Jim Sundberg

Jim Sundberg is one of the greatest defensive catchers in major-league history.

From 1976 to 1981, he won six straight American League Gold Glove awards while playing for the Texas Rangers. Of Sundberg’s defensive prowess, his former Rangers teammate Toby Harrah once stated: “When he came along, everyone else seemed like slow motion. You can’t compare Sunny to anyone.”1

On why he liked catching, Sundberg noted, “Because of the gear, getting in the dirt and the fact that catchers have been typically squatty, there is no glamour behind the plate. It’s not like standing on the mound with your hair pretty and the cameras on you. No, you’ve got to get in the dirt. I like it.”2

James Howard Sundberg was born on May 18, 1951. He grew up in Galesburg, Illinois. a town of about 30,000 in western Illinois. His parents were Howard, a postman, and Shirley (Riggle) Sundberg, who worked in special education and as a homemaker. His siblings were Chuck and Linda.

Growing up 180 miles outside of Chicago, young Jim was a Cubs fan. At the time of his retirement, he reflected on the impact that this had on his orientation toward fans:  

“That’s what I saw growing up … I would go to Wrigley Field and see Ernie Banks take the time – Billy Williams and a few others, too – to sign autographs. They were always very positive to the public. Those were some things I thought were very attractive. So I kind of kept in the back of my mind that if I ever played ball that’s something I would try and pull off. I see that as a responsibility as a player. They put you on a pedestal.”3

As a youngster in Galesburg, he lived across the street from a city park that had a baseball field. Proximity to the park meant he was always looking for pickup games.4 His dad, who was also his Little League coach, pushed him to improve his baseball skills: “There was always one more that I could improve on, one more part of my game that wasn’t just right.”5

Sundberg attended Galesburg High School. As a sophomore, he met his future wife, Janet Naugle. They dated as seniors in 1968-1969 and got married in 1971. They have three children – Aaron, Audra, and Briana – and eight grandchildren.

Sundberg was initially drafted out of high school by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round of the 1969 draft. He declined to sign and instead went to the University of Iowa on a baseball scholarship. In 1972 Sundberg helped lead the team to its first Big Ten Championship in baseball since 1949 and its first and only appearance in the College World Series. The Hawkeyes lost their only two games in Omaha.

In June 1972, Sundberg was selected by Texas in the eighth round. Once again, he declined to sign. However, when the Rangers named him the second overall pick of the 1973 January draft, he signed a professional contract and began a remarkably quick ascent to the major leagues.

Sundberg’s lone year in the minors was with the Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Rangers of the Double-A Eastern League. He led all EL catchers with a fielding percentage of .994, committing just three errors on 504 defensive chances in 78 games behind the plate. He also put up pro career highs in batting average (.298), on base percentage (.421), and OPS (.838).

Sundberg made the big club out of spring training in 1974. At 23, he debuted on Opening Day, April 4, as a ninth-inning defensive replacement. Sundberg made a memorable first big-league start two days later in the second game of the season versus the Oakland Athletics. He notched his first hit in the majors, a double to right field off Ken Holtzman in the bottom of the fifth inning. He also caught a one-hitter by Ferguson Jenkins. The one hit was a single by Bert Campaneris in the fourth inning.

By late June, manager Billy Martin was quite impressed with the rookie catcher:

“Frankly, I think we’re going to have one of the best catchers in baseball for years to come. And the other teams in this league know this as well as I do. They respect that arm already. No team is going to take any base-stealing liberties with him.”6

Another career milestone came on July 1: his first of 95 big-league home runs. It was a leadoff blow in the third inning off Minnesota’s Joe Decker to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in a 6-2 victory over the Twins.

For his rookie season, Sundberg caught 132 games and made the American League All-Star team as a replacement for White Sox catcher Ed Herrmann. He also finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. While his defense was already elite, his teammate, infielder Jim Fregosi, worked with Sundberg to develop his opposite field hitting.7

To Duke Sims, a veteran catcher then with the Rangers, there was something even more impressive about Sundberg: “I saw the impossible happen this season. I saw a rookie catcher survive a whole season with Billy. I never thought that would happen.”8 Martin was notoriously hard on players.

Early in Sundberg’s sophomore season, 1975, he was off to a rough start at the plate – but manager Martin backed his young receiver: “If the kid hits .150, he’s still my catcher.”9 Sundberg’s defense was that outstanding. In 1975 he caught 155 games, then an American League season record. However, Sundberg continued to struggle mightily at the plate with a .199 batting average for the season. Reflecting on his offensive struggles, he noted, “I was very upset. In fact, I reached a point where I was wondering if I could hit big league pitching.”10

Despite his offensive woes, Sundberg narrowly missed winning his first Gold Glove. He lost to Thurman Munson by a vote of 11 to 9 as the Yankees star won for the third straight year. Afterward, Sundberg remarked, “I can’t help but feel that the AL people don’t want a .200 hitter winning the thing, particularly when they can also vote for a .300 hitter.”11 For the season he had caught 25 more games than Munson and made six fewer errors (17 to 23).

In 1976 Sundberg raised his batting average nearly 30 points, to .228, and hit a career-high 24 doubles. He was also awarded his first Gold Glove. Upon receiving it, Sundberg stated: “This award means a great deal to me. It’s something I made as a personal goal three years ago when I was a rookie.”12

Sundberg set two big-league career bests in 1977: for batting average (.291) and RBIs (65). He also won his second consecutive Gold Glove and placed 15th in the American League MVP vote.

Enemy baserunners respected Sundberg, as pinch-running specialist Matt Alexander (then with Oakland) attested. In 2009, Alexander called Sundberg “the best I faced. . .he was quick and had a strong, accurate arm. He could throw it in a small square box over second base.”13

Sundberg followed up in 1978 with a career-high six triples and a batting average of .278 (his second-highest in the majors). On May 21, 1978, he was named AL Player of the Week after batting.452 (14-for-31) and slugging .581 with 6 RBIs. At the time he was riding an AL-leading 21-game hitting streak. He went on to his second All-Star game and win his third straight Gold Glove, making only three errors in 148 games. After the latter honor. Sundberg stated, “I don’t think any others even compare with me … I want a long string of Gold Gloves and, barring injuries, I feel I can win maybe nine or 10.”14

He once again finished 15th in the AL MVP vote. Royals manager Whitey Herzog, on why he picked Sundberg as AL MVP, stated:

“He’s the best catcher in baseball and the most valuable player in our league. He does everything. He catches the ball, he shuts down your running game and he is learning to hit. Give me him and I’ve the start of a helluva team.”15

Former Rangers manager Billy Hunter noted, “It goes without saying that Sunny is as complete a catcher when he steps behind the plate as anyone who ever played.”16

A fourth consecutive Gold Glove award followed in 1979. He also tied the existing major-league season record for the fewest errors by a catcher with over 150 games caught, with four.17

In 1980, his first year catching the newly acquired knuckleballer Charlie Hough, Sundberg tied Lance Parrish for the American League lead with 17 passed balls (10 of which came with Hough pitching) and allowed 102 stolen bases, 28 more than Ron Hassey and Carlton Fisk. Still, he notched his fifth straight Golden Glove award.

Sundberg noted of the 1980 season:

“I think a lot of catchers would have liked to have had the season I had last year … I know that the passed balls I had raised some eyebrows last year. But having Charlie on the staff contributed a lot to that. Errors and passed balls are going to happen. I don’t like it, but that’s part of it. It hurts my pride to have to chase the ball back to the screen even when nobody’s on base.”18

Experience with the knuckleball and Hough’s pitching improved Sundberg’s defensive efforts over the season. Sundberg only had one passed ball during their last four games of the season as a battery.

On offense in 1980, Sundberg hit 10 home runs – a big-league career best to that point – while driving in 63.

Going into the 1981 season, Sundberg noted that the Rangers team felt different than in prior years. He observed, “I’ve got into a lot of seasons, pulling the wool over my eyes thinking we could win when we just didn’t have the team or the attitude to do it…But this year we can. We can do it.”19 Texas fell short once again, finishing 57-48. In the strike-shortened season’s split schedule, they came in second in the American League West in the first half and third in the second half. However, Sundberg won his sixth straight (and final) Gold Glove.

Bob Boone, who’d previously won two Gold Gloves in the National League, got the AL catchers’ award in 1982. With the bat, however, Sundberg hit 10 home runs for the second time.

During the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in need of help at the catching position, made a move to acquire Sundberg. Their general manager, Al Campanis, had a handshake deal with Rangers GM Joe Klein to send Burt Hooton, Dave Stewart, Orel Hershiser, and Mark Bradley to the Rangers in exchange for Sundberg. It would have been a move to a perennial contender for Sundberg. However, he refused the trade – a compensation issue derailed the move. Of his refusal, Sundberg noted, “Basically, they wanted me to play two years for nothing.”20

Back with the Rangers for the 1983 season, Sundberg suffered through a particularly rough season. His batting average dropped 50 points from the previous season, to .201, and he allowed 10 passed balls, second in the American League to Carlton Fisk, who had 11.21

By 1983 there were growing concerns that the veteran’s body might be breaking down after years of catching so many games. Compounding the situation was a growing conflict with Rangers manager Doug Rader. Early in the season Rader had commented, “Sunny’s not doing anything. If I had a chance to win a job, I’d do more than he’s doing.”22 Rader even called him out for needing to learn how to play hurt.23 Sundberg noted, “When the criticism started, it just kept coming.”24 Reflecting on that season, he lamented, “I don’t feel Doug handled the situation well at all. I felt the whole year he was against me. It seemed he took opportunities to take shots at me. I knew at the end of the year that I had to leave.”25

After a couple of down years defensively, Sunberg was traded in the 1983 offseason to the Milwaukee Brewers for youngsters Daniel Scarpetta and Ned Yost. Because so much had been made of concern about Sundberg’s arm, Brewers manager Rene Lachemann reached out to Dodgers scout Mel Didier, who was based in Dallas and had seen Sundberg play quite a lot, to ask his thoughts. Lachemann said, “He didn’t think anything was the matter with his arm. That was good enough for me.”26

The trade to the Brewers was welcomed by Sundberg. Early in the 1984 season, he noted, “It feels good to be in a supportive environment. That had dwindled the last couple years in Texas, and when they keep telling you, you can’t play, you begin to wonder yourself.”27 Against the backdrop of his relationship with Rader, Sundberg would later comment, “that (1983 season) left a scar … I don’t consider it an ugly scar, but it’s there.”28

In July 1984, Rene Lachemann stated: “He’s been more than I thought. I wanted him as a catcher and thrower.” Indeed, for the season Sundberg threw out 50% (42 of 84) of potential base stealers, made only three errors, and had a .995 fielding percentage. Lachemann added, “He’s been that plus a solid hitter, and our most consistent clutch hitter.”29

That led to his selection as a 1984 All-Star, of which he stated, “I guess most of all, getting your credibility back that you lost in at least one organization is just great.”30 He continued, “The situation last year angered me, and I don’t think I’ve completely gotten over that anger … I think before healing takes place, you’ve got to be able to forgive. So I really look at this All-Star Game as something that eases the pain and makes it easier to forgive.”31

In January 1985 Sundberg went from Milwaukee to the Kansas City Royals as part of a four-team trade also involving the Mets and Rangers. Royals GM John Schuerholz noted of his acquisition:

“What he can do for us is bring the stability and leadership and high caliber catching he has demonstrated to a team that is built substantially around a young pitching staff … the mere addition of his presence should help immeasurably.”32

Sundberg struggled through a shoulder injury and a cartilage pull in his lower rib cage. He played in 115 games, and his hitting was weak. Manager Dick Howser acknowledged that in an early-season interview: “He’s off to a lousy start at bat, but we all are.”33 Hitting coach Lee May remarked, “He had the same problem that most guys have when they join a club. He wanted to prove he could hit.”34

Eventually, Sundberg found his swing and finished with 10 homers in 367 at-bats (407 plate appearances). That season, though, he threw out only 25 of 85 base stealers – a rate of 29%, the lowest of his career to that point.

Yet 1985 provided Sundberg his favorite memory in professional baseball: “My hit with the bases loaded in the seventh game to win [the AL Championship Series] was something you start dreaming about when you’re a kid. That’s the highlight.” His triple in the sixth inning put the Royals up 5-1 over the Blue Jays; Kansas City won, 6-2, to capture the pennant. They went on to win the World Series in seven games against the St. Louis Cardinals. Sundberg went 6-for-24 with two doubles in the series.

In July 1986, Sundberg authored a deeply personal article for the Christian publication Guideposts called, “The Perfectionist.” The subhead ran, “They called me Sunny Jim, but they didn’t know the real me.”

He recounted the following:

“I especially remember one Little League game. I hit three home runs but struck out my last time up. After the game my dad pulled me aside and told me, ‘Jim, that time you struck out, you dropped your elbow when you swung. If you’d kept your elbow up, you might have hit another home run.”35

It was a defining experience of his young life – underscoring his desire to be the best and exemplifying a need for perfection on the field. He noted that good was never good enough: “I always needed to get one more hit, throw out one more runner. I never thought my elbow was quite high enough.”36 He continued, “You see, early in my career, there was one crucial baseball fundamental I hadn’t mastered: I didn’t know how to make a mistake.”37

He acknowledged a lack of peace of mind; through Bible study with Rangers teammates Dave Roberts and Adrian Devine, he came to Christianity.

For the 1986 season, though Sundberg batted .212, he hit a career high 12 home runs. Defensively he made only four errors, had a .995 fielding percentage, and threw out 39% (43 of 111) of potential base stealers. He noted, “Defense is the most natural part of my game. I don’t have to think about it. I just do it. Hitting is the most vulnerable part of my game. I look to being more productive offensively but look to do my part defensively.”38  

On March 30, 1987, Sundberg was traded from the Royals to the Chicago Cubs for Thad Bosley and Dave Gumpert. He played in just 61 games that season and had only six extra-base hits in 139 at-bats. Age and lots of games behind the plate were starting to catch up with him.

By then 36, Sundberg started the 1988 season with the Cubs. A highlight came on May 3, when he caught his 1806th game, passing Rick Ferrell for what was then third place in all-time games behind the plate. He was released on July 15, whereupon he commented, “It would have been a dream come true to play for the Cubs when they win the World Series, and I would like to have been around for the first night game or even the first night practice.”39 But “apparently, they did not want to trade my big salary. I feel that I could be of use to somebody.”40

The Rangers agreed – less than a week later Sundberg signed on for his second tour with the team. Texas GM Tom Grieve stated, “He is a quality player and a quality person and is one of the most popular players in Rangers history…we feel that his experience will be a great value to our team.”41

Sundberg appeared in 38 games, hitting .286 with four homers and 13 RBIs. Following the 1988 season, he was granted free agency but signed a free agent contract to return to the Rangers for one year. It was his last season as a player – and a tough year on the field. In a September 1989 interview, Sundberg stated:

“I’ve had the two best springs of my career in the last two years … But it doesn’t seem to matter how well I do early, it hasn’t carried over on into the season. I can’t seem to break past that age barrier.”42

By the end of the 1989 season, he rarely caught pitchers who had above-average fastballs – the lightning-quick reflexes of his youth were no longer there.43

Sundberg’s average stood at .276 on June 4 but dropped precipitously after Geno Petralli got hurt and he began to face more right-handed pitching. He wound up hitting a career-low .197.

His farewell game, on September 24, 1989, at Arlington Stadium, was proclaimed Jim Sundberg Appreciation Day. That afternoon, he caught Nolan Ryan. The Rangers beat the White Sox, 5-4, in 10 innings, in their last home game of the season. Sundberg went 1-2 with an RBI single in the fourth to tie the game at 3 apiece. Chad Kreuter came in to pinch-run.

Even with his offensive struggles, Sundberg wrestled with the decision to retire:

“The realization of the finality of it, the conclusion of it. Once you really confront a situation – ‘This is it,’ – there’s a reality to that. For the longest time, you can actually deny it. Deny, deny, deny. Once you confront it, a whole new set of things come into line … Baseball has been so much a part – at least for me, it becomes part of me – that in a way you sense a loss of yourself. It’s like losing part of your body. I sensed a loss, a void, that’s going to have to be filled in some way. It hurts to bring something you’ve known all your life to a conclusion.”44Upon Sundberg’s retirement, GM Tom Grieve – a Rangers teammate from 1974 through 1977 – said:

“The one thing that stands out the most is how tough he was to have been able to catch all those games early in his career … He never complained about being hurt. He never spent time in the training room. Yet there were foul tips off the hands, collisions at the plate, foul tips off the cup.”45

As Grieve noted, during his first seven years in the major leagues, Sundberg averaged 146 games caught per year, setting an AL record of 155 in 1975.

Defensively, he was elite. Sundberg led the American League in putouts by a catcher from 1975 to 1980, and was first in assists from 1975 to 1978, third in assists in 197, and again first in assists from 1980 to 1981. He was first in double plays turned as a catcher in 1974, 1976-1978, and 1982. He led American League catchers in fielding percentage from 1976 to 1979, 1984, and 1986. In 1979, he set a fielding percentage record of .995 in 150 games.46 (That mark, too, has since been broken.) Over 16 major-league seasons he committed only 81 errors, nearly a quarter of which came during his second season.

Upon his retirement, Sundberg’s 1,927 games caught were second in major-league history, trailing only Bob Boone. As of 2025 he ranked 10th overall, exactly 500 games behind all-time leader and fellow Rangers catcher, Iván Rodríguez.

Reflecting on his playing career, Sundberg noted that his biggest disappointment was not being able to bring a championship to the Rangers, who never made the postseason during his playing years. “I wish I could have been on a winner here.”47

After retirement, Sundberg stayed busy. He moved into the television booth with Steve Busby, working as a color commentator for the Rangers from 1990 to 1995. From 1996 through 2002, he worked in the private sector at a company he started that made and sold sports training products. He also co-wrote the book “How to Win at Sports Parenting: Maximizing the Sports Experience for You and Your Child” with his wife Janet.

Rangers president Mike Cramer asked Sundberg to return to the organization in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he worked as a roving catching instructor in the minors.

In 1995 Sundberg was on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. He garnered only one vote (0.2%). In 2003, though, he became an inaugural member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame with Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, and Johnny Oates. In his induction speech, Sundberg noted, “I had pride in the Texas uniform probably before there was a reason to have pride in it.”48

Sundberg went to work in the Rangers front office in 2004. For 10 years, until his retirement in 2014, he served in various capacities, such as director of business development, catching coordinator, executive director (reporting to the president), and executive vice president for communications and public relations. In the fall of 2008, Sundberg was named senior executive vice president, a role in which he was able to work closely with friend and team president Nolan Ryan. In 2010 and 2011 the Rangers made back-to-back appearances in the World Series.

As of 2025, Sundberg was working as a motivational speaker.

Last revised: February 13, 2025

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Ray Danner.

Sources

The author consulted information from Sundberg’s file at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball-Almanac.com, and Fangraphs.com.

Photo credit: Jim Sundberg, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Steve Campbell, “A Final Farewell,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 24, 1989: 15.

2 Bruce Anderson, “There’s a Gold Mine Behind the Plate for Texas,” Miami Herald, March 18, 1980: 1E.

3 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

4 Jim Sundberg, “The Perfectionist,” Guideposts, July 1986: 2.

5 Sundberg, “The Perfectionist.”

6 Randy Galloway, “Sundberg Paying Off on Gamble by Martin,” The Sporting News, June 22, 1974: 21.

7 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

8 Randy Galloway, “Super Catcher Sundberg Is Rangers’ Mr. Clean, And a Wicked Hitter, Too,” The Sporting News, July 29, 1978: 3.

9 Merle Heryford, “Rangers Wild About Sundy Despite Tame Batting Mark,” Dallas Morning News, May 24, 1975:

10 Randy Galloway, “’I Deserve It,’ Beams Gold Glover Sundberg,” The Sporting News, January 8, 1977: 37.

11 Randy Galloway, “Sundberg: Glittering Glove, But Silent Stick,” The Sporting News, December 13, 1975: 59.

12 Randy Galloway, “’I Deserve It,’ Beams Gold Glover Sundberg.”

13 Rory Costello, “Matt Alexander,” SABR BioProject, July 24, 2015, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/matt-alexander/ (last accessed February 10, 2025).

14 Randy Galloway, “Gold Glove Glut for Sundberg,” The Sporting News, November 10, 1979: 48.

15 “Sundberg Wins Raves,” The Sporting News, September 16, 1978: 31.

16 Randy Galloway, “Sundberg’s Arm ’Feels Like New’ Again,” The Sporting News, December 16, 1978: 44.

17 Tied major league record with Randy Hundley who committed four errors with the Chicago Cubs in 1967.

18 Jim Reeves, “Jim Sundberg,” 1981 Texas Rangers Baseball Souvenir Program: 42.

19 Reeves, “Jim Sundberg.”

20 Tracy Ringolsby, “Sundberg Regained His Cool When He Moved to Milwaukee: Veteran Catcher Escapes Texas Heat,” The Kansas City Star, July 29, 1984: 7.

21 Ringolsby, “Sundberg Regained His Cool When He Moved to Milwaukee: Veteran Catcher Escapes Texas Heat.”

22 Joe McGuff, “Rangers Let Sundberg Slip Away,” The Kansas City Star, March 13, 1985: 1C.

23 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

24 McGuff, “Rangers Let Sundberg Slip Away.”

25 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

26 Ringolsby, “Sundberg Regained His Cool When He Moved to Milwaukee: Veteran Catcher Escapes Texas Heat.”

27 Ringolsby, “Sundberg Regained His Cool When He Moved to Milwaukee: Veteran Catcher Escapes Texas Heat.”

28 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

29 Ringolsby, “Sundberg Regained His Cool When He Moved to Milwaukee: Veteran Catcher Escapes Texas Heat.”

30 “Sundberg Regains His Self-Esteem,” The Sporting News, July 23, 1984: 14.

31 “Sundberg Regains His Self-Esteem.”

32 Associated Press, “Sundberg Dealt to Kansas City,” [from Jim Sundberg’s Hall of Fame File]. 

33 Bill Richardson, “Royals’ Sundberg Looks Right at Home Behind the Plate for New Team,” Kansas City Star, April 16, 1985: 1C

34 Mike Fish, “Sundberg Settles in at the Plate for Royals,” The Kansas City Star, May 22, 1985: 3C.

35 Sundberg, “The Perfectionist.”

36 Sundberg, “The Perfectionist.”

37 Sundberg, “The Perfectionist.”

38 Jack Etkin, “Sundberg Not Concerned with Challengers,” The Kansas City Star, February 27, 1987: 1B.

39 Associated Press, “Sundberg Released,” New York Times, July 16, 1988. [from Sundberg’s Hall of Fame File].

40 Associated Press, “Sundberg Released,”

41 Associated Press, “Rangers Get Sundberg,” New York Daily News, July 22, 1988: 78.

42 Jim Reeves, “Vintage Sunny Just a Memory,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 7, 1989: 3:1

43 Reeves, “Vintage Sunny Just a Memory.”

44 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

45 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”.

46 Campbell, “A Final Farewell.”

47 Associated Press, “Sundberg Listens to Body, Opts to Retire,” New York Daily News, September 13, 1989: 83.

48 Bill Campbell, “Notebook: Four Named to Rangers’ Hall,” The Dallas Morning News, June 26, 2003: DallasNews.com