Former Phillie of the Day - Steve Jeltz

By all standards, Steve Jeltz was not a very good baseball player. Even by Philadelphia Phillies standards, the losingest team in the history of professional sports, Steve Jeltz was not a very good baseball player.

But as Former Phillie of the Day, I feel compelled to point out Jeltz's career highlights. It won't take long. Jeltz hit 40 percent of his career home runs in one game on June 9, 1989. It was a crazy game, which goes without saying. I mean, Steve Jeltz homered twice.

The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning against the Phillies, prompting Pirates broadcaster Jim Rooker to tell his radio audience that if the Pirates blew the lead, he'd walk back to Pittsburgh. More on that later.

The Phillies scored twice in the bottom of the first to make it 10-2. They scored two more in the bottom of the third on a Von Hayes homer (his first of two that day) that plated Jeltz, who walked to lead off the inning. The Phils cut it to 10-6 in the fourth inning, when Jeltz homered off Bob Walk.

The Pirates added a run in the fifth to take a 5-run lead. Jeltz struck again in the bottom of the sixth, crushing a 3-run homer. A Ricky Jordan single scored another run, making it 11-10 Pirates.

The wheels fell completely off for the Pirates in the bottom of the 8th, as the Phillies batted around to score 5 runs for a 15-11 lead. Jeltz made the last out of the inning when he grounded to third. The humiliated Pirates could only manage a single in the top of the ninth, and the Phillies won. Jeltz finished the game 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored.

Rooker made good on his promise, walking 320 miles from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh from Oct. 5 to Oct. 17, 1989. Jim Rooker's Unintentional Walk got lots of press, with "Good Morning America" documenting his departure.

Back to Jeltz–he spent 7 years in Philadelphia, where he compiled a .213 average. He homered two other times in 1989 (May 21 and Aug. 12). His first homer came in 1984. Jeltz is the only player in Phillies history born in Paris, France, and one of just 7 in baseball history. His Phillies career ended just before the 1990 season, when he was traded to Kansas City for pitcher Jose DeJesus.