Shawn Sedlacek

Minor league career, part 1

After attending Iowa State University, Sedlacek was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 14th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his minor league career pitching for the Spokane Indians of the single-A (short season) Northwest League. In 16 games (13 starts), he had a 9–2 record (tying for the league lead in wins with Chris Mears), a 3.45 earned run average (ERA) (fifth), 62 strikeouts, and 18 walks in 86 innings pitched (third behind Mears's  98 ²⁄₃ and Jeff Hundley's  92 ²⁄₃).

In 1999, Sedlacek pitched for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the single-A advanced Carolina League. In 17 starts, he had a 4–6 record, a 5.28 ERA, 69 strikeouts, and 26 walks in 92 innings pitched. He was promoted to the Wichita Wranglers of the double-A Texas League in 2000. In 35 games, he had a 3.66 ERA, 81 strikeouts, and 43 walks in  140 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched (10th in the league). Despite only making 16 starts, he led the league with 15 wins.

Sedlacek split 2001 between the Wranglers and the Omaha Royals of the triple-A Pacific Coast League. In 14 starts with Wichita, he had a 6–7 record, a 3.63 ERA, 66 strikeouts, and 14 walks in  86 ²⁄₃ innings. In 14 games (13 starts) for Omaha, he had a 5–4 record, a 5.00 ERA, 44 strikeouts, and 22 walks in 81 innings.

Lone season in the majors

In June 2002, Sedlacek was called up by the Royals following injuries to Jeremy Affeldt and Paul Byrd. He made his major league debut on June 18, getting a no-decision in a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Expos. In his second start, he gave up one run in six innings but took a no-decision in a 5–4 loss to the New York Mets. Due to his performance, Royals' manager Tony Peña decided to keep him in the rotation. On July 4, Sedlacek had one of the best starts of his career; he allowed one run in seven innings, receiving a no-decision in a 3–2 loss to the Oakland Athletics. His first career win came on July 15, in the first game of a doubleheader, when he gave up three runs in six innings as the Royals defeated the Texas Rangers 8–6. He played in 16 games (14 starts) going 3-5 with a 6.72 ERA and 52 strikeouts in his only major league season.

Minor league career, part 2

Sedlacek left the Royals' organization after the 2003 season and played for the next two years in the minors for several other teams and also in the independent Northern League.

Personal life

Sedlacek's wife, Joy, currently works for the Royals as the Senior Director of Royals' charities. They live in Overland Park, Kansas. The Sedlaceks have one child and also own a dog named Abbey.

Sedlacek has also helped with Royals' charities, visiting Joplin, Missouri, to help rebuild homes after a tornado in 2012.

Shawn Sedlacek established Sed Sports, Inc. in 2006 with the goal of giving back to the game that had meant so much and played such a huge role in his life. Shawn began by offering pitching lessons to players from all over the Kansas City metro area who ranged in ability from beginners to current professional players. After focusing primarily on pitching lessons for six years, giving thousands of hours of private instruction, and building his client base to several hundred players, Shawn decided to expand Sed Sports to include teams. In 2013, Shawn, Todd Sears, and Matt Williams decided to partner and establish Complete Game Baseball to continue the growth of the organization in pursuit of Shawn’s dream back in 2006 to give back to the game.