Steve Jeltz

Steve Jeltz was born in Paris, France to a military family that moved to Lawrence when he was young.  His father, a command sergeant major, served 47 years in the U.S. Army.

In the 1970s, Lawrence High School did not field a baseball team, but Jeltz drew the attention of big-name college programs while playing American Legion baseball.  He chose to stay in Lawrence, where he became the first African American baseball player at the University of Kansas.  During his freshman year he set the Jayhawks’ single season stolen base record and went on to set the career record with 65 steals in three seasons.

While still at KU, Jeltz played summer baseball for the Kansas City-based Casey Stengle League Safeway team, which went undefeated for two seasons and won the Kansas City championship.  In 1979, he played in the National Baseball Congress World Series with the Boulder Collegians on a team that included Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame member Joe Carter.  

In 1980, Jeltz was selected by Philadelphia in the ninth round of the MLB Draft.  He made his major league debut in 1983 with a pennant-winning Phillies team that included all-time greats Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.  

By 1985, Jelts was the Phillies’ regular shortstop.  Following the 1986 season, reporters said the team was looking to replace him with a left-handed hitting shortstop, so Jeltz went home to Lawrence during the winter and taught himself how to hit left-handed.  This is the only known instance of a player successfully doing that while remaining at the major league level.  He kept his starting job in 1987, then spent two seasons in a utility infield/outfield role.

The moment for which Jeltz is most remembered occurred on June 8, 1989, when he became the first player in Phillies history to hit a home run from each side of the plate in a 15-11 win over Pittsburgh. Philadelphia trailed 10-0 after a half inning and Pirates broadcaster Jim Rooker said would walk back to Pittsburgh if the Pirates lost.  Rooker completed his promise during the off-season and made the 304-mile walk to raise $100,000 for charity.

In 1990, Jeltz was traded to Kansas City and played his final season with the Royals before retiring.

Jeltz had a brain tumor successfully removed in 2003 and now serves as an ambassador for the Darren Daulton Foundation, which provides financial assistance to families of those suffering from primary malignant brain tumors.  Daulton died in 2017 from a glioblastoma brain tumor.  Daulton and Jeltz were friends and teammates in Philadelphia.

Jeltz is active in the construction / remodeling business.  He also runs a non-profit veteran / youth organization that is planning Hero’s Village, a housing complex for military families in central Pennsylvania where he, his wife Kristi and their four children make their home.