In 2003, Chris Kolkhorst was part of Rice University’s first and only national championship squad, hitting .351 with a .483 on-base percentage as the self-described spark plug of the Owl’s squad.
The San Diego Padres drafted the 5-foot-9 Kolkhorst in the tenth round a year later. He hit the ground running, hitting .352 with a .924 OPS in thirty games with the short-season Eugene Emeralds after a short cameo in the Arizona League.
He spent most of the 2005 season with the then Low-A Fort Wayne Wizards before getting promoted to finish the season in High-A Lake Elsinore, where he hit .327 with a .877 OPS. While the path through the minors is not easy for an undersized outfielder, Kolkhorst appeared to be establishing himself as a prospect.
Chris Kolkhorst with the Fort Wayne Wizards in 2004. (Photo courtesy of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)
Then, in the spring of 2006, before full-season team assignments could be finalized, he told the Padres he was done playing baseball. He walked away from the game after two years with an .810 career OPS and 115 walks against only 105 strikeouts.
“It was a tough decision, but I told the Padres I was done,” said Kolkhorst by phone recently from his home in the Houston area.
“They told me that they wouldn’t give me my release. I told them, ‘I’m not trying to play for another organization; I’m just going home to do something else.'”
Three of Kolkhorst’s 2003 Rice teammates—Jeff Niemann, Wade Townsend, and Philip Humber—were all drafted in the first round in 2004 and had clear trajectories to the majors. Kolkhorst, though, didn’t land on the same fast track.
More than baseball
“I was very grateful to be drafted and get the opportunity to play professional baseball, but two things probably made me want to leave in the end.
Chris Kolkhorst was one of the key cogs on Rice’s championship team. (Photo: Rice Athletics)
“One was playing for and winning the national championship for Rice because that was a true team environment. I probably would have enjoyed the minor leagues more if that hadn’t been so good. I compared everything to college, and in the minors, we said we wanted to win, but I always thought that was a bunch of smoke and mirrors. The main thing was to get to the big leagues.
“The second thing was that I got married in January of 2006 and brought my wife to spring training. Then, it became real apparent that it wasn’t just about me. We wanted a family, and it was my responsibility as the man of the house to provide the lifestyle we wanted.”
Less than a month after his 24th birthday, he stepped away from the game for the first time in his life and began the long drive home to Houston. And so, like just a tiny fraction of the players who’ve ever put on a professional uniform, Kolkhorst ended his career on his terms, not because someone else told him he was done.
“My wife had a good job as a nurse, I didn’t,” laughed Kolkhorst. “I just started making phone calls and had a few offers, so I narrowed it down to investment banking or insurance. The guy who offered me the insurance job watched me play ball, and it helped me get my career because he liked how I played.
“I ended up going to work for him, and he was a great mentor. After five years, I went off and started my own insurance agency. We were able to build and sell that, then started another one, which we merged with the group I am with now.
“So it’s been good.”
Twenty years later, he has a chance to reflect on whether he would have changed anything and whether he would have done anything differently.
“No, I just feel very fortunate,” said Kolkhorst. “I might have been able to play for a few more years, but I didn’t want to feel like I was wasting years that I could have used to get good at something else. You have to look in the mirror and decide what is most important to you.
“I did enjoy my time in Fort Wayne with the Wizards, although from what I’ve heard, I may have enjoyed playing in that new park a little more,” laughed Kolkhorst.
“The main reason to get to the big leagues was to make a lot of money, and I didn’t think that was a good reason.”
Seeing his role
One of the more difficult aspects of professional baseball, especially for a player with Kolkhorst’s self-awareness, is that what is best for your career doesn’t always coincide with what the organization believes is best.
Kolkhorst brought some intensity to the Padres’ organization. (Photo courtesy of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Rowand Photo)
“I would have liked to have been told at some point what I needed to get better at. There never was anything. Before I quit, I sat down with the [Padres] brass and told them I was not here to be a minor leaguer, and they couldn’t articulate what I needed to do.
“The $800 a month they were paying me wasn’t cutting it, and if I can’t be a big leaguer, I needed to do something else.”
For someone in his early 20s, he had a relatively clear-eyed view of what he could do and, more importantly, what he couldn’t.
“I always thought I was a good defensive player, but I was more quick than fast,” said Kolkhorst, who played left field his entire time as a professional. “I didn’t really have the power component for a left fielder or the arm for right. My only real shot would have been to be a second baseman or a utility guy.”
“I asked the Padres for some opportunities at second and never really got a response.”
“I got moved to the outfield in college. I was a second baseman my one year at Blinn [Junior College outside of Houston]. When I got to Rice, they had a few guys in the infield. Coach Graham said the only real shot I would have to play every day was to go out to left, and I had never played outfield in my life.
“I said, ‘Yes, sir.”
The Padres liked what Kolkhorst brought to the field and the clubhouse – though maybe too much of the latter.
“They didn’t really tell me something specific to work on, and then they said something eye-opening: ‘You are good for the younger guys.'”
“I said, ‘What?’ They told me that as a college guy, I was mature, worked hard, and was a good example for the younger guys. I said You think I’m like their dad? They laughed and said no, and I said, ‘I’m not here to be their dad.”
Building a new life
In the end, the toughest person that Kolkhorst had to tell that he was quitting baseball was his father.
“The hardest part about quitting was telling my dad because I was his outlet away from his job,” said Kolhorst. “My dad was a CPA, and he used to make time to watch all my games and then go back to work. But he’s always been my biggest fan and understood why I did it.”
“I realized that I wanted to be like my dad, and in the end, being able to be there and provide for my wife and kids has meant more to me than anything I ever did on a baseball field.”
For Kolkhorst, those kids are Coy, 17, and Cydney, 15. Coy, who Chris described as a miracle baby, was born severely premature at 23 weeks and 4 days and wasn’t expected to survive. After spending four months in a neonatal intensive care unit, he was finally able to come home.
“He still has some challenges that he will always have some dyslexia and ADHD – so he will always need a little help, but he has the biggest heart and has taught me a lot about life. It really changes your outlook and how you see things and makes you more appreciative.”
