with 14 stolen bases, 14 doubles, and 4 home runs in 1990. He said he didn’t get along with manager Buddy Bailey, and Atlanta released him at the end of the season. A new opportunity in an old sport led Batiste to retire from baseball at that point.

In Batiste’s 6 games with Toronto, he had 2 hits in 8 at-bats for a .250 batting average. He scored 1 run and struck out 5 times. He also played 21 flawless innings in the outfield, making 7 catches. Over 6 seasons in the minor leagues, Batiste batted .238 with 190 stolen bases.

After his release from the Braves organization, Batiste was offered a chance to play football at the University of Houston by football coach John Jenkins. Though he was the oldest freshman in the conference, the 25-year-old Batiste joined the football team as a free safety. He felt like he had been misjudged, and he was hoping the chance to play football could prove the doubters wrong. “There were a lot of misunderstandings and mistakes made along the way. And I don’t think all of them were my fault,” he said. “I hope when the time comes that we are playing on national television, they [Blue Jays and Braves] will be watching. Maybe they’ll finally come to the realization that they were wrong,” he added.

During his time as a freshman in 1991, Batiste forced a fumble and intercepted a pass, helping Houston defeat Texas 23-14 in a game played at the Astrodome. He only played football for the one season, but Batiste had a lifelong love of sports. According to his family-placed obituary (see below), he was a big Dallas Cowboys fan, and he was umpiring for the Galveston Umpires Association at the time of his passing. Batiste is survived by his parents, children Kavin, Kevin and Kennadi Batiste, and a large extended family.