Dave Fleming and Geoff Hixson on with Silverbacks Nation

Dave Fleming and Geoff Hixson on with Silverbacks Nation

Dave Fleming was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, and went to high school in Mahopac, New York. He pitched for the University of Georgia, leading them to a College World Series title in 1990.

Fleming was selected in the third round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft by the Seattle Mariners. He won a career high 17 games, including 9 in a row, for the Mariners in his rookie season of 1992. His ERA that year was 3.39, and he took third place in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

After going 29-15 in his first two MLB seasons, Fleming began to struggle with arm trouble. On 7 July 1995, he was traded by the Mariners to the Kansas City Royals for Bob Milacki. He pitched only 9 games for the Royals before undergoing surgery, and never pitched in the Major Leagues again.

Geoff Hixson has been with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association since 1997. His duties include the coordination of the MLBPAA staff, overseeing the execution of celebrity fundraising events and free youth clinics for kids nationwide. In addition, he is responsible for the expansion and continued growth of the organization by helping to diversify existing programs and the creation of new programs to involve the former and current Major League player in the charity-based mission of the MLBPAA.

Hixson has more than 20 years of sport and special event background. He spent three years in Minor League Baseball with the Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers (now Dodgers) and two years at Oklahoma Events, a marketing and special events company, where he assisted in the coordination of many events, including the Vince Gill Celebrity Golf Classic.