Around the Curve | Scott Seabol Returns to PA Roots with the Curve
CURVE, Pa. - Scott Seabol just did whatever his brother wanted to do when he was young. At least, that’s how it started for the Curve’s second year Hitting Coach who is now working a little less than a two-hour drive from where he grew up. As Seabol described his
CURVE, Pa. - Scott Seabol just did whatever his brother wanted to do when he was young. At least, that’s how it started for the Curve’s second year Hitting Coach who is now working a little less than a two-hour drive from where he grew up. As Seabol described his baseball journey on a cool Thursday evening in the brand-new clubhouse at Prince George’s Stadium, he remembered first falling in love with the game while following around what his brother did in McKeesport, PA.
As the Pirates swelled in the early 90’s, Seabol watched the incredible outfield that had Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Although Scott Seabol’s eyes always gravitated to the position he played growing up, played by Jay Bell.
Following a star career at little-known South Allegheny HS, Seabol began his college career at Florida Southern. During his high school days he would track the top college baseball teams in the country and eventually wrote to the teams listed in the top-20 in the nation in Division I, Division II and NAIA. He figured his next best step was to go south, where he could play more games. Seabol finished his college career at West Virginia and was drafted by the New York Yankees where he passed through the Eastern League in 2000 and 2001.
“What I remember about playing against Altoona was that they had really good arms,” Seabol shared before the Curve took on the Baysox. “The Pirates had something going there. I also played the longest game of my career against the Curve, 19 innings.”
It’s a franchise record that still stands in 2026. A 19-inning affair on July 13, 2000 at Norwich’s Dodd Stadium. Seabol had nine at-bats in that game and picked up just two hits, a game that Altoona scored four times in the top of the 19th inning and held off a furious rally in the bottom half of the inning to hang on for a 6-5 Curve victory.
Seabol finished as one of the Eastern League’s top performers in 2000 and parlayed it into an opportunity at Yankees Spring Training in the spring of 2001. It was there, he walked into the major league clubhouse for the first time and had an awakening.
“It was intimidating as heck!” Seabol said with a laugh. “We had Hall of Fame players like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada…” It really was one of the great teams of the modern era of Major League Baseball where Seabol made his major league debut. It was April of 2001 and he entered as a pinch hitter in his lone major league at-bat of the season. He spent the rest of the 2001 campaign at Triple-A Columbus. A level of baseball he would play for five consecutive seasons before returning to the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. While there, Seabol shared the clubhouse with another collection of future Hall of Famers. A memory he holds dearly because he could finally experience what life was like in the major leagues for more than a few days and share it with his family.
“Having my wife and kids with me then was so memorable, coming to big league games hanging out around the clubhouse, Seabol reflected. “My kids won’t remember but this, but, they played with Albert Pujols’ son when we were there.”
The long baseball journey for Seabol stretched to Korea (2006) and Japan (2008 and 2009) before he hung up his cleats after 1,460 professional games. 60 of those games came at the highest level of the game, where he now helps future generations of players reach their dream.
Seabol has worked as a hitting instructor for the New York Yankees (2016-19) and Miami Marlins (2020-23) before joining the Pirates as a Hitting Coach. After one season working in Low-A Bradenton, Seabol joined the Curve in 2025 and helped right-handed sluggers Nick Cimillo and Esmerlyn Valdez key in on their approach and send the Curve to a postseason appearance. In his role as a Hitting Coach, he spends countless hours helping hitters prepare for their opponent that night.
“It’s harder to hit now, I agree with that thought to an extent,” Seabol shared. With pitchers throwing harder than ever, Seabol helps Curve hitters stick to their approach. “Our approach to the game is focused on fighting where you want to fight. Swinging at pitches in the areas where your strengths are, because you can’t reliably see a strike in 2-0 or 3-1 counts the way you would when I played.”