Mickey Morandini

Last updated
Mickey Morandini
Mickey Morandini on July 16, 2016 (cropped).jpg
Morandini with the Phillies in 2016
Second baseman
Born: (1966-04-22) April 22, 1966 (age 57)
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1990, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 2000, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Men's baseball
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1988 Seoul Team
Baseball World Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1988 Rome Team
Intercontinental Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1987 Havana Team

Michael Robert "Mickey" Morandini (born April 22, 1966), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays. His career highlights include selection as a 1995 National League (NL) All-Star, playing for the Phillies in the 1993 NL Championship Series and World Series, and appearing for the Cubs in the 1998 NL Division Series.

Contents

Early life and career

Morandini grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended Leechburg Area High School. [1] After graduation, Morandini attended Indiana University, where he started his college career as a center fielder, moving to the infield as a third baseman and shortstop after his freshman year. [2]

In 1987, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, winning the league batting title, and being named league MVP. In 2005, he was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame. [3]

Morandini declined the option to enter the Major League Baseball draft in 1987, citing his desire to play for the United States national team in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. [2] After appearing in one game during the Olympics, he returned to Indiana for his senior season; he was named a second-team All-American for the 1988 season.

Morandini graduated as the Indiana University record-holder in several statistical categories, including runs scored (277), doubles (61), triples (29), and stolen bases (127). [2] The Philadelphia Phillies selected Morandini in the fifth round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft. [4]

Minor leagues

After drafting Morandini, the Phillies assigned him to the Spartanburg Phillies, one of their A-level affiliates in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He played in 63 games for Spartanburg in 1989, batting .338 with 19 doubles, earning him a promotion to the high-A Clearwater Phillies. [5] In Florida, he notched 19 hits and 14 runs scored in 63 at-bats; he also batted in four runs. [1] Finishing the season with the AA-level Reading Phillies, Morandini hit 5 home runs in 188 at-bats, posting a .351 average. [5] Morandini won the 1989 Paul Owens Award as the top minor league position player in the Phillies organization. Morandini committed 22 errors in his first professional season as a shortstop and with Dickie Thon playing shortstop at the major league level, the Phillies organization shifted him to his eventual major league position, second base during the 1989 Florida Instructional league season. [6]

Morandini spent the majority of the 1990 season with the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. While playing in 139 games, he stole 16 bases and batted in 31 runs in 503 at-bats. He also batted .260 and scored 76 runs. [1] During this season, Morandini was named 41st out of the top 50 prospects in Major League Baseball by Baseball America. [1] The move to second base improved his fielding percentage greatly; Morandini cut his errors in half in only one season, posting 11 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. [5] He also earned a short promotion to the major league club; he played in 25 games, hitting 4 doubles and 1 home run in 87 plate appearances. [1]

Major league career

1990–1997: Philadelphia Phillies

After a short stint in Scranton to start 1991, Morandini returned to the major leagues for the remainder of his career. He amassed four triples and thirteen stolen bases in his first full season, highlighting his speed. [7] The following season produced one of the most memorable moments of Morandini's career. In a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, 1992, he turned an unassisted triple play. [8] [9] In the sixth inning, Morandini caught a line drive off of the bat of Jeff King, touched second base to put out Andy Van Slyke, and tagged out Barry Bonds coming from first base; [10] the Pirates went on to win the game, 3–2, in extra innings. [11] It was the first unassisted triple play since 1968, and the first in the National League since 1927. [8] [9] [12] Morandini was also the first second baseman in National League history, and the first in the regular season, to turn an unassisted triple play; [10] [12] all previous occurrences were made by first basemen or shortstops. [9] The only other second baseman to achieve the feat prior was Bill Wambsganss, who turned a triple play in the 1920 World Series. [12] [13]

The Phillies appeared in the World Series in 1993 with Morandini at the top of the lineup; he batted second in manager Jim Fregosi's batting order more often than any other position. [1] During the season, he turned 48 double plays with infield partner Kevin Stocker. [14] Morandini had a .247 batting average during the season, the lowest among the Phillies' starters; he was second on the team in stolen bases to Lenny Dykstra, and led the team in triples with nine. [14] His triples total was also tied for third-best in the National League. [15] In 1994, Morandini posted the highest on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of his career, with a .787 mark. [7] He also walked 34 times in 316 plate appearances, [7] but lost playing time to Mariano Duncan, who appeared at all four infield positions throughout the season. [16] 1995 was arguably Morandini's finest season; he batted .283 with 6 home runs, 7 triples, and 49 RBI. [7] He was also named to the 1995 All-Star team; he appeared in the game, going 0-for-1, [17] and was one of five Phillies to be selected for the team. [10]

Morandini racked up the highest stolen base total of his career in 1996, with 26, though it was a down year for him statistically. His batting average was .250, with 3 home runs, 6 triples, and 24 doubles. He struck out 87 times while walking 49, and amassed 135 hits in 606 plate appearances. [7] The following year, his batting average was at its highest point during his career as a Phillie; Morandini hit .295 and slugged .380. [1] He posted a fielding percentage of .990, making only 6 errors while recording 87 double plays; [18] Morandini's defense throughout his career earned him the nickname "Dandy Little Glove Man". [18] After the 1997 season, Morandini was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Doug Glanville. [7]

1998–1999: Chicago Cubs

In 1998, Morandini posted a .296 batting average, along with 172 hits, 8 home runs, and 53 RBI, all career highs. [7] He and the Cubs also appeared in the 1998 National League Division Series, but lost to the Atlanta Braves. [19] Morandini made his only appearance in the Most Valuable Player award balloting, [7] tying with Javy López for 24th in the voting. [20] Morandini's production declined in 1999, as he hit .241 and scored 60 runs, and he chose free agency after the season, signing with the Montréal Expos in January 2000. [7]

2000: Last season and retirement

Two months after signing with Montréal, the Phillies purchased his rights from the Expos, and he returned to Philadelphia for the 2000 season. [7] After batting .252 and hitting four triples for the Phillies, they traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays in August for Rob Ducey. [7] Morandini played his final two months in the American League, batting at the bottom of the order for the Jays. [1] He had 29 hits in 107 at-bats, good for a .271 average, and stole a base. [1]

Career statistics

In 1,298 games over 11 seasons, Morandini posted a .268 batting average (1,222-for-4,558) with 597 runs, 209 doubles, 54 triples, 32 home runs, 351 RBI, 123 stolen bases, 437 bases on balls, .338 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .989 fielding percentage as a second baseman. In 10 postseason games, he batted .233 (7-for-30) with 3 runs, 1 triple, 3 RBI and 3 walks. [7]

Post-player activities

Morandini resided in Chesterton, Indiana, where the family opened a stationery business. [21] He was the head baseball coach at Valparaiso High School [10] until accepting the manager's position for the Williamsport Crosscutters, one of the Phillies' A-level affiliates, for the 2011 season. [22] On November 21, 2011, he was named the 10th manager of the Philadelphia Phillies A-level Affiliate Lakewood BlueClaws. [23] On November 2, 2015, Morandini was named first base coach of the Philadelphia Phillies. [24] After two years as a coach, the team promoted Morandini to an off-field role as club ambassador. [25] He and his wife, Peg, have 3 boys.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Schmidt</span> American baseball player

Michael Jack Schmidt is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time winner of the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and he was known for his combination of power hitting and strong defense. As a hitter, he compiled 548 home runs and 1,595 runs batted in (RBIs), and led the NL in home runs eight times and in RBIs four times. As a fielder, Schmidt won the National League Gold Glove Award for third basemen ten times. Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and is widely considered to be the greatest third baseman in baseball history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryne Sandberg</span> American baseball player and manager

Ryne Dee Sandberg, nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (1981) and the Chicago Cubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pie Traynor</span> American baseball player, broadcaster, and manager

Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American third baseman, manager, scout and radio broadcaster in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career between 1920 and 1937 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Traynor batted over .300 ten times, posting a career average of .320, and had seven seasons with over 100 runs batted in (RBI). With home runs limited by playing in Forbes Field, the most difficult park for power hitting in the National League (NL), he compensated by reaching double digits in triples eleven times, leading the league in 1923. He batted .346 in the 1925 World Series to help the Pirates take their first championship in 16 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Collins</span> American baseball player

Joseph Edward Collins was an American Major League Baseball player born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Young (baseball)</span> American baseball player (born 1976)

Michael Brian Young is an American former professional baseball infielder who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Since 2014, Young has worked in the Rangers’ front office as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. Originally a second baseman, the versatile Young was a five-time All-Star at shortstop, once at third base, and once as a combination designated hitter / utility infielder. He was the 2005 American League (AL) batting champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Davis (1900s first baseman)</span> American baseball player (1873-1947)

Harry H. Davis was a Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the New York Giants (1895–96), Pittsburgh Pirates (1896–98), Louisville Colonels (1898), Washington Senators (1898–99), Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Naps (1912). He was the first player to hit for the cycle in American League history, doing so in 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plácido Polanco</span> Dominican-American baseball player

Plácido Enrique Polanco is a Dominican-American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. He was a second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. He was twice voted to start in Major League Baseball All-Star Games: in 2007, and again in 2011. Polanco retired with the highest all-time career fielding percentage for second basemen at 99.27% and the highest all-time career fielding percentage for third basemen at 98.34% which still appear to be records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Hansen (baseball)</span> American baseball player

Ronald Lavern Hansen is an American former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the Baltimore Orioles (1958–1962), Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators (1968), New York Yankees (1970–1971) and Kansas City Royals (1972). He batted and threw right-handed. In a 15-season career, Hansen was a .234 hitter with 106 home runs and 501 RBI in 1384 games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Vernon</span> American baseball player and manager

James Barton"Mickey"Vernon was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox (1956–1957), Milwaukee Braves (1959) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1960). He also was the first manager in the history of the expansion edition of the Senators, serving from 1961 through May 21, 1963, and was a coach for four MLB teams between 1960 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Sievers</span> American baseball player (1926–2017)

Roy Edward Sievers was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman and left fielder from 1949 through 1965. A five-time All-Star, Sievers was the 1957 American League home run leader and RBI champion. He played for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the expansion Washington Senators. Sievers batted and threw right-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deron Johnson</span> American baseball player (1938–1992)

Deron Roger Johnson was an American professional baseball infielder, outfielder, designated hitter, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox, over the course of his 16-year big league playing career. While an active player, Johnson stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, weighing 200 pounds (91 kg). He batted and threw right-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Lobert</span> American baseball player, scout, and manager (1881-1968)

John Bernard "Hans" Lobert was an American third baseman, shortstop, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball. Lobert was immortalized in the 1953 film Big Leaguer and in the 1966 Lawrence Ritter book The Glory of Their Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hines</span> American baseball player (1855–1935)

Paul Aloysius Hines was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning baseball's first batting triple crown in 1878 ; the accomplishment was not noted at the time, as runs batted in would not be counted until years later, home runs were rare and home run leadership obscure, and Abner Dalrymple was then erroneously recognized as the batting champion. Hines was the first of only three players to achieve the batting Triple Crown in the 19th century.

Robert Matthew Byrne was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1907 through 1917, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1907–1909), Pittsburgh Pirates (1909–1913), Philadelphia Phillies (1913–1917) and Chicago White Sox (1917). Byrne batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Weintraub</span> American baseball player

Philip Weintraub was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Ready</span> American baseball player

Randall Max Ready is a former professional baseball player and former manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Ready played in the major Leagues primarily as a utility player from 1983 to 1995. He also played one season in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1996. He was a minor league coach for the Detroit Tigers and served as a minor league coach for the Padres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duff Cooley</span> American baseball player (1873–1937)

Duff Gordon "Sir Richard" Cooley was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 17 seasons, 13 of which were spent in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cooley, an outfielder and first baseman, had a career batting average of .294 in 1,317 games played. He compiled 849 runs, 1,579 hits, 180 doubles, 102 triples, 26 home runs, and 557 runs batted in (RBI). In Major League history, he is tied in 148th place for most all-time triples and, his 224 career stolen bases, place him equal 279th on the all-time list. Cooley made his Major League debut at the age of 20, and spent the majority of his career there, but he also appeared in minor league baseball. After breaking his leg with the Tigers in 1905, he was replaced with future Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb. Cooley, nicknamed "Sir Richard" due to his aristocratic manner, was listed as standing 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) and weighing 158 pounds (72 kg).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Hurst</span> American baseball player (1905-1952)

Frank O'Donnell "Don" Hurst was a first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs from 1928 to 1934. In 1932, he led the National League in runs batted in with 143. Hurst stood at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m).

The 1992 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in Major League Baseball. The Phillies finished sixth in the National League East with a record of 70 wins and 92 losses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Legg</span> American baseball player (born 1960)

Gregory Lynn Legg, is an American professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, in two seasons (1986–1987). During his playing days, Legg stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), weighing 185 pounds (84 kg).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Mickey Morandini". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  2. 1 2 3 Smith, Jeff (2008-08-06). "Olympic Spotlight: Baseball's Mickey Morandini, Jim Abbott, and Clayton Richard". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  3. ↑ "Ten Legends into CCBL Hall of Fame". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Amateur Draft: 5th Round of the 1988 June Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  5. 1 2 3 "Mickey Morandini Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  6. ↑ Mike Payne (1989-11-06). "Phils used instructional league to experiment". St. Petersburg Times.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Mickey Morandini Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  8. 1 2 "Unassisted Triple Plays by Baseball Almanac". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  9. 1 2 3 "Unassisted Triple Plays". The Baseball Cube. Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Horan, Kevin (2008-08-21). "Where are they now? Mickey Morandini". Phillies.MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  11. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Philadelphia Phillies 2". Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  12. 1 2 3 Kurkjian, Tim (1992-09-28). "Between The Lines". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  13. ↑ "Cleveland Indians 8, Brooklyn Robins 1". Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  14. 1 2 "1993 Philadelphia Phillies Batting, Pitching, and Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  15. ↑ "1993 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  16. ↑ "1994 Philadelphia Phillies Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  17. ↑ "July 11, 1995 All Star Game Play-by-Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  18. 1 2 "Mickey Morandini Fielding Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  19. ↑ "1998 League Division Series - ATL vs. CHC". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  20. ↑ "Baseball Awards Voting for 1998". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  21. ↑ Castle, George (July 9, 2005). "It's in the cards". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved May 24, 2009. The Morandinis invested between $75,000 and $100,000 from their savings for the start-up costs.
  22. ↑ Peters, Jim (November 18, 2010). "Mickey Morandini resigns at Valpo for job with Phillies". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Morandini to Lead 'Claws in 2012". Minor League Baseball. November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012.
  24. ↑ Zolecki, Todd (November 2, 2015). "Morandini to coach first base for Phillies". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  25. ↑ Salisbury, Jim. "Phillies Introduce Mickey Morandini, Dick Allen as Club Ambassadors". NBC Sports Philadelphia. Retrieved 25 April 2020.


Sporting positions
Preceded by Philadelphia Phillies first base coach
2016-2017		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.