This is the resume:

• He was the first National League rookie to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs scored.
• He was the youngest player with back-to-back 50-double seasons.
• He was the third major-leaguer to drive in 500 runs in his first four seasons.1
• He was the major-league leader in runs scored five times, including three consecutive seasons.
• He had the most career home runs of any major leaguer in the first 10 seasons of a career.
• He reached 400 homers faster than anyone in big-league history.
• He was the first player with 100-RBI seasons in each of his first 10 years.

Albert Pujols’ first 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals – in which he batted .328 and averaged more than 40 doubles, 40 home runs, 120 RBIs and 117 runs scored – was one of the greatest stretches by an individual player in major-league history. Slowed by injuries and age, the second half of Pujols’ 22-year career was not as productive, but he occasionally showed flashes of his prime years as he reached 3,000 career hits and two major milestones achieved by fewer than a handful of baseball greats – 700 home runs and 2,000 RBIs.

José Alberto Pujols Alcántara was born on January 16, 1980, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was the only child of Bienvenido and his wife. At the time of his birth, the family lived in the crime-ridden neighborhood of Cristo Rey. They later moved to Villa Mella, a lower-class, but safer, area north of Santo Domingo.2 Their last stop before immigrating to the United States was the Los Trinitarios neighborhood of Santo Domingo.

When Pujols was three years old, his parents divorced and his mother left, but the couple maintained an amicable relationship.3 Pujols has not spoken publicly often of his mother, and little is known about her. Owing to economic circumstances and the chance for a better education, Pujols lived with his father but had occasional weekend visits with his mother.4

Bienvenido worked as a painter and performed other odd jobs; he was often gone from home looking for work. When Bienvenido happened to find work in the city, Pujols would accompany his father to spend time with him and help when he could.

Pujols was raised primarily by his paternal grandmother, America, with help from her 10 children. Surrounded by uncles and aunts, whom he calls his brothers and sisters, Pujols had a happy childhood, although money was tight. “We didn’t live like a rich person, but we lived pretty good,” he recalled.5

Pujols began playing baseball at the age of five when Bienvenido, an excellent softball pitcher in the Dominican Republic, introduced his son to the game. Pujols wore his father’s jersey around the neighborhood and accompanied him to his softball games, where he would beg his father to hit groundballs to him between games.6

Like most kids growing up in the Dominican Republic, as a young boy Pujols played baseball in the streets year-round with improvised equipment – he used a milk carton as a glove and limes as baseballs. He followed the major-league careers of Latino players and didn’t have a favorite team but remembered that “the [Atlanta] Braves were always on TV.”7

Though the two maintained a good relationship, Bienvenido’s alcoholism greatly shaped Albert’s life. A young Pujols would often carry his father home when he became drunk after his softball games.8 Pujols said that the experience caused him to mature early; he cited these moments as the reason that he never drank alcohol or smoked.9

Pujols was 16 when he moved with his father and grandmother to the United States. They landed in a rough neighborhood – Washington Heights in New York City – but left soon after when Pujols witnessed a murder in a bodega near where they lived.10 They settled just east of Kansas City, in Independence, Missouri, which at the time had a community of about 2,000 Dominican immigrants, including members of Pujols’ extended family.11 

Pujols enrolled as a junior at Fort Osage High School and did not speak any English. He initially struggled with the language barrier but was able to do his schoolwork. He displayed a passion to learn and with the help of his English teacher, Portia Stanke (who did not know Spanish), he quickly overcame the language obstacle.12

In October 1996, Pujols was introduced by his cousin Wilfredo Pujols to Fort Osage High School baseball coach David Fry. “When he came to us, he was a no-name. None of us knew anything about him,” Fry said. “He’s a kid that by the grace of God moved into our district. I didn’t know what I had standing in my classroom that day.”13

“The more I watched him, I felt like the baseball gods had smiled down on me,” Fry said after watching Albert Pujols during tryouts for the first time.14

Despite his stocky 6-foot-3 build, Pujols played shortstop in the spring of 1997. He hit .449 with 11 homers to lead Fort Osage to the Missouri Class 4A state championship in his first season. Because he would not have enough credits to graduate in 1998, school administrators felt that another year of high school would benefit his grasp of English and academic development. Pujols was awarded another year of eligibility and re-enrolled as a junior.

On the field he did not get many pitches to hit during the 1998 season. In what would become a recurring theme throughout his career, Pujols’ age was questioned. Opposing coaches – both out of respect for his power and believing he was older than 18 – refused to pitch to him. He was walked 55 times while hitting eight home runs in just 33 at-bats.15

Following the fall semester of his senior year, Pujols had secured the necessary credits to graduate as an English as Second Language Student.16 He left Fort Osage to accept a full scholarship at nearby Maple Woods Community College in the spring of 1999.

Pujols got off to a memorable start – in his first college game, he hit a grand slam against future major-leaguer Mark Buehrle and turned an unassisted triple play at shortstop. Pujols was named a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American for hitting .466 with 22 home runs and 76 RBIs in 56 games while leading Maple Woods to the NJCAA Region 16 Championship.17

Although Maple Woods coach Marty Kilgore expected Pujols to be taken in the first three rounds of the 1999 MLB June amateur draft, scouts had reservations. In addition to questions about his age, there were other concerns.

“We all saw Albert the same way,” said Kansas City Royals general manager Allard Baird at the time. “We weren’t sure he had a position. He didn’t have a great baseball body. We all saw him the same way, and we were all wrong.”18

On the advice of area scout Fernando Arango, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were the only major-league club to invite Pujols for a pre-draft workout. Despite Arango’s insistence that “someday he’ll hit 40 home runs in the big leagues,” Tampa Bay officials were concerned about Pujols’ build and the defensive position he would play.19 They passed on him in the draft and Arango quit his job in disgust.20

Pujols was finally taken in the 13th round by the St. Louis Cardinals and offered a $10,000 signing bonus. Rather than accept the offer, he chose to play in the amateur collegiate Jayhawk League that summer in Hays, Kansas. After the league ended, the Cardinals upped their offer to $60,000. Pujols signed and reported to the Arizona Fall League, where he learned to play third base.21

On January 1, 2000, Pujols married Kansas City native Deidre Corona, whom he had met at a Latin dance club when he was in high school. The young couple spent just $150 on their wedding and honeymooned in Peoria, Illinois, where Pujols would begin his minor-league career.22 On their first date, Deidre, who was three years older, told Pujols that she had an eight-week-old daughter, Isabella, with Down Syndrome.23 After their wedding, Pujols officially adopted Isabella. He and Deidre would have four children together: Albert Jr. (2001), Sophia (2005), Ezra (2010), and Esther Grace (2012).

Pujols’ accension to the major leagues was remarkably fast. The Cardinals initially sent him to their Class-A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League. After he hit .324 with 17 homers in 109 games (for which he was later named Midwest League MVP),24 he was promoted to the High-A Potomac Cannons of the Carolina League for 21 games in August. Skipping Double-A, he ended the year with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds for their final three games leading into the Pacific Coast League playoffs. In Game Four of the finals against Salt Lake City, Pujols hit a 13th-inning walk-off home run to give Memphis its first PCL title. In the four-game series, he was 8-for-17 with two homers and five RBIs and was named MVP.25 The Cardinals named Pujols their 2000 Minor League Player of the Year.26

Although they expected him to begin the season in Triple A, the Cardinals welcomed Pujols to spring training as a non-roster invitee in 2001. Despite spending time at first base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions, Pujols hit from the start. Because of injuries to veterans Mark McGwire and Bobby Bonilla, Pujols received extensive playing time and batted .349 in 62 at-bats with a team-leading 34 total bases and just eight strikeouts.27

“Each week when we had our cut meetings, there we were, figuring he had to go back to the minors at some point, and each week he kept impressing us more and more,” said Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty. “It got to the final week and we just said, ‘Look, we’re really a better club with him,’ the way he was playing.”28  

Bonilla’s injury created a vacancy on manager Tony La Russa’s roster that was filled by Pujols, who debuted as the Cardinals’ left fielder in Colorado on opening day, April 2, 2001, and singled against Mike Hampton in his third at-bat.29 Four days later, he cracked his first big-league homer against Armando Reynoso in a victory at Arizona. On April 9, Pujols homered in his first trip to the plate at Busch Stadium.30 He finished April hitting .370 with 8 homers and 27 RBIs and hardly slowed down. Splitting time between third base, first base, and the outfield, he finished the season with a .329 average, 37 homers, 130 RBIs, and 112 runs scored31 while setting National League rookie records for RBIs (130), extra-base hits (88), and total bases (360).32 Pujols was unanimously voted the NL Rookie of the Year, the sixth Cardinals player to win the award.

The next season, Pujols posted similar numbers (.314, 34, 127), the second of a record 10 consecutive years with at least 30 home runs, 100 RBIs, and a batting average over .300. Though Pujols was not eligible for arbitration, St. Louis signed their young superstar to a one-year contract for $900,000 prior to the 2003 season.

After the Cardinals made the playoffs in each of Pujols’ first two seasons, they fell to third in the NL Central in 2003 – which may have been Pujols’ best season in St. Louis. Despite playing most of the season with ligament damage in his right elbow, he won his only batting title with two hits on the final day to finish with a .359 average, edging out Colorado’s Todd Helton by .0002 in the closest batting race in NL history.33  Highlighted by a career-best 30-game hitting streak34, Pujols hit 43 homers and drove in 124 runs while leading the majors in batting average, runs, doubles, and total bases and topping the NL in hits, three behind AL leader Vernon Wells. Pujols finished second in the MVP balloting behind San Francisco’s Barry Bonds (.341, 45, 90 with 148 walks).35

Before the 2004 season, St. Louis inked Pujols to a seven-year, $100 million contract, thereby avoiding an upcoming arbitration battle and delaying his free agency at least four years.36 After playing multiple positions during his first three seasons, Pujols moved exclusively to first base in 2004 after Tino Martinez was dealt to Tampa Bay in November 2003. Pujols would become an excellent defensive first baseman, winning two Gold Glove Awards and setting a major-league record with 185 assists as a first baseman in 2009.37

St. Louis won an MLB-best 105 games in 2004 and topped the Houston Astros in a thrilling seven-game NLCS. Pujols torched the Astros, going 14-for-28 with four home runs, nine RBIs, and scoring 10 runs; he was named the series MVP. In his first World Series he was 5-for-15 with two doubles but St. Louis was swept by the Boston Red Sox, who won their first title since 1918.

Shortly after the 2005 season began, Pujols and Deidre announced the formation of the Pujols Family Foundation. The organization’s goals were to help improve the lives of poor children and orphans in the Dominican Republic and support local organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Ronald McDonald House.38

As the adoptive father of Isabella, another cause was even closer to Pujols’ heart—promoting awareness of Down Syndrome. In 2002 Pujols became the spokesman for the annual “Buddy Walk” game, in which children with Down Syndrome are special guests of the Cardinals and walk along the warning track and stand with Cardinals players during the national anthem. He had a knack for creating a special memory for the children, often hitting a “requested” home run; in the 2006 game he homered in his first three at-bats.39 After being nominated for the fifth time in six years, Pujols was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award in 2008 for his community service.40 

In each season from 2001 to 2004, Pujols finished in the top four in the MVP voting while Bonds won four straight times. With Bonds sidelined until September, Pujols (.330, 41, 117) broke through in 2005 to capture his first of three NL MVP Awards and lead the Cardinals to their second consecutive 100-win season.41 They lost to Houston in six games in the NLCS, but Pujols provided one of his most memorable moments with a massive three-run homer in the ninth inning against Astros closer Brad Lidge to win Game Five.

In the inaugural season of Busch Stadium III in 2006, Pujols hit the first Cardinals home run in the new park. On April 16, his third straight home run was a two-run game-winner in an 8-7 win over Cincinnati; the next night in Pittsburgh he homered in his first at-bat to tie a major-league record for consecutive home runs.42 He finished the month with a major-league record 14 homers in April43 – while hitting .346 and driving in 32 runs – and ended the year with career highs of 49 home runs and 137 RBIs despite a 15-day stay on the disabled list in June.44 The Cardinals, who claimed the NL Central crown with an 83-79 record, beat San Diego in four games in the NL Division Series before dispatching the New York Mets in a tight seven-game NLCS in which Pujols was 7 for 22. He hit just .200 in the World Series, but St. Louis topped the Detroit Tigers in five games for an unexpected title.

After finishing runner-up in the MVP balloting behind Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard, Pujols created a minor controversy when he said in an interview in the Dominican Republic that “someone who doesn’t take his team to the playoffs doesn’t deserve to win the MVP.”45 Pujols later apologized to Howard, saying his remarks were misinterpreted.46

Plagued by discomfort and tingling in his right elbow in 200747, Pujols had career lows to that point in home runs (32) and RBIs (103). He rebounded in 2008 to win his second MVP Award (.357, 37, 116) but underwent surgery to decompress and relocate the ulnar nerve in his right elbow following the season. In 2009 he led the league in homers (47) for the first time48, drove in 135 runs, and nabbed another MVP Award – and had a second surgery on his elbow after the season ended.49

Pujols led the league in homers again and RBIs (for the only time) in 2010 but finished second to Cincinnati’s Joey Votto for the MVP. Following the season, St. Louis exercised a $16 million option on Pujols’ contract for 2011.50

Statistically, the 2011 season was Pujols’ worst of his career to that point. In early June he hit extra-inning, walk-off home runs on consecutive days to beat the Chicago Cubs,51 but on June 19 he suffered a fractured wrist. He was expected to miss up to six weeks but returned two weeks later.52 On July 29 he collected his 2,000th career hit, becoming the fifth Cardinal to reach the milestone.53 He finished the season hitting .299 with 99 RBIs, ending a 10-year streak of batting over .300 and driving in 100 runs.

After defeating Milwaukee on August 2, St. Louis was only 2½ games behind the Brewers in the NL Central, but by August 24 had dropped to 10 games out and 10½ games behind the Atlanta Braves for the sole NL Wild Card berth. However, they went 23-9 to close the season and clinched the wild card spot on the last day when the Braves lost in 13 innings to Philadelphia. Advancing to the World Series with series wins over Philadelphia and Milwaukee, St. Louis split two games at home with the Texas Rangers to set up Game Three. Pujols lifted St. Louis to a 16-7 win with perhaps the greatest single-game offensive output in World Series history. After grounding out in the first inning, Pujols singled in the fourth and fifth, followed by home runs in the sixth, seventh, and ninth; he joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players to homer three times in a World Series game.54 His five hits and six RBIs also tied World Series records and his 14 total bases set a new standard.55 St. Louis beat Texas in seven games to win their second title in six years.

Prior to the 2011 season, the Cardinals had offered Pujols a nine-year, $198 million extension, which he rejected.56 Pujols refused to discuss his contract status during the season and became a free agent following the World Series. Despite both management and Pujols proclaiming that he should remain a Cardinal for the remainder of his career, Pujols eventually signed a 10-year, $254 million deal with the American League’s Los Angeles Angels that included a marketing deal and a personal services contract.57  

Pujols got off to a poor start in 2012 for his new team; he batted under .200 until mid-May and did not connect for his first home run until his 117th plate appearance on May 6. He rallied to finish with 30 homers, 105 RBIs and a .285 batting average, the highest average he would achieve during his time with the Angels. He smacked 50 doubles, making him the first player to reach that mark in each league.58

In 2013, a partially torn plantar fascia on his left foot limited Pujols to 99 games and ended his streak of 12 consecutive 30-homer seasons.59 Despite not being on the field, Pujols was still in the news on August 2 when former major-leaguer Jack Clark, as an employee of a sports talk show on Cleveland’s WGNU, accused Pujols of using performance-enhancing drugs during his early years in St. Louis.60

Pujols denied the accusation, saying in a statement, “I’ve said time and again that I would never take, or even consider taking, anything illegal. I’ve been tested hundreds of times throughout my career, and never once have I tested positive.”61 Pujols, whose name did not appear in the 2007 Mitchell Report which investigated illegal PED use, sued both Clark and WGNU for defamation. The lawsuit was later dropped when Clark publicly retracted his comments.62

Early in the 2014 season, Pujols reached the 500-home run club on April 22 when he belted both his 499th and 500th in a victory over the Washington Nationals.63 He finished with 28 home runs and 105 RBIs and helped the Angels win the AL West title for the first time since they won three straight from 2007 to 2009. Despite teaming up with superstar Mike Trout, the 2014 season would be the only one during Pujols’ stay with the Angels in which they made the postseason; they were swept in the Division Series by the Kansas City Royals.

Playing on achy feet for the last several years of his career, Pujols’ production dropped dramatically. He still hit the ball hard but was often the victim of opponent’s extreme defensive shifts, which – combined with his lack of speed – resulted in groundouts instead of hits. Many were turned into double plays; Pujols grounded into a major-league record 426 in his career.

But Pujols still achieved several statistical milestones while with the Angels. In 2015, he had his seventh, and last, 40-homer season but drove in just 95 runs. The final two of his record 14 100-RBI seasons64 were in 2016 and 2017. On June 3, 2017, he smashed a grand slam for his 600th career home run. He lined a single to right on May 4, 2018, against Seattle’s Mike Leake to become the 32nd player to reach 3,000 hits. Just over a year later, on May 9, his solo homer against Ryan Carpenter was his 2,000th RBI.65 On August 24, 2020, Pujols collected his 2,087th RBI, moving him past Álex Rodríguez into second place all time.66

After signing Pujols, the Angels had hosted the Cardinals in interleague series in 2013 and 2016, but did not visit St. Louis until June 2019, more than seven years since Pujols’ last home appearance during their World Series victory. Receiving a standing ovation for each plate appearance of the series, Pujols was 1-for-2 with a walk in the first game in front of a crowd of 48,423 – the second largest in Busch Stadium history. He thrilled the St. Louis fans with a seventh-inning home run against Cardinal starter Dakota Hudson the following day and collected two hits in the third game.67

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Pujols hit .224 in 152 at-bats. He was hitting just .198 in 86 at-bats in 2021 when he was designated for assignment by the Angels on May 6, four months before the end of his contract.68 Just over a week later, he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he hit .254 with 12 home runs in 85 games (37 starts).69 In nine playoff games with the Dodgers, he had five singles in 17 at-bats.

In March 2022, Pujols signed a one-year deal for $2.5 million with St. Louis to end his storied career back where it began. Shortly before opening day, he divorced Deidre just days after her successful brain surgery.70

On the field in his final season as a player, Pujols appeared in 22 games at first base. With the recent adoption of the designated hitter in the National League, the bulk of his playing time came as the Cardinals’ DH. On May 15, he made his major-league pitching debut when he entered for the final inning of a 15-6 win over the San Francisco Giants. He allowed four runs on three hits, including a three-run homer by Luis González and a solo homer by Joey Bart.71

Pujols entered the 2022 season needing 21 homers to join Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Ruth as the only players with 700 career home runs. With just seven home runs in 171 at-bats through August 6, he seemed destined to fall short – but then blasted 17 in his final 136 at-bats to finish with a career total of 703. The 699th and 700th came at Dodger Stadium on September 23. More than 21 years after homering in his first at-bat in St. Louis, he went deep in his final regular season at-bat at Busch Stadium against Pittsburgh’s Roansy Contreras. The next day, in Pittsburgh, he connected against Mitch Keller for his final career home run. Keller was the record 458th different pitcher to allow a homer to Pujols.72

Pujols’ final appearance in the major leagues came in the Cardinals’ Wild Card Series loss to Philadelphia; he was 2-for-8 in two games.

During the first spring training following his retirement, Pujols was inevitably asked if he missed playing the game. “I don’t miss a freakin’ thing about it,” he said. “I really don’t. I’ve been playing baseball for 38 years of my life. It was fun. I had a great career. But I am burned out.”73

Did he have second thoughts about retirement following his strong second half in 2022? “People know when I make a decision, it’s a final decision. Yes, I was sure. I had enough,” he stated. “There are no perfect endings, but I think I had one. Last year was the best thing that happened to me in my career besides winning the World Series.”74

In a private ceremony in early 2023, Pujols married for the second time, to Nicole Fernández, the daughter of former Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernández.75 

In June 2023, Pujols was named a special assistant to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to consult on numerous topics, including player relations and issues in the Dominican Republic.76

Although the second half of his career paled in comparison to the first 11 seasons in St. Louis, Albert Pujols compiled career numbers matched by few of the immortals of the game. In his prime, he was one of the most feared hitters in baseball history. But that’s not how he wanted to be known. 

When asked in 2009, he said, “I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. That’s the guy I want to be remembered as when I am done wearing this uniform. That’s from the bottom of my heart.”77

Last revised: November 4, 2024

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Eric Vickrey and Rory Costello and checked for accuracy by Henry Kirn of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credits: MLB.com, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Pujols had 505 RBIs in his first four seasons. The other two players are Joe DiMaggio (558) and Ted Williams (515). Matthew Leach, “Pujols Surpasses 500-RBI Plateau,” MLB.com, September 26, 2004.

2 Joe Strauss, “Pujols’ Maintains a Strong Bond with Dominican,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 29, 2005: D7.

3 Tom Verducci, “Albert’s Second Act;” Sports Illustrated, March 26, 2012, https://vault.si.com/vault/2012/03/26/alberts-second-act.

4 Graham Bensinger, “Albert Pujols: I’ve Never Drank Alcohol,” https://grahambensinger.com/2021/08/10/albert-pujols/.

5 Chuck Johnson, “Pujols A Card-Carrying Star,” USA Today, May 22, 2001:2C.

6 Graham Bensinger, “Albert Pujols: I’ve Never Drank Alcohol,” https://grahambensinger.com/2021/08/10/albert-pujols/.

7 Johnson.

8 Joe Posnanski, “The Power to Believe,” Sports Illustrated, March 16, 2009.

9 Graham Bensinger, “Albert Pujols: I’ve Never Drank Alcohol,” https://grahambensinger.com/2021/08/10/albert-pujols/.

10 Edward Lennon, “Los Angeles Angels: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Albert Pujols,” September 2020, https://calltothepen.com/2020/09/19/los-angeles-angels-5-things-albert-pujols/2/

11 Johnson.

12 Graham Bensinger, “Albert Pujols: Challenges Coming to America,” https://grahambensinger.com/2021/08/10/albert-pujols/.

13 Mike Eisenbath, “Pujols is Hot Property at the Hot Corner,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 25, 2001: D16.

14 Johnson.

15 In the summer of 1997, Pujols played a 60-game American Legion season with Hi-Boy Drive In/Post 340 and hit 29 home runs and drove in 119 runs. The next summer he smacked 35 homers and knocked in 124. Arne Christensen, “Albert Pujols: Revisiting the Early Years,” The Hardball Times, June 15, 2010, https://tht.fangraphs.com/albert-pujols-revisiting-the-early-years/

16 Christensen.

17 “Albert Pujols,” NJCAARegion16.org, accessed October 27, 2024, https://njcaaregion16.org/Hall_of_Fame/Albert_Pujols.

18 Posnanski.

19 Jonah Keri, “The Extra 2%: Whiffing on Albert Pujols”, ESPN.com, March 7, 2011, https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=6189583.

20 Keri.

21 Christensen.

22 Posnanski.

23 Johnson.

24 Pujols was named Midwest League Most Valuable Player for the 2000 season despite spending the last month in High-A Potomac.

25 Newspaper accounts report that Pujols hit .367 while being named MVP but that appears to be for the entire playoffs. Box scores from the game accounts in the Salt Lake City Tribune show that he was 8-for-17 in the PCL Championship Series.

26  Gary Lee, “2021 Cardinals Minor League Co-Players & Pitcher of the Year,” Ozark Radio News, March 16, 2022, https://www.ozarkradionews.com/sports/2021-cardinals-minor-league-co-players-pitcher-of-the-year.

27 Steve DiMeglio, “Blazing a Shortcut to the Big Leagues,” USA Today, May 16-22, 2001: 30.

28 DiMeglio.

29 Pujols was the first player born in the 1980s to appear in major leagues. It was initially believed that Rafael Furcal, the 2000 National League Rookie of the Year, was the first but he was found to be two years older than he claimed when having to prove his age to renew his visa following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Because Pujols had been in the United States since he was a young child, he did not face the same scrutiny. Thomas Stinson, “Furcal Ages by 2 Years on Visa,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 15, 2002: C2.

30 Pujols was the first Cardinals rookie to homer in his home debut since Wally Moon in 1954. DiMeglio.

31 Despite below-average speed, Pujols would score 100 or more runs nine times and lead the league five times. Pujols was the first rookie since Walt Dropo in 1950 to hit .300 with 30 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs scored.

32 “Season of Accomplishments,” USA Today, October 9, 2001. Pujols struck out 93 times in his rookie season. He would match that total in 2017 when he was 37 years old. His next highest strikeout total in a season was 76 (2010 and 2012).

33 Pujols’ .359 average was the highest by a St. Louis batter since Joe Torre hit .363 in 1971. It was the first batting title by a Cardinal since 1990 when Willie McGee hit .335 and accumulated enough at-bats to qualify in the NL before a late-season trade to Oakland in the AL. McGee’s overall average ended at .324. Interestingly, Los Angeles Dodgers’ Eddie Murray led the majors with a .330 average but didn’t lead either league.

34 Pujols fell short of the St. Louis record set by Rogers Hornsby, who hit in 33 straight games in 1922.

35 This was the second consecutive year that Pujols had finished second to Bonds in the National League MVP voting.

36 Joe Strauss, “Pujol$, Cards Buck Up by Giving Slugger $100 Million Deal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004: D1.

37 Pujols recorded his final assist in the last game of the season to break a tie with Bill Buckner, who had 184 for the 1985 Boston Red Sox.

38 Associated Press, “MLB Honours Pujols,” October 26, 2008.

39 In “Buddy Walk” games from 2002 to 2008, Pujols batted 10-for-24 with six homers and 11 RBIs, and the Cardinals had a 5-1 record. His record-tying 184th assist as a first baseman came in the 2009 game. Associated Press, “Another Memorable Day for Pujols and Buddies,” Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, September 9, 2008: 3B.

40 Associated Press, “MLB Honours Pujols.”

41 Bonds was denied the opportunity to win a fifth consecutive time due to a knee injury. He made his season debut on September 12 and hit .286 with five home runs and 10 RBIs in 14 games.

42 Reuters, “Pujols Ties Record,” Eurosports.com, April 18, 2006, https://www.eurosport.com/baseball-softball/mlb/2006/pujols-ties-record_sto869613/story.shtml.

43 https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/who-has-the-most-hr-in-a-season-in-the-month-of-april.

44 United Press International, “Albert Pujols Goes to the DL,” June 4, 2006, https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2006/06/04/Albert-Pujols-goes-to-the-DL/16161149458267/.

45 Phillies won 85 games, two more than St. Louis, but finished second in the NL East behind the New York Mets, who won 97 games.  “Pujols Apologizes Over MVP Remarks,” USA Today, December 4, 2006.

46 “Pujols feels his MVP message was lost in translation,” ESPN.com, December 4, 2006, https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2685770.

47 Ben Reiter, “Risky Business?”, Sports Illustrated, April 14, 2008, https://vault.si.com/vault/2008/04/14/baseball.

48 Pujols hit his 47th homer of the season on September 9 and did not homer in his final 79 at-bats but still edged Prince Fielder (46) and Howard (45).

49 ESPN.com, “Pujols to Have Elbow Procedure,” October 20, 2009, https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=4581000.

50  Ben Nicholson-Smith, “Cardinals Exercise Pujols’ 2011 Option,” MLB Trade Rumors, October 6, 2010, https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/10/cardinals-exercise-pujols-2011-option.html.

51 The second one came against Rodrigo López, against whom Pujols was 0-for-12 before the home run.

52  Grant Brisbee, “Albert Pujols to Be Activated From Disabled List,” SBNation.com, July 5, 2011, https://www.sbnation.com/2011/7/5/2259878/albert-pujols-injury-st-louis-cardinals-news.

53 Associated Press, “Albert Pujols Gets 2,000th Career Hit,” ESPN.com, July 29, 2011, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/6817681/cardinals-albert-pujols-doubles-2000th-career-hit.

54 Ruth did it twice (1926 and 1928). San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval later hit three in Game One against Detroit in 2012. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rb_ws2.shtml.

55 https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rb_ws2.shtml.

56 Tyler Kepner, “Pujols Leaves Behind Fractured Legacy in St. Louis,” New York Times, December 8, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/sports/baseball/in-st-louis-pujols-leaves-behind-a-statue-and-a-fractured-legacy.html.

57 “Deidre Pujols explains decision,” ESPN.com, December 12, 2011, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/7346376/albert-pujols-wife-deidre-explains-why-los-angeles-angels-slugger-left-st-louis-cardinals.

58 Pujols had 51 doubles with the Cardinals in both 2003 and 2004. Miguel Cabrera later accomplished this feat with Florida (2006) and Detroit (2014).

59 David Leon Moore, “Plantar fasciitis knocking top athletes off their feet,” USA Today; August 20, 2013; https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2013/08/20/albert-pujols-plantar-fascitis/2679445/.

60 Dan Caesar, “Clark Accuses Pujols of Steroid Abuse,” Stltoday.com, August 9, 2013, https://www.stltoday.com/sports/professional/mlb/cardinals/media-views-clark-says-pujols-used-performance-enhancing-drug/article_9afc6d86-6a7f-5e49-b636-2f893df579a1.html.

61 Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels’ Albert Pujols Denies Taking PEDs, Says He Will Sue Jack Clark,” Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2013, https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp-0810-angels-pujols-20130810-story.html.

62 Tim Daniels, “Albert Pujols Drops Lawsuit Against Jack Clark over PED Accusations,” Bleacherreport.com, October 4, 2013, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1798501-albert-pujols-suing-jack-clark-over-ped-accusations.

63 Pujols was the first player to hit his 499th and 500th career homer in the same game.

64 Tied with Álex Rodríguez.

65 Pujols joined Aaron and Rodríguez as the only three players with 2,000 RBIs. RBIs became an official statistic in 1920; therefore, Ruth and Cap Anson, whose careers began before 1920 and had over 2,000 each, are not officially recognized as having over 2,000.

66 Ruth had 2,214 RBIs but is not officially on the career list because RBI was not an official stat until 1920, five years after his major-league debut.

67 Jenifer Langosch, “Pujols Receives Standing Ovation in Busch Return,” MLB.com; June 22, 2019, https://www.mlb.com/news/albert-pujols-makes-return-to-busch-stadium.

68 Mark Feinsand, “’Never a right time’ as Angels DFA Pujols,” MLB.com, May 6, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/albert-pujols-released-by-angels.

69  R.J. Anderson, “Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Dodgers Reach Agreement on Big-League Contract,” CBSSports.com, May 16, 2021, https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/albert-pujols-los-angeles-dodgers-reach-agreement-on-big-league-contract/. Pujols joined Tim Wallach (1996) and Shea Hillenbrand (2007) as the only players to homer for both the Angels and Dodgers in the same season.

70 Ryan Glasspiegel, “Albert Pujols Cites ‘Irreconcilable Differences’ in Divorce Filing,” New York Post, April 5, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/04/05/albert-pujols-irreconcilable-differences-in-divorce-from-wife/.

71 Adam Wainwright was the winning pitcher in this game. It was his 203rd victory with Yadier Molina as his catcher, making them the winningest battery in major-league history. John Denton, “Waino, Yadi Set Wins Record as Cards Erupt,” May 15, 2022, https://www.mlb.com/news/adam-wainwright-yadier-molina-set-battery-wins-record.

72 Jim Sergent and Gabe Lacques, “22 Historic Moments of the 2022 Baseball Season,” USA Today, October 6, 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2022/10/06/2022-mlb-records-judge-pujols-top-list/8122641001/.

73 Bob Nightengale, “Pujols Enjoying Retirement After 22-Year Career,” USA Today, February 23, 2023: 3C.

74 Nightengale.

75 Aashna, “MLB All-Star Albert Pujols and Nicole Fernandez Exchange Vows in a Fairytale Wedding,” Sportskeeda.com, February 3, 2023, https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-albert-pujols-ties-knot-nicole-fernandez-took-instagram-celebrate-big-day.

76 Reuters, “Albert Pujols Named Special Assistant to MLB Commissioner,” June 5, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story?id=37800354&_slug_=albert-pujols-named-special-assistant-mlb-commissioner.

77 Posnanski.

But Sheffield’s personality was as explosive as his bat, and he carried a large chip on his shoulder. He felt he was treated unfairly because he was a Black man, reacted emotionally to perceived slights, and did not hesitate to vent to the media. His outbursts often belittled management and sometimes teammates, creating distractions and disunity that led to stints with eight different teams. Writers described him as self-destructive, temperamental, mercurial, selfish, petulant, and duplicitous. Trouble seemed to follow him. He was arguably good enough to make the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but damaged his chances by using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Gary Antonian Sheffield was born November 18, 1968, and grew up in the Belmont Heights section of Tampa, Florida. His father was Marvin Johnson.3 His stepfather and mother were Harold and Betty Jones. (Sheffield’s last name came from Lindsay Sheffield, the man Betty planned to marry after being abandoned by Johnson. However, before the wedding could be held, Sheffield was shot dead attempting to rob a nightclub.) Betty’s little brother was former New York Mets pitching star Dwight Gooden. Gary and his uncle Dwight grew up together and Gooden, four years older, always had the physical advantage. Exposed to Gooden’s blazing fastball, Sheffield developed quickly as a hitter. Their competition, Sheffield said, “ignited a fire in me that would never go out.”4

Sheffield’s Belmont Heights Little League team, which included future major leaguer Derek Bell, advanced to the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series, where it lost to Taiwan.5 The following year Sheffield was expelled from the team when, after being benched for skipping a practice, he chased his coach with a bat, finally having to be held back by teammates.6

Sheffield described himself as a product of his environment.7 It was rough and so was he. In eighth grade, he made a schoolmate pay him every day, otherwise he would thrash the kid. “There was no reason to do it,” Sheffield said. “I just did it because I felt I could.”8 In case fists weren’t enough, he sometimes brought a gun to school.9 When he and his friends went to another neighborhood, Sheffield said, “We’d have to fight our way out … The games we played almost always ended with blood.”10

With Gooden already tearing up the National League, Sheffield thought he would follow in his uncle’s footsteps as a pitcher. At 16, the right-handed Sheffield struck out 21 batters in one game.11 In 1986, his senior year at Hillsborough High School, his ERA was 1.81. But Sheffield was an even better hitter, batting .500 with 14 home runs and 31 RBIs in 22 games.12 Consequently, he was named the Gatorade National (High School) Player of the Year.13

Sheffield hoped to play for the Braves, like his hero Hank Aaron.14 But in June, the Milwaukee Brewers chose Sheffield with the sixth overall pick of the amateur draft. Brewers vice president Al Goldis called Sheffield the best hitter he ever scouted.15

Seventeen years old and already the father of two, Sheffield was sent to the Brewers’ rookie-level team in Helena, Montana. He said the transition from his predominantly Black neighborhood to lily-white Helena made him feel as though he was “on the moon.”16 Nevertheless, he hit .365 with 15 homers and led the Pioneer League with 71 RBIs in 57 games.17

That December, Sheffield and Gooden were arrested after a late-night altercation with Tampa police. The police report stated that the two, driving separate cars, were pulled over for weaving recklessly. The encounter became physical and, while being handcuffed, Sheffield allegedly told the officer, “I’m going to kill you.”18 The ballplayers were charged with resisting arrest and battery of a police officer. Sheffield, by then an 18 year-old adult, pleaded no contest and was put on two years’ probation.19 He later claimed he and Gooden were targeted because they were driving fancy cars and that the charges were dropped.20

Sheffield excelled at all his minor-league stops. In 1987, he played the entire season with Single-A Stockton (California) and drove in 103 runs. He started the 1988 season at Double-A El Paso, hit .314 with 19 home runs in 77 games, and was named the Texas League’s Best Batting Prospect.21 Later that year, he advanced to Triple-A Denver, batted .344, cracked nine homers, and drove in 54 runs in 57 games.22 He was called up to the majors in September and started the Brewers’ final 23 games at shortstop.

As the 1989 season began, Sheffield was called the American League’s best prospect in 15 years and the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award.23 However, by mid-July, he was mired in a deep slump, led the Brewers in errors,24 and was sent back to Denver.25 While there, doctors discovered a broken bone in his foot.26 Sheffield had complained of discomfort since mid-May, but at the time it was diagnosed as a bone bruise.27 The misdiagnosis likely contributed to Sheffield’s poor performance and subsequent mistrust of the Milwaukee organization.

When Sheffield returned to the Brewers in September, he was displeased to find manager Tom Trebelhorn had installed Bill Spiers at shortstop and wanted Sheffield to play third base.28 “If they don’t need me to play shortstop, I’d rather go somewhere else,” Sheffield said. 29 Overall, he hit .247, with five homers and 32 RBIs in 95 games, and his predicted Rookie of the Year Award did not materialize.

Despite his complaints, the Brewers kept Sheffield at third base in 1990. On June 22, Sheffield’s .319 batting average led the Brewers, and he was on a 13-game hitting streak. But he still didn’t like playing third, and lobbied to return to shortstop, saying, “[Spiers is] a good player, but he’s not a Gary Sheffield-type player.”30 Trebelhorn’s response was, “Tough sh–.”31

Sheffield felt he was being mistreated, saying, “There was a lot of pressure put on me last season (1989). I felt some of it was because of racism.” He added, “Racism is everywhere. Some guys just hide it better than others.”32

Seeds of Sheffield’s perception of racism were sown by his grandfather, Dan Gooden, who told the five-year-old Sheffield about the hate mail Aaron received during his quest to break Babe Ruth’s career home run record. “Most white people are fine,” Gooden said, but others don’t want to see the record broken by a Black man. “They think the color of their skin entitles them to every honor [and] makes them superior.”33

Although Sheffield didn’t show much power, in 1990 he kept his batting average above .300 through late August before a slump reduced his final mark to .294 with an OPS34 of .771. An injured shoulder, which would plague his entire career, ended his season on September 12.

In early 1991, angry that Milwaukee had traded Dave Parker, Sheffield said, “[General Manager Harry Dalton] is ruining the team and will keep ruining it, because, as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t know too much about [baseball].” Brewers coach Don Baylor, who doubled as Sheffield’s counselor, was asked if they had discussed the grievances and replied, “I’m sick of talking to him about complaints.”35

Sheffield’s season was a washout due to a jammed left shoulder and irritated wrist tendon.36 He played only 32 games after April 30, the last on July 24. A month later, he underwent surgery to relieve an impingement in the shoulder. His final batting average was .194 and his OPS, .597.

On March 26, 1992, the Brewers traded Sheffield to the San Diego Padres along with Geoff Kellogg for Ricky Bones, Matt Mieske, and José Valentín. Afterward, Sheffield smiled and said, “It’s a load off my back. It’s what I’ve been wanting for … a long time.”37 He added, “The Brewers brought out the hate in me … I was a crazy man. I hated Dalton so much I wanted to hurt the man.” 38

He also admitted, “If the official scorer gave me an error, I didn’t think was an error, I’d say, ‘OK here’s a real error,’ and I’d throw the ball into the stands on purpose.” Sheffield asserted that Milwaukee’s management never wanted him to be the face of their franchise. “If I was white …,” Sheffield said, “I would have been the All-American guy.” 39

In San Diego, Sheffield was given a clean slate by Padres’ manager Greg Riddoch. After watching him play for two months, Riddoch said, “He’s been a godsend, an absolute gift from above.” 40

Indeed. Sheffield was named The Sporting News’s Player of the Year and nearly won the Triple Crown,41 leading the National League with a career-high batting average of .330 and finishing third in home runs (just two off the lead) and fifth in RBIs (just nine back). Sheffield also won The Sporting News’s National League Comeback Player of the Year Award and, for the first time, made the All-Star Team and won a Silver Slugger Award.

But after Sheffield’s great year, the Padres feared they would not be able to afford him when his contract expired at the end of the following season. Not wanting to lose him in free agency, they traded Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez to the Florida Marlins for two minor leaguers and future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman on June 24, 1993.

Although Sheffield had an above-average season, all his offensive statistics declined from 1992. Nevertheless, unlike the Padres, the Marlins were not afraid to give him a huge payday. In late September, they signed him to a four-year, $22.45 million contract, making him the highest-paid third baseman in baseball.

On December 5, 1993, around 3 a.m., Sheffield was arrested for driving 110 mph under the influence. He apologized to Marlins’ manager Rene Lachemann and General Manager Dave Dombrowski and began counseling with the team psychologist.42

After Sheffield led major-league third basemen with 34 errors in 1993,43 the Marlins moved him to right field in 1994. Except for a handful of games, he remained a corner outfielder the rest of his career. Despite playing only 87 games in ’94 due to his troublesome left shoulder and the players’ strike that shortened the season, Sheffield drove in 78 runs, a pace of 145 in 162 games.

The following year, Sheffield was again hampered by injury. On June 10, 1995, he tore a ligament in his left thumb. It was thought he would be out for the season.44 But he gamely returned and hit .343 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs in September. Although he played just 63 games overall, he excelled, batting .324 with a 1.054 OPS.

Between the early parts of 1995 and 1996, Sheffield was beset by a series of disturbing events. First, he was told a former girlfriend was plotting to kill his mother.45 Then, he was pulled off the team plane by sheriff’s deputies after they received a tip that he was carrying illegal drugs.46 Next, while stopped at a red light in Tampa, an unknown man fired a shot at Sheffield which grazed his shoulder. 47 Last, he was slapped with a restraining order after the mother of one of his children (before marrying, he had four, with four women) received a threatening phone call from a man claiming to be Sheffield. On her driveway, she found a menacing note with two bullets on top.48

Sheffield was never shown to be at fault in any of those incidents, and no drugs were found on him on the team plane. Even so, the Marlins brought in Major League Baseball security to investigate and had Sheffield undergo a psychiatric evaluation. 49 Shortly thereafter, he hired a public relations firm to help transform his image.50

Sheffield gave generously to the Miami community. He sponsored Sheff’s Kitchen, a program that provided free tickets to all Marlins home games and autographs for 25 underprivileged kids.51 He also donated $200 for every home run and $100 for every double and triple to the Florida RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program. Most philanthropic of all, he paid $100,000 for a man’s liver transplant.52

Sheffield started the 1996 season by tying the then-major-league record53 with 11 home runs in April54 and continued his hot hitting throughout the summer. Injury-free, he played a career-high 161 games, and led the NL in OBP (on-base percentage55) (.465), OPS (1.090), and OPS+56 (189) – all of which would remain career highs.57 His 42 homers ranked second, and – exemplifying the fear that Sheffield struck in opposing pitchers – he was walked 142 times (19 intentional), the second-most in the major leagues in the 27 seasons since 1969.58

However, after Dombrowski told him he would be traded if ownership decided to play younger players, on August 16 Sheffield let loose with what was described as his “longest and most vicious tirade of the season.” He called Dombrowski a liar and criticized his ability, saying, “This team is not set up to [win the division],” a statement denouncing not only the GM, but also Sheffield’s own teammates. Dombrowski said, “I knew he wouldn’t be happy [if the youth movement happened], because I understand he wants to be with a winner. I didn’t say we were going to trade him. I said if … I felt like I was doing him a favor [by letting him know].”59

But rather than go with young players in 1997, the Marlins did the opposite. In an effort to boost declining attendance, Miami committed nearly $100 million to six free agents including Alex Fernandez, Moisés Alou, and Bobby Bonilla. 60 They even added two-time Manager of the Year, Jim Leyland.

Through June 1, Sheffield’s slugging percentage was just .386, but from then until the end of the season, he slugged .471 with an .889 OPS, not as impressive as usual, but enough to give the Marlins a boost. The team finished with the NL’s second-best record, 92-70, and earned a wild-card playoff spot.

The Marlins swept San Francisco in the Division Series, and defeated Atlanta in the NLCS, four games to two. Against Cleveland, Florida won the World Series on Edgar Renteria’s two-out single in the 11th inning of the seventh game. In Game Three, Sheffield led the Marlins to a 14-11 victory, as he went 3-for-5 with a double, homer, and five RBIs, and robbed Jim Thome of an extra-base hit with a leaping catch at the wall to preserve a seventh-inning tie. Sheffield’s cumulative postseason slash line was .321/.521/.540/1.061,61 with 20 walks in 71 plate appearances.

Although the Marlins’ attendance increased by about 35 percent in 1997, to 2.4 million fans, the team still failed to turn a profit. With ownership claiming to need to cut salary by more than half, the franchise broke up its championship roster, trading most of its top players. On April 19, 1998, Sheffield, still with the team, told ESPN he felt betrayed, was having a hard time staying motivated, and was embarrassed by the Marlins’ poor performance.62 It was apparently the last straw for Marlins’ brass.

On May 14, Sheffield was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with Manuel Barrios, Jim Eisenreich, Bonilla, and Charles Johnson for future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile. To coax Sheffield to waive his no-trade clause, the Dodgers paid him $5 million.63

Sheffield was voted to the All-Star team but said he would skip the game because he missed his family in Florida. “My kids have been … calling me all the time,” he said. “It’s making me homesick, and I need to see their faces.”64 Fearing the organization would look bad if Sheffield didn’t show up, the Dodgers reportedly paid for his family to attend.65

On June 28, Sheffield fought with Pirates catcher Jason Kendall when Kendall thought Sheffield had maliciously knocked his helmet off during a play at the plate. Sheffield said the contact was unintentional. Both players were ejected and later suspended for three games.66

Though Sheffield’s home run and RBI totals were not gaudy, he exceeded the benchmarks of .300 BA (.302), .400 OBA (.428), and .500 SLG (.524), an achievement indicating all-around excellent batting performance. In his career, he accomplished this triad seven times.

In 1999, Sheffield became the first L.A. Dodger to exceed a .300 batting average with at least 30 homers, and 100 walks, RBIs, and runs scored in a season.67 The only Brooklyn Dodger to do it was Duke Snider in 1955.

When Sheffield duplicated the feat in 2000, his career-high 43 homers tied Snider’s 1956 franchise record.68 Sheffield finished second in the NL with a 176 OPS+ and ninth in MVP voting.

On February 5, 2000, Sheffield married gospel singer DeLeon Richards, who had been the youngest person ever nominated for a Grammy,69 for an album she recorded when she was just seven years old.70 As of 2023, the couple remained married and had three children together.71

In February 2001, the Dodgers said Sheffield demanded to be traded or given a lifetime contract extension. Sheffield denied it, called the team’s brass “liars,” and said club chairman Bob Daly bungled the situation and had “set out to bury” Sheffield.”72 Sheffield threatened to boycott spring training and implied that – if forced to play for the Dodgers – he would give less than full effort. “If they keep me, I will play,” he said, “but I don’t want to hit one more home run for the Dodgers.” 73

Sheffield played, and hit home runs, 36 of them, but he remained irritated because he believed the Dodgers had given bigger contracts to less-worthy players. The focus of his animosity was Shawn Green, who made $2 million more annually. He fumed when Green broke his single-season Dodgers home run record, grumbled when he batted behind Green in the lineup, and the two nearly came to blows when Sheffield thought Green didn’t try hard enough to score on a hit that would have gotten Sheffield closer to his 100th RBI.74

On New Year’s Day 2002, Sheffield said, “I don’t want to be with an organization that constantly tells me one thing and then does another.”75 Nor did the Dodgers want to endure another season of turmoil. On January 15, L.A. accommodated Sheffield by trading him to the Atlanta Braves for Brian Jordan, Odalis Pérez, and Andrew Brown.

After the trade, former teammate Paul Lo Duca revealed that Sheffield’s feud with management had caused internal trouble. Lo Duca said, “It set a tone for the entire season, and I think a lot of guys walked lightly around Gary. That’s something you don’t want in a clubhouse.”76 Nevertheless, through 2022, Sheffield held Dodgers career records for OBP (.424), slugging (.573), and OPS (.998).77

During the 2001-2002 offseason, Sheffield spent two months at Barry Bonds’s home, where the two worked out daily.78 Fresh off his record-setting, 73-homer season, Bonds introduced Sheffield to his new diet and training regimens. 79

Although Sheffield’s homer and RBI totals declined in 2002 because he missed games due to injuries, his batting average and OPS were typically excellent. The Braves moved into first place in the NL East on May 28 and never left, building a 19½ game lead by August 15 and winning the most games in the NL. Despite that, they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the playoffs. Sheffield went 1-for-16 but drew seven walks and hit a home run.

In 2003 Sheffield, age 34, had his best season. He attained career highs in runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, and total bases, batted over .300 for the sixth year in a row, and his OBP exceeded .400 for the ninth consecutive season. He finished third in NL MVP voting, made his seventh All-Star team, and won his third Silver Slugger Award.

The Braves again won the NL East in a runaway (their ninth straight NL East title) and again won the most games in the National League. But again, they lost in the NLDS, this time to the Chicago Cubs. Sheffield contributed just two singles and one RBI in 14 at bats.

An investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) – a company suspected of selling illegal steroids to athletes – had begun that summer. Sheffield’s name appeared in BALCO’s records, and in December, he and Bonds were called to testify before a grand jury.

Afterward, Sheffield denied taking PEDs, saying he hadn’t put on a pound since he was a rookie.80 “Anybody that wants to say I (should) take the challenge of taking a test,” Sheffield said, “I’ll be the first guy up there and I won’t back down.”81 However, when Newsday reporter Jon Heyman set up a drug test, Sheffield did back down, saying, “Talk to the Players Association.”82

In October 2003, Sheffield admitted he used a BALCO-supplied topical ointment (known as “the cream”) to heal scars on his leg and was shocked to find out it was a testosterone-based steroid. 83 But Sheffield’s name appeared on a drug calendar kept by BALCO trainer Greg Anderson, which suggested Sheffield used not only the cream, but also human growth hormone and injectable testosterone.84

The cost-cutting Braves, coming off an eighth consecutive playoff failure, offered free agent Sheffield $10 million for 2004, a decrease from his $11.4 million salary the previous year.85 Instead, negotiating without an agent, Sheffield got a better deal from the New York Yankees, a reported $39 million over three years, despite the BALCO reports.

Over Sheffield’s 12 NL seasons (1992-2003), he produced the league’s second-highest OPS+ (156), trailing Bonds’ 200, but better than future Hall-of-Famers Jeff Bagwell, Larry Walker, Chipper Jones, and Piazza.

Despite a shoulder injury that caused “unbearable” 86 pain and later required surgery, Sheffield was terrific in 2004. He hit 36 home runs, led the Yankees in RBIs (121), runs scored (117), and OPS+ (141), and finished second to Vladimir Guerrero in American League MVP voting.

New York won the most games in the AL and defeated the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series. But the Yankees famously lost the ALCS to the Red Sox after leading three games to none. Sheffield batted .333 with a homer and seven walks in that series, but after a torrid 9-for-13 with five RBIs in the Yankees’ three wins, he (along with several teammates) disappeared in the four subsequent losses, a single his only hit in 17 at-bats.

Sheffield turned in another fine year in 2005, producing batting statistics remarkably similar to 2004. For the third consecutive season – and final time in his career – he exceeded 30 home runs and 120 RBIs, finished in the top eight in MVP voting, made the All-Star team, and won a Silver Slugger Award.

A midsummer magazine article quoted Sheffield as saying, “I know who the leader is on the team. I know who the opposing team comes in knowing they have to defend to stop the Yankees. The [fans] don’t know. Why? The media don’t want them to know. They want to promote two players in a positive light, and everyone else is garbage.”87 It was widely assumed the two players were Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Initially, Sheffield claimed the writer “lied.”88 Later he recanted saying, “If that’s what I said, that’s what I said.”89

In 2006, Sheffield had a great start, batting .341 with 18 RBIs in the first 22 games. But he injured his left wrist, underwent surgery, and appeared in just 39 contests. 90 The Yankees led the AL with 97 victories, and won the first game of the ALDS against the Tigers. But Detroit swept the next three, eliminating New York in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season — following being knocked out in five games by the Angels of Anaheim in 2005. Sheffield returned to action for the playoffs but mustered just a single in 12 at bats.

That off-season, the Yankees sought to trade Sheffield against his wishes. As he had before, he tried to sabotage the effort, announcing that any team trading for him would be getting an unhappy player. The ploy did not work, and he was dealt to the Tigers for minor-leaguers Anthony Claggett, Humberto Sánchez, and Kevin Whelan. Sheffield later said he was glad to rejoin former Marlins colleagues Leyland and Dombrowski in Detroit.91

Sheffield remained an above-average offensive player (cumulative 109 OPS+) his final three seasons, two with the Tigers and his last, with the Mets, with whom he hit his 500th career homer on April 17, 2009.

Sheffield was a unique player, one of just seven to amass at least 500 home runs, 1,500 runs scored, 1,500 RBIs, and 200 stolen bases.92 A good contact hitter who rarely swung at pitches outside the strike zone, he also walked more than he struck out. Only three players in baseball history meet each of the five preceding criteria: Sheffield, Bonds, and Aaron.

Setting aside his link to PEDs, Sheffield’s career totals justify him as a serious candidate for the Hall of Fame. As of 2023, his career totals in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, and walks all ranked in the top 40 all-time. His 140 OPS+ was better than Hall-of-Fame right fielders Al Kaline (134) and Roberto Clemente (130). But, unlike them, Sheffield was a defensive liability. In 15 of the 16 seasons in which he played at least 50 games, advanced statistics rated him a below-average fielder.93 However, even after taking defense into account – as wins above replacement (WAR)94 does – Sheffield compares favorably. Of the 28 right fielders in the Hall, Sheffield’s 61 WAR ranked 15th, smack in the middle, behind Dave Winfield (64) and ahead of Guerrero (60).95

After retiring, Sheffield returned to Tampa and worked as an agent for baseball players. From 2013 through 2020, Sheffield was a studio analyst for TBS. After retiring from the role, he admitted he no longer watched baseball, and stated that while at TBS, “I never watched the games during the season. I would get educated on it when I got there.”96

Sheffield received between 11 and 14 percent of votes in his first five years on the Hall of Fame ballot. He jumped to 31 percent in 2020, 41 percent in 2021 and 2022, and 55 percent in 2023, still short of the 75 percent required for induction. The 2024 ballot will be his 10th and final chance to be voted in by the baseball writers, although the various veterans committees could later vote him in.

In an interview in January 2023, Sheffield stated he believed he should be elected to Cooperstown, saying: “I grew up in an era where they say there are the benchmarks, once you hit the benchmarks [like 500 home runs] that’s … it. All the things people want to put into play … It’s good to get all the facts straight and if you get the facts straight, you’ll see a lot of things you’re saying [about alleged steroid use] are not true. There’s always hope.”97

Last revised: August 9, 2023

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Malcolm Allen and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Steve Ferenchick.

Photo credits: Trading Card DB.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 Bob Nightengale, “A Dugout from Hell,” Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1992: C4.

2 Michelle Genz, “Gary Sheffield: The Bat Man,” Miami Herald, June 1, 1997: 9A.

3 Gary Sheffield and David Ritz, Inside Power, (New York, New York: Crown Publishers, 2007), 154.

4 Gary Sheffield, “Where I’m Coming From,” The Players’ Tribune, July 15, 2016. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/gary-sheffield-where-im-coming-from

5 Chris De Luca, “Hard Knocks,” Times-Advocate (Escondido, California), March 21, 1993: C1.

6 Sheffield, “Where I’m Coming From.”

7 Sheffield, “Where I’m Coming From.”

8 De Luca, “Hard Knocks.”

9 Scott Tolley, “Trouble Plagues Marlins Star,” Palm Beach Post, March 24, 1996: 1A.

10 Sheffield, “Where I’m Coming From.”

11 “Notes & Quotes,” Tampa Bay Times, September 2, 1984: 4C.

12 Bob Nightengale, “No More Trouble Brewing,” Los Angeles Times, March 29, 1992: C3.

13 https://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/winner/gary-sheffield/20847.

14 Sheffield, Inside Power, 43.

15 Nightengale, “No More Trouble Brewing.”

16 Sheffield, Inside Power, 59.

17 Sheffield, Inside Power, 154.

18 Joey Johnston, “Tampa Police Arrest Mets Pitcher Gooden,” Tampa Tribune, December 15, 1986: 1A.

19 Nightengale, “A Dugout from Hell.”

20 Sheffield, Inside Power, 52.

21 1989 Score Gary Sheffield Rookie Card #625.

22 1989 Fleer #196 Gary Sheffield Baseball Card.

23 Andy Baggot, “Unhappy Sheffield Unloads,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin), May 27, 1989: 1B.

24 Staff, “Sheffield Fires at Brewers,” Wisconsin State Journal, July 18, 1989: 1D.

25 AP, “Sour Notes Spoil Sheffield’s Tune,” La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wisconsin), July 16, 1989: B-1.

26 AP, “Sheffield Returns as Third Baseman; Molitor at Second,” Capital Times, July 18, 1989: 16.

27 Andy Baggot, “Sheffield Break May Be Old One,” Wisconsin State Journal, September 16, 1989: 3B.

28 AP, “Sheffield Questions Future,” Chippewa Herald-Telegram (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin), September 20, 1989: 1B.

29 Andy Baggot, “Take My Advice,” Wisconsin State Journal, September 20, 1989: 1B.

30 Andy Baggot, “Sheffield Erupts Again,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin), July 20, 1990: 1C.

31 Gregg Hoffmann, “Sheffield Checks Out in Confusion,” Kenosha News, September 27, 1990: 21.

32 Gregg Hoffmann, “Baylor Helped Sheffield Adjust,” Kenosha News, July 29, 1990: D5.

33 Sheffield, Inside Power, 16.

34 OPS is short for On-base percentage Plus Slugging percentage (OBP+SLG). It has become popular because it correlates well with team runs scored and is easy to calculate. https://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~bvollmay/baseball/runs1.html

35 Gregg Hoffmann, “Sheffield Stirs Resentment,” Kenosha News, April 6, 1991: 19.

36 Andy Baggot, “Sheffield Tries to Hit, Encounters Pain in Arm,” Wisconsin State Journal, May 26, 1991: 6E.

37 AP, “Brewers Roll the Bones, Trade Sheffield,” Sheboygan Press, March 28, 1992: 11.

38 Nightengale, “A Dugout from Hell.”

39 Nightengale, “A Dugout from Hell.”

40 Nightengale, “A Dugout from Hell.”

41 Bob Nightengale, “Sheffield Honored by TSN,” Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1992: C2.

42 Amy Niedzielka, “Sheffield Apologizes, Seeks Help,” Miami Herald, December 9, 1993: 2D.

43 Amy Niedzielka, “Money Can’t Buy Gary Glove,” Miami Herald, October 1, 1993: 1D.

44 Dave Sheinin, “Sheffield Out for Season,” Miami Herald, June 12, 1995: 6D.

45 Ken Rodriguez, “Sheffield’s Ex-Girlfriend: Plot on his Mom ‘A Hoax’,” Miami Herald, February 19, 1995: 11C.

46 Gordon Edes, “FBI, League Investigating Sheffield Incident,” News Press (Fort Myers, Florida), January 8, 1996: 6B.

47 Bill Chastain, “Sheffield Thankful to Be Alive,” Tampa Tribune, November 1, 1995: Sports-3.

48 Edes, “FBI, League Investigating Sheffield Incident.”

49 Tolley, “Trouble Plagues Marlins Star.”

50 Gordon Edes, “Sheff Concocts Image Makeover,” South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), April 4, 1996: 1C.

51 Evan Grant, “Shades of Sheffield,” Florida Today (Cocoa, Florida), March 12, 1996: 1C.

52 Mike Phillips, “Bright Future, Troubled Past,” Miami Herald, April 30, 1995: 12B.

53 The record of 11 in April previously held by Sheffield and Mike Schmidt (1976) has since been shattered and stands at 14 as of 2023, held by Albert Pujols (2006), Alex Rodriguez (2007), Cody Bellinger (2019) and Christian Yelich (also 2019).

54 Phillips, “Bright Future, Troubled Past.”

55 Also known as on-base average. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-base_percentage

56 OPS+ is defined by baseball-reference.com as 100*(OBP/league OBP + SLG/league SLG -1) adjusted to the player’s ballpark. It is NOT 100 times the ratio of a player’s OPS to league OPS (100*OPS/league OPS). OPS+ is a more meaningful statistic than OPS because it correlates well to run production for players with a similar number of plate appearances and it shows how much the player is above-average (an OPS+ of 150 is 50 percent above average). It also penalizes the player whose home park helps run scoring, and vice versa. For example, this is why Larry Walker’s career OBP and SLG (.400 and .565) are both higher than Sheffield’s (.393 and .514), yet Walker (who played nine seasons at Coors Field) and Sheffield have nearly the same career OPS+ (Walker, 141 and Sheffield, 140).

57 For seasons in which he qualified for the batting title.

58 Bonds walked 151 times, also in 1996.

59 Mike Phillips, “Sheffield Tirade Rips Dombrowski,” Miami Herald, August 17, 1996: 12C.

60 AP, “Sheffield Gets Biggest Bucks,” Tampa Bay Times, April 3, 1997: 5C.

61 A batter’s slash line gives batting average (BA)/on-base percentage (OBP)/slugging percentage (SLG)/ and sometimes OPS (OBP+SLG).

62 David O’Brien, “Sheffield Stands by Betrayal Statements,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, April 19, 1998: 10C.

63 Jason Reid, “Sheffield Is Officially on the Block,” Los Angeles Times, February 19, 2001: D1.

64 Staff, “Sheffield Recants, Accepts His All-Star Assignment,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1998: C8.

65 Ross Newhan, “Dodgers Need to Find Answers,” Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1999: B1.

66 Jim Hodges, “After Brawl, Dodgers Not So Sure What Hit Them,” Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1998: C1.

67 Jason Reid, “Sheffield Discovers a New Motivation,” Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2000: D14.

68 Sheffield’s share of the team record lasted just one year, as Shawn Green set a new record (still standing through 2022) with 49 home runs in 2001.

69 https://www.grammy.com/artists/deleon-richards/13725.

70 Susan Taylor-Martin, “No More Trouble Brewing,” Tampa Bay Times, December 7, 2017: C3.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/Tampa-Realtor-wife-of-baseball-s-Gary-Sheffield-stars-in-not-quite-real-reality-TV-show_163300485/

71 Sheffield, Inside Power, 221.

72 Jason Reid, “Sheffield Says Daly Is One to Blame,” Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2001: D1.

73 Reid, “Sheffield Says Daly Is One to Blame.”

74 Bill Plaschke, “Last Word Belongs to Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2002: D1.

75 Jason Reid, “Sheffield Claims Dodgers, Evans Have Misled Him,” Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2002: D1.

76 Thomas Stinson, “Sheffield’s Best Might Be Ahead,” Atlanta Constitution, March 31, 2002: P1.

77 Among Dodgers with 2,000 or more plate appearances.

78 Tim Tucker, “Bonds Helps Sheffield Keep His Eye on the Prize,” Atlanta Constitution, April 7, 2002: E2.

79 Stinson, “Sheffield’s Best Might Be Ahead.”

80 Thomas Stinson, “High Profile,” Atlanta Constitution, March 9, 2004: C1.

81 Sam Borden, “Ready for Tests and Any Challenge,” Daily News, February 20, 2003: 85.

82 Mike Penner, “Steroid Use is Putting Pro Leagues to the Test,” Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2004: D2.

83 Ken Davidoff, “Sheff’s Bombshell,” Newsday (New York, New York), October 5, 2004: 72

84 Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, Game of Shadows, (New York, New York: Gotham Books, 2006), 130,131.

85 Stinson, “High Profile.”

86 Jim Baumbach, “Sheffield Gets Good News on Aching Shoulder,” Newsday, August 19, 2004: 74.

87 Stephen Rodrick, “Gary Sheffield is the Yankees’ MVP,” New York Magazine, August 3, 2005.

https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/12398/

88 Sam Borden, “Sheffield Claims Mag Writer ‘Lied’,” Daily News, August 6, 2005: 47.

89 Wallace Matthews, “When Sheff Stirs Pot, Anger Bubbles Over,” Newsday, August 10, 2005: 74.

90 Anthony Rieber, “Slumping Rodriguez Hears Jeers,” Newsday, June 14, 2006: 61.

91 Sheffield, Inside Power, 225.

92 The other 6 players in baseball history through 2022 with such numbers are Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Alex Rodriguez.

93 https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheffga01.shtml (Standard Defense Table, Rtot column).

94 WAR measures a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a player just good enough to play in the majors. Piper Slowinski, “What Is WAR,” February 15, 2010.

https://library.fangraphs.com/misc/war/

95 Three right fielders, Dwight Evans (67), Reggie Smith (65), and Shoeless Joe Jackson accumulated more WAR than Sheffield, but are not yet enshrined.

96 Kyle Koster, “Is It Too Much to Ask That Studio Analysts Watch the Sport They’re Analyzing?”, The Big Lead, April 22, 2021. https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/gary-sheffield-tbs-didnt-watch-baseball-01f3x47b59yb

97 Tom D’Angelo, “Gary Sheffield says he belongs in Baseball Hall of Fame: ‘It’s good to get all the facts straight’,” Palm Beach Post, January 31, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/01/31/gary-sheffield-derek-jeter-speak-out-hall-fame-voting-process/11155312002/

What is fame? “I’m not too sure but I’ll know it when I see it!” That sounds like something that may have been said or attributed to Yogi Berra, but when a person has a presence, be it on the ball field, at the television studio, or in any room he enters, and if his short, four-letter hyphenated nickname is all that is needed to identify him, and only him, A-Rod has fame. His celebrity, much like that of Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, and Tiger Woods, has transcended sport.

The mention of Alex Rodríguez conjures up images favorable and unfavorable. For almost three decades, his image has been in the public eye, often for all the wrong reasons. In an era of “you love him or you hate him” personalities, there are times when he seems to be the most loved, and others when he is the most vilified. His record-high salary in 2001 at the age of 25 was the envy of many, but his 156 home runs over the next three seasons seemed to validate all that money. Eight years later, in 2009, he was at the center of a scandal, largely of his own making.

Propelled into the national spotlight during his senior year of high school at the age of 17, Alex Rodríguez was destined for a baseball life that would make him one of the premier players in the game for two decades. With that spotlight would come a scrutiny that would entangle him in controversy for the final years of his baseball career, and beyond, as his name would be linked to the steroid abuse that regrettably defined the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Never lacking in confidence, he confronted each situation from gunning out runners with a rifle arm to using his sweeping swing to hit 696 home runs during a major-league career that extended, with a very public interruption, from 1994 through 2016.

Alexander Enmanuel Rodríguez was born on July 27, 1975, in New York City. His parents, Victor and Lourdes (Navarro) Rodríguez, were Dominican immigrants who lived in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. They owned a shoe store in the neighborhood. The business was run by his father, and his mother worked in a GM assembly plant just north of New York City.

Alex’s father had been married previously, from 1955 until 1961, and in 1960, Victor and his wife, Pouppe Martinez, had a son named Victor Rodríguez Jr. Alex did not get to know his older brother when he was growing up, as Victor, who was raised by his mother, joined the Marines when Alex was three years old. In 2003, Victor, by then a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, reunited with Alex.2

Alex was raised along with a half-brother and half-sister, Joe and Suzy Dunand, children from his mother’s first marriage. When Alex was four years old his parents moved back to the Dominican Republic. The family owned a pharmacy there for several years, during which they enrolled Alex at an Americanized school in Santo Domingo. They struggled to make the business successful but eventually it failed.

The family moved back to the United States and settled in Miami when Alex was nine. Shortly after their return, his father left the family. In a 1998 interview, Rodríguez said, “From talking with Mom, I found out that Miami wasn’t fast-paced enough for Dad, that he wanted to go back to New York and Mom didn’t. They talked but couldn’t agree. So, he split.”3

Alex’s mother raised the three children by herself. She worked two jobs to provide for the family. She eventually owned two businesses, an immigration office and a Latin American restaurant. Rodríguez later said that his mother’s work ethic made a big impression on him. “My mom is hard-working and smart. She is also a good businesswoman. I wanted to give her $10,000 once to go away on a great vacation to rest, so as to thank her for all she had done for us. She said she would invest the money instead.”4

Although Alex was born in New York and his early education came at an Americanized school in the Dominican Republic, Spanish was spoken at home, and his English comprehension was at a level below that of his classmates when he entered school in the United States.5 But his mastery of the language of baseball opened doors as he overcame the absence of a father and eventually acquired the skills to effectively communicate with the American audience.

His interest in baseball started on the streets of Santo Domingo and fully developed after he met Juan Diego Arteaga, who coached a youth-league team at Alex’s elementary school in Miami. Arteaga invited Alex to join his team when they were short a player, and Arteaga, who also coached his son J.D. Jr., on the team, ended up being a second father to Rodríguez.

“[Arteaga] didn’t really have a preference for one boy over the other, he treated them both as equals and rode them pretty hard. That’s why they were so disciplined,” said Juan Pascual, another coach in the league. Arteaga took Alex to school with his son, enrolled him on travel teams and tournaments, and even had him eat with his family when Alex’s mother was working. “I’m telling you that without J.D. Arteaga, there would have been no Alex Rodríguez,” said Pascual.6

Rodríguez started high school at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami but thanks to Arteaga, he earned a scholarship to Westminster Christian School in Miami after his freshman year. He played shortstop on the baseball team and quarterback on the football team for the next three years.

Rodríguez thrived at Westminster, becoming one of the best high-school players in the country. “By his junior year, I was predicting big-league success for him and first-round draft status before most people did,” said his coach, Rich Hofman.7 Rodríguez batted .505 with 9 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases in 1993, his senior year. He was American Family Insurance ALL-USA High School Baseball Player of the Year that year as well.

Rodríguez had committed to attending the University of Miami. Shortly after his high-school graduation, the Seattle Mariners made him the first pick in the first round of the June 1993 amateur draft. On the eve of his first university class, Rodríguez signed a professional contract with the Mariners. He received a $1 million signing bonus and a three-year, $1.3 million contract.

Taking a leading role in the negotiations (along with agent Scott Boras) with the Mariners was Alex’s sister, Suzy Durand-Silva, who had become an attorney.

“We think he’s a special player. The last time we had the No. 1, we got a very special player in Ken Griffey Jr. We’re not trying to put pressure on Alex, but we feel he deserved to be the top pick,” said Mariners President Chuck Armstrong.8

Rodríguez quickly moved up the minor-league ladder of the Mariners organization, advancing from Class A to the majors in a matter of months. He started the 1994 season with the Appleton Foxes of the Class A Midwest League. He hit .319 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs in 65 games there. After playing 17 games with the Double-A Jacksonville Suns, he was called up to the Mariners in July.

Rodríguez made his major-league debut, batting ninth, at Boston on July 8, 1994, just three weeks before his 19th birthday. He became the youngest position player to start since 18-year-old Brian Milner took the field for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1978. After batting just .204 in 17 games, Rodríguez was sent back down at the end of July, and he spent the rest of the season with the Triple-A Calgary Cannons (Pacific Coast League). The demotion proved fortuitous as the major-league players went out on strike on August 12. In 32 games with Calgary, Rodríguez regained his hitting stride, finishing with a .311 batting average while stroking seven doubles and six home runs.

Rodríguez split time between the Mariners and the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers (PCL) in 1995. He spent the first month of the season with Tacoma and was there for another stint in August, batting .360 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs for the year in Triple A. He told a Tacoma sportswriter that he “was still trying to find my stroke. I know it’s going to take some time, but it’s something I’m always working on.” He went on to say that “Any time you’re up here, you feel a little more comfortable.”9 Rodríguez ended up getting into 48 games with the Mariners that season, batting .232 with 5 home runs and 19 RBIs. The first of his 696 big-league homers came on June 12 against Tom Gordon of the Kansas City Royals in a 10-9 Seattle loss at the Kingdome.

The Mariners made Rodríguez their everyday shortstop in 1996, the year in which he began to be called A-Rod. Per author Selena Roberts, during the spring of 1996, Rodríguez took to writing “A-ROD” on his equipment bag and before long teammates and media personalities were using the term,10 arguably one of the most recognized nicknames in big-league history.

When told of his being named the everyday shortstop, he said, “It’s time. There is no doubt in my mind that I’m ready. None whatsoever. I can bring the team good defense, energy, speed, and some power.”11 Rodríguez had an outstanding 1996 season, finishing with a league-best .358 batting average. It made him, at 21, the third youngest batting leader behind Al Kaline in 1955 and Ty Cobb in 1907, who were each 20 when they won their titles.

Rodríguez was selected for his first All-Star Game that year and entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, he went into the game at shortstop, replacing Cal Ripken Jr. When the season ended, he had set major-league records for a shortstop in runs scored (a league-leading 141), hits (215), and extra-base hits (91). Rodríguez finished second in the balloting for the MVP award, just three points behind Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers. When asked about the results, Rodríguez said, “How can I be considered the MVP of the league when I’m not even the MVP in this room?” — a reference to his teammate Ken Griffey Jr. who finished fourth in the voting.12

In 1997 Rodríguez’s productivity was affected when he suffered a rib injury. On June 11 he collided with the Red Sox’ Roger Clemens at home plate, spent two weeks on the disabled list, and was hampered for the balance of the season. He had been batting .320 through his team’s first 63 games, including a game in Detroit on June 5 when he hit for the cycle. After returning, he batted .283 for the balance of the season. While he batted .300 for the season with 29 homers and 84 RBIs, the numbers were well below expectations.

Over the next three years, Rodríguez resumed his record-setting pace with the Mariners. He became the third major leaguer to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season when he homered against Jack McDowell of the Anaheim Angels on September 19, 1998. That season, his only 40/40 campaign, he batted .310 with 42 homers, 124 RBIs, and 46 stolen bases, while playing in all of his team’s games, but the Mariners, despite a wealth of offensive talent, finished in third place in the AL West with a 76-85 record. The team finished below .500 again in 1999, but Rodríguez continued to flourish, batting .285 with 42 homers and 111 RBIs, and receiving his third Silver Slugger award. The Mariners, who moved into Safeco Field on July 15 of that season, finished third again, at 79-83. Rodríguez went on to eclipse the 40-homer mark in each season through 2003.

After Seattle traded Griffey to Cincinnati before the 2000 season, Rodríguez became the team leader. Scott Boras, his agent, said, “This begins the Alex Rodríguez era there. He’s going to be called upon to do a great deal more than his personal performance. Alex wants to bring a team attitude to the Mariners.”13 Rodríguez had another successful season, becoming the first shortstop to record at least 100 RBIs, 100 runs scored, and 100 walks in the same season. His 41 homers gave him three straight seasons at the 40-homer plateau and were a major factor in Seattle’s improving to 91-71. Their record secured them a second-place division finish and a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

In the three-game sweep over the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series, Rodríguez batted .308 (4-for-13) with two RBIs.

Rodríguez led his team in the Championship Series, batting .409 with two home runs and five RBIs, but the Mariners lost to the Yankees in six games. He finished third in the voting for the American League MVP.

When Rodríguez became a free agent after the 2000 season, his services were sought by several teams. He eventually signed the largest contract ever given to a professional athlete, $252 million over 10 years, to play with the Texas Rangers. Rangers owner Tom Hicks was quoted as saying that he “‘fell in love’ with Rodríguez and told Rodríguez’s agent that he would do whatever was necessary to sign him.”14

With the Rangers in 2001, Rodríguez had one of his best seasons. He played in all of his team’s games, hitting 52 home runs, scoring 133 runs, and amassing 393 total bases, each the best in the American League. He pounded a career-high 57 home runs in 2002 to again lead the league, and his 142 RBIs and 389 total bases were also the best in the league. Rodríguez won his first Gold Glove that year. His .987 fielding percentage was the highest of his career to that point.

Rodríguez married Cynthia Scurtis in 2002. They had two children, Natasha, born on November 18, 2004, and Ella, born on April 21, 2008. In July 2008, Cynthia filed for divorce in a highly publicized proceeding that focused on Alex’s infidelity.

Rodríguez earned his first MVP award in 2003. His 47 home runs were the best in the American League for the third consecutive year. Rodríguez also led the league in runs scored (124) and slugging percentage (.600). Despite his success at the plate, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs in each of A-Rod’s three years with the team, finishing below .500 in each season. And there was “an elephant” in the clubhouse. The identification of that problem, years later, would overshadow A-Rod’s success. It would bring into question the legitimacy and authenticity of any and all of the achievements by him, his teammates, and their adversaries.

After the 2003 season, Texas began to look for a way to trade Rodríguez. In December the Rangers reached an agreement to send A-Rod to the Boston Red Sox, but the Players Association vetoed the deal because it would have required a restructuring of Rodríguez’s contract with the Rangers.15 After Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone injured his ACL on January 16 and it was determined that he would miss the entire 2004 season, New York went shopping for a replacement. On February 16 Rodríguez was traded to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later (Joaquin Arias).16 The Rangers agreed to pick up $67 million of the remaining $179 million of Rodríguez’s contract to facilitate the trade.17

Scott Boras said that Rodríguez was looking forward to playing in New York. “He really is excited about the idea of going to the park every day as part of a winning environment, a team of that caliber, being a part of it. First base, center field, third base, just to be part of it would be worthwhile,” Boras said.18

Rodríguez had worn number 3 on his uniform throughout his career in Seattle and Texas, but that number was unavailable with the Yankees. Babe Ruth’s iconic number had been retired in 1948. Rodríguez chose 13, quarterback Dan Marino’s number with the Miami Dolphins. He explained his choice saying, “Thirteen was my number when I played quarterback [in high school] and carrying the legacy of Dan Marino and my roots in Miami to the Bronx was pretty cool.”19

Rodríguez moved to third base after joining the Yankees. Derek Jeter was established as New York’s shortstop, having played the position regularly since 1996. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said at the time, “You go with the man who brought you to the dance, and Derek Jeter continues to get us to the dance at that position. This move would not happen if Alex Rodríguez would not agree to switch positions and play third base.”20

The reunion of Jeter and Rodríguez was bittersweet. They had become the closest of friends after they first met in the spring of 1993 at a Michigan-Miami baseball game in Florida.21 The close friendship of the two of the three premier shortstops in the game (they shared the cover of a Sports Illustrated issue in February 1997) was fractured in 2001 when Rodríguez, in an interview with Esquire magazine, said, “Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him. He’s never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. And he hits second – that’s totally different than third or fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie (Williams) and (Paul) O’Neill. You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ He’s never your concern.”22

In 2004 Rodríguez batted .286 with 36 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs scored, and 28 stolen bases. It was the seventh consecutive season that he had hit at least 30 home runs, scored at least 100 times, and batted in 100 or more runs.

When the Yankees reached the postseason in 2004, Rodríguez played well in both the Division and Championship Series. He batted against .421 when New York eliminated the Twins three games to one in the ALDS. In the decisive fourth game, the score was tied 5-5 after nine innings and was not decided until the 11th inning. With one out, Rodríguez hit his second double of the game, stole third base, and scored on a wild pitch by Kyle Lohse.

In the ALCS, Rodríguez also hit well as the Yankees played the Red Sox for the American League crown. In Game Three, he tied the single-game postseason record when he scored five runs as the Yankees romped to a 19-8 win and were poised to return to the World Series in quest of their 27th Series championship. In Game Four, a third inning two-run homer by Rodríguez gave New York an early 2-0 lead. But after the lead had changed hands twice, the Red Sox tied the score in the bottom of the ninth and forced Game Five when David Ortiz homered in the bottom of the 12th inning. The Red Sox went on to win the series in seven games. A-Rod’s quest for a World Series ring went unfulfilled one more time.

Rodríguez had another outstanding season in 2005. He led the league in home runs (48), runs scored (124), and slugging percentage (.610). When he hit two home runs against the Brewers at Milwaukee on June 8, the second off Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth inning, he became the youngest player to reach the 400-home-run plateau. “It was a very special day for me, especially if you do it in a win that we needed most desperately,” he said.23 The 12-3 win broke a three-game losing streak and brought the team’s record to 29-30. They went on to post a 95-67 record, tying them for first place with the Red Sox and securing their 11th of what was to become 13 consecutive postseason berths.

The Yankees’ postseason lasted only five games as they fell to the Los Angeles Angels in the best-of-five ALDS. Rodríguez was not a factor in the series, batting just .133 with two hits.

He won his second MVP award, becoming one of five players to win the award with two different teams. When asked how he narrowly beat David Ortiz for the award, the outspoken Rodríguez said, “There are probably like 15 or 16 offensive categories, if you want to be a baseball junkie. I’m not sure, but I think I won in 10 or 12 of those. But I think defense, for the most part, and being a balanced player and also taking away a lot of runs on the defensive side was a major factor.”24

Rodríguez played in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006 as part of Team USA. Although the team, managed by Buck Martinez, was eliminated from the tournament in the second round (finishing eighth of the 16 teams entered) Rodríguez felt that he benefited from the experience of being part of the team. “To me, I got a little bumps and chills when I saw my uniform, No. 13, Rodríguez, and I saw the USA, the red, white, and blue, as corny as it sounds. This is an enormous deal. Nobody’s here for the money. You’re here for the pride, and to represent the U.S., and I like that part of it.”25

Rodríguez notched his 2,000th hit on July 21, 2006. It was also the 450th home run of his career and came off A.J. Burnett in a 7-3 loss at Toronto. Coming during what was to be a three-month batting and fielding slump, Rodríguez said, “In a week of so much criticism, it’s good to get a little reminder that you’ve done some special things in this game from an early age. I think it’s pretty cool.”26 He was named to the All-Star team for the 10th time in 11 seasons, but a World Series ring with the Yankees remained elusive.

The Yankees failed to get past the Division Series for the second consecutive year. Rodríguez got just one hit in the series as the Tigers came back to win three straight after losing the opener. When A-Rod was criticized for his 2006 performance, rumors circulated that he might opt out of his contract.27

But he told the press on November 15 that he was committed to staying in New York and improving. “There’s no question last year was a very challenging year for me personally, but I think New York wants to see people have a tough time and come out of it and fight through it,” Rodríguez said.28

The challenges of 2006 to which A-Rod referred stemmed from on-field frustrations which, in New York, were amplified by an always-present media onslaught. In what was considered an off-year by A-Rod standards, he batted .290 with 35 home runs and 121 RBIs. As Tom Verducci noted in Sports Illustrated, “his (year-end) statistics (couldn’t) erase the pain he felt during his three-month slip into a dark abyss, when he lost his confidence, withered under media and fan pressure, and, some teammates believe(d), worked a little too hard at keeping up appearances, displaying, per teammate Jason Giambi, ‘a false confidence.’”29

For three months, A-Rod had underperformed. From June 1 through August 30, he batted only .257. On defense, his fielding woes were amplified. On July 17, in a game at Yankee Stadium, he made three errors while going 0-for-4. Although the Yankees won the game, 4-2, there was a sense of frustration, and the headline in the New York Daily News, “E-Rod’s Night a Mess,” distracted from the win that kept the team within one-half game of the division-leading Red Sox.30

When Rodríguez showed up for spring training in 2007, he had lost 12-14 pounds and was down to about 225 pounds. He also worked on his swing with the new Yankees hitting coach, Kevin Long, over the winter. Rodríguez “shortened his swing, examined video, tried to cut down on upper- and lower-body movement, worked on trying to swing less forcefully and with a more technical approach.”31

Rodríguez started the season on a tear, and it was clear that his hard work had paid off. By the end of April, he had 14 homers and 34 RBIs. When asked about Rodríguez on April 19, by which time Rodríguez had 10 homers, including two of the walk-off variety, Jeter said, “I haven’t seen anything like it before. It’s like everything he hits is a home run.”32 The Yankee captain added, “It’s fun to watch. Everyone should enjoy it.”33

A year later, when asked to contribute a memory or two to Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, Rodríguez remembered the April 7 walk-off grand slam against Baltimore:

“You dream of situations like that. To be able to come through and have the Stadium go crazy was pretty special. Bottom of the ninth, two strikes (the count was 1-2), bases loaded – that’s as good as it gets. I was the happiest guy in the Stadium. Sixty thousand people, and I was the happiest one. Right when I hit it, I knew it was a home run. It’s a feeling you get.”34

Rodríguez’s success continued through the rest of the season. He hit his 500th home run on August 4 off Kyle Davies of Kansas City to become the youngest player, at age 32, to reach that milestone. “I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once,” he said. “It was awesome and then you kind of get that high school reception when you hit a home run and all of the guys are out of the dugout. Pretty cool.”35

Rodríguez ended up leading the American League in runs scored (143), home runs (54), RBIs (a career-high 156), and slugging percentage (.645). The Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Rodríguez batted .267 (4-for-15), including one home run in the best-of-five Division Series as New York lost to the Cleveland Indians in four games.

Rodríguez earned his third MVP award in 2007. He noted that there was still something missing. “There’s definitely a huge hole in the resume. It’s my third MVP and I’m here to say that I would trade all three for one world championship. I wouldn’t think twice about it.”36

Throughout the 2007 season, Rodríguez had told the press that he wanted to remain with the Yankees even though he could opt out of his contract. But during the fourth game of the World Series, Scott Boras announced that Rodríguez would not return to the Yankees, causing an uproar due to the timing of the announcement.

Bob Dupuy, MLB’s chief operating officer, said, “We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement. There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game.”37 Rodríguez eventually signed a new 10-year contract with the Yankees. He severed his relationship with Boras in the process.

Rodríguez had another solid season in 2008. He batted .302 with 35 home runs, 103 RBIs, and a league-leading .573 slugging percentage. But it was not enough to help the Yankees reach the postseason, as they finished in third place in the AL East under new manager Joe Girardi.

Rodríguez’s name became linked to steroid use in early 2009. Sports Illustrated published a story on its website saying that he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Primobolan in 2003 while with the Texas Rangers.38 Although Rodríguez had, as early as a December 17, 2007, interview on 60 Minutes, denied using steroids,39 he eventually said in an ESPN interview that “[w]hen I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform and perform at a high level every day. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”40

On March 4, 2009, Rodríguez was diagnosed with a torn labrum and cyst in his right hip that required surgery41 and forced him to miss the World Baseball Classic (he was scheduled to play for the Dominican Republic) and the first month of the season. After he returned, Rodríguez continued to set records. By the end of the season, he had hit 583 home runs, placing him 10th on the all-time list. Despite playing in only 124 games, Rodríguez was second on the Yankees in homers (30) and RBIs (100).

The Yankees returned to the postseason in 2009. They swept the Division Series against the Minnesota Twins and, in the ALCS, beat the Los Angeles Angels in six games to return to the World Series for the first time in eight years. Rodríguez excelled in both series. He was 5-for-11 against the Twins with a pair of homers including a seventh-inning blast in the third game that gave the Yankees their first run of the game. Against the Angels, he went 9-for-21 with three home runs and six RBIs.

The Yankees faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series and won the championship in six games. Rodríguez played important roles in New York’s wins in Games Three and Four. In Game Three, his two-run homer in the fourth inning put the Yankees on the scoreboard, and they went on to gain an 8-5 win. The next day, he came to bat in the top of the ninth inning with the score tied, 4-4. There were two outs and runners on the corners. His double scored Johnny Damon with the lead run and the Yankees went on to win the game, 7-4.

Rodríguez was chosen by the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America as postseason MVP. Upon receiving the organization’s Babe Ruth Award, he said, “I’ve been to these dinners a couple of times to receive MVP awards and those, I’m very proud of those accomplishments. But none of those accomplishments will ever compare to the feeling you get from being part of a team that won a world championship.”42

Rodríguez continued to produce in 2010, and, in the last season in which he drove in more than 100 runs, he reached another major milestone. He hit his 600th home run on August 4, the third anniversary of his 500th homer, becoming the youngest player to have done it. The two-run first-inning homer came off Toronto’s Shaun Marcum in a 5-1 win at Yankee Stadium. Rodríguez had 30 homers and 125 RBIs in 2010. It was the 13th year in a row that he had at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs, something no other player had ever accomplished. In postseason play, the Yankees defeated the Twins in the division championship before bowing in six games to the Rangers in the ALCS.

In 2011 the 35-year-old Rodríguez batted .276 with just 16 home runs and 62 RBIs, his lowest totals since 1995. He missed 38 consecutive games from July 8 through August 20 after arthroscopic surgery during which, per writer J.R. Moehringer, “the doctor sanded and shaved the ball joint of his left leg, to help it fit more smoothly into the hip socket.”43 Rodríguez played in only 99 games for the season, missing half his team’s games after his return. The Yankees returned to the postseason but fell to Detroit in the best-of-five ALDS, with Rodríguez managing only two singles in 18 at-bats.

Rodríguez, fully recovered from his surgery, played in 94 of his team’s first 97 games in 2012. For the first time in his career, he had significant time as a DH. In those first 94 appearances, 26 were as a DH and three were as a pinch-hitter. On July 24 at Seattle, he was hit on his left hand by a pitch thrown by Felix Hernandez of the Mariners. He suffered a nondisplaced fracture44 and missed 36 games, returning to action on September 3. But his production remained low. At the time of his injury, he was batting only .276 and had hit 15 homers in 352 at-bats (one per 23.47 at-bats), well off his career pace of one homer per 14.62 at-bats.

In 2012, for the second time since 1999, A-Rod failed to be named to the American League All-Star team. The then 36-year-old Rodríguez batted only .272 for the season with 18 homers and 57 RBIs. In the postseason, the Yankees defeated Baltimore in the ALDS before falling to Detroit in the ALCS. Rodríguez again had a bad postseason, batting only .120 (3-for-25) in the two series.

Rodríguez had further surgery on his left hip on January 16, 2013, to bring back flexibility in his body. Years of stress on his 6-foot-3-inch, 230-pound frame had resulted in a calcium buildup that could be remedied only by what was termed a “miracle surgery” by Dr. Bryan Kelly.45 After six months of rehabilitation, he prepared to return to the Yankees in July. Two days before he was scheduled to join the Yankees, he injured his quadriceps muscle. He finally rejoined the Yankees in August and was in their starting lineup on August 5.

During his recovery from the second surgery, newspaper accounts linked Rodríguez to Biogenesis, a Florida company that was being investigated for providing performance-enhancing substances to baseball players.46

On August 5, the day that Rodríguez returned to the Yankees lineup, MLB announced that 13 players, Rodríguez among them, had been suspended. He received the longest suspension, 211 days (each of the others received a 50-day suspension), and immediately announced that he was going to fight it.47

The 2013 season was Rodríguez’s least productive to date. While contesting his suspension, he played in 44 games, batted .244, and hit only seven home runs to go with 19 RBIs. The only meaningful highlight of that tumultuous season came when he hit his 24th grand slam on September 20 to break Lou Gehrig’s major-league record. He would end his career with 25 grand slams, still, as of 2021, the major-league record.

Early in 2014, Rodríguez confronted the reality of his situation and realized that pursuing the fight against his suspension was only hurting him. He accepted his fate.

Rodríguez’s suspension was upheld, and he missed the entire 2014 season. Late in 2014, newspaper stories detailed Rodríguez having, in testimony given early in the year, admitted to using PEDs starting in 2010.48 Rodríguez met with Commissioner Bud Selig in early 2015. Shortly thereafter, he released a letter to baseball fans saying:

“I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season. … I accept the fact that many of you will not believe my apology or anything that I say at this point. I understand why and that’s on me. … I’m ready to put this chapter behind me and play some ball. This game has been my single biggest passion since I was a teenager. When I go to Spring Training, I will do everything I can to be the best player and teammate possible, earn a spot on the Yankees and help us win.”49

Rodríguez was in the Yankees’ lineup in 2015, but he was used primarily as a designated hitter. The time off had not slowed down his offense. Although Rodríguez struggled in the final two months of the season, he finished with a team-best 33 home runs. The Yankees lost to the Houston Astros in the wild-card game; Rodríguez did not get a hit in the game, his last postseason competition.

The highlight of his season came when he reached the 3,000-hit milestone on June 19 with a home run off Detroit’s Justin Verlander in a 7-2 Yankee win. “I’m grateful. I’m extremely appreciative to the Yankees for giving me an opportunity to put the uniform back on. There were days last year I never thought I would sometimes get that uniform back on, to be able to play in this stadium in front of these fans,” he said after the game. “Everything about this year has been a surprise. I’ve never enjoyed the game as much as I have this year.”50

Rodríguez struggled again in 2016. He spent most of May on the disabled list with a strained hamstring in his right leg, and when he returned, he never could find his stride at the plate. His final home run, the 696th of his career, came on July 18 against Kevin Gausman in a 2-1 win against the Orioles. It put him fourth on the all-time list for career homers and first among American League right-handed batters.

Rodríguez had hit only nine home runs with 29 RBIs when he stated, on August 7, 2016, that his final game would be on August 12. The Yankees also announced that he would become a special adviser to the club. “This is a tough day,” Rodríguez said. “I love this game, and I love this team, and today I am saying goodbye to both. I do want to be remembered as someone who was madly in love with the game of baseball. I also will hopefully be remembered as someone who tripped and fell a lot but kept getting up.”51

Rodríguez’s ledger as a player was complete: a career batting average of .295 with 3,115 hits, 696 homers, 2,086 RBIs, 329 stolen bases, three MVP Awards, 14 All-Star Game appearances, 10 Silver Slugger Awards, two Golden Gloves, and one championship World Series ring.

His legacy as a man was far from complete.

After his playing days, Rodríguez involved himself in broadcasting. He joined Fox Sports as a baseball analyst in 2017 after two stints working the postseason for the network. The following year Rodríguez joined ESPN for its Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts, an assignment he still had as of 2021. His analyses during broadcasts reveal him to be a keen observer of the game.

Rodríguez, who had been romantically linked with performer Madonna at the time of his divorce in 2008, was often seen dating prominent and beautiful women including actresses Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz. He began dating singer and actress Jennifer Lopez in February 2017. The couple announced their engagement on March 9, 2019, but on April 15, 2021, the relationship came to an end.52 As of 2021, the main ladies in A-Rod’s life were his daughters, Natasha, who was 16 in 2021, and Ella, 13.

During the time that he was engaged to Jennifer Lopez, the couple was involved in many business enterprises, among them being, in 2020, an attempt to buy the New York Mets. They eventually lost out in the bidding to billionaire Steve Cohen.53

On May 14, 2021, it was announced that Rodríguez and investment partner Marc Lore had purchased the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Final approval from the NBA Board of Governors was pending in 2021.54

His celebrity should not cause even the most casual observer to forget that over the course of a big-league career that began in 1994 and ended in 2016, Rodríguez was one of the most exciting players of his generation. But his image became tarnished and his legacy uncertain when his steroid use was publicized and subsequently acknowledged.

After the 2021 season Rodríguez’s name will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. Others on the ballot include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, and former MVP rival David Ortiz.

As noted by Andrew Simon of the MLB Network, “The 2022 voting cycle is likely to be just the beginning of a protracted conversation about Rodríguez’s candidacy and baseball legacy.”55 It is, in truth, a conversation that began with the “elephant” in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse two decades earlier.

Regardless of the Hall of Fame balloting, A-Rod’s legacy, like that of Babe Ruth, will in large part be forged by his impact on youngsters. For many of them, his achievements as a player have been matched by his philanthropy. While in New York, he became involved with the United Youth Baseball League in the Bronx, where the kids looked up to him. He also involved himself in philanthropic pursuits in Miami.

In 2009, on the day after the Yankees had clinched the American League championship, Alex Rodríguez visited a parochial school in the Bronx serving at-risk kids. As told by Ray Negron, he traded high fives with the kids seated along the sides of the center aisle of the school’s auditorium as he walked to the stage. Any fatigue from the night before disappeared as he stood on the stage and spoke to the audience. He gave an impassioned speech about the importance of reading. As the kids cheered wildly, the observer could see that Alex understood the magnitude and importance of what he meant to them.56

That understanding, despite some well-documented ups and downs, has continued to grow.

Last revised: July 14, 2021

Acknowledgments

Preliminary research and identification of sources was done by Thomas J. Brown Jr. This biography was reviewed by Warren Corbett, fact-checked by Carl Riechers, and edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and the following:

Berman, Len. The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, (Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2010), 120-125.

Elfrink, Tim, and Gus Garcia-Roberts. Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis, and the Quest to End Baseball’s Steroid Era (New York: Dutton, 2014).

Posnanski, Joe. “The End of an Era,” Sports Illustrated, February 16, 2009. https://vault.si.com/vault/2009/02/16/the-end-of-an-era

Notes

1 J.R. Moehringer, “The Education of Alex Rodriguez: Six Months, Four Cities, Two Coasts and One Batman Suit – We Chronicle the Fallen Slugger’s Winding Road Back to Pinstripes,” ESPN, The Magazine, February 18, 2015. https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12321274/alex-rodriguez-return-new-york-yankees.

2 Jack Curry, “Matching Pinstripes with Camouflage, Alex Rodriguez and Half-Brother Are Years and Worlds Apart,” New York Times, September 4, 2007: D1, D5; Arnie Starks, “Alex Rodriguez Thinks His Half Brother Victor’s Career Is ‘Far More Impressive’ Than His Own,” Sportscasting.com, June 12, 2020. https://www.sportscasting.com/alex-rodriguez-thinks-his-half-brother-victors-career-is-far-more-impressive-than-his-own/.

3 Bob Finnigan, “Missing Dad – In the 13 Years Since His Father Left, Alex Rodriguez Has Found Fortune and Fame in Seattle, but Has Been Unable to Reconcile with the Man Who Vanished,” Seattle Times, March 22, 1998. D-1.

4 Finnigan.

5 Ian O’Connor, The Captain, The Journey of Derek Jeter (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2011), 129.

6 Quotation from Julie K. Brown, “Before He Was A-Rod,” Miami Herald website, August 3, 2013. Retrieved from “A Look Back at A-Rod’s Ties to Miami,” Miami Herald website, August 7, 2016. https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/article94243292.html.

7 “#TBT to When Alex Rodriguez Was ALL-USA Player of the Year in High School,” USA Today.com, August 11, 2016. https://usatodayhss.com/2016/tbt-to-when-alex-rodriguez-was-all-usa-player-of-the-year-in-high-school.

8 Associated Press, “M’s Rodriguez Glad That Long Contract Hassle Is Over,” Longview (Washington) Daily News, August 31, 1993: D1; Mike Phillips, “Rodriguez Gets ‘Record’ Deal,” Miami Herald, August 31, 1993: D1, D5.

9 Corey Brock, “Rodriguez Has No Doubt He Should Stay in Seattle,” Tacoma News Tribune, reprinted in Spokane Spokesman Review, June 15, 1995: C4.

10 Selena Roberts, A-ROD: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez (New York: Harper-Collins, 2009), 91.

11 Associated Press, “M’s Give Shortstop Job to Alex Rodriguez,” Longview Daily News, February 24, 1996: B3.

12 Laura Vecsey, “Junior, Not Gonzalez, Beats Out Rodriguez,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reprinted in Spokane Spokesman Review, November 17, 1996: C10.

13 Associated Press, “M’s A-Rod Won’t Be Traded This Season,” Longview Daily News, March 9, 2000: B3.

14 Murray Chass, “Rodriguez Strikes It Rich in Texas,” New York Times, December 12, 2000: D1.

15 Ken Davidoff and Jon Heyman, “Trade Interrupted: Union Rejects Rodriguez Ramirez Deal,” Newsday, December 18, 2003: A84.

16 Ken Davidoff and Jon Heyman, “A Wild Pitch to A-Rod,” Newsday, February 16, 2004: A2, A3.

17 Ian O’Connor, The Captain, The Journey of Derek Jeter, 246.

18 Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron, “World A-Waits,” New York Daily News, February 16, 2004: 53.

19 Alfred Santasiere III, “Yankees Magazine: Crossing Routes: Alex Rodriguez and Dan Marino – Legends of Baseball and Football – Caught up with Each Other in Miami,” MLB.com, March 28, 2016. https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-a-rod-nfl-s-marino-legends-in-miami-c169449928.

20 Joh Delcos, “Deal Is Done – Questions Just Starting,” White Plains (New York) Journal News, February 17, 2004: C1.

21 Ian O’Connor, The Captain, The Journey of Derek Jeter, 123-126, 129.

22 Scott Raab, “Jackpot,” Esquire, April 1, 2001. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a1578/alex-rodriguez-esquire-2001/.

23 “Around the American League: At 29, A-Rod Youngest to Reach 400 Home Runs,” Chicago Tribune, June 9, 2005: Section 4, 4.

24 Jack Curry, “Rodriguez Is the Complete M.V.P.,” New York Times, November 15, 2005: D1, D6.

25 Bob Baum, “Star-Studded U.S. Team Begins Practice,” Reno Gazette Journal, March 4, 2006: B3.

26 Sam Borden, “A-Rod’s Blast-A,” New York Daily News, July 22, 2006: 52.

27 Ken Davidoff, “Time for A-Rod to Go,” Newsday, October 8, 2006: B8.

28 Tyler Kepner, “Rodriguez Says He’s Committed to Yankees,” New York Times, November 16, 2006: D2.

29 Tom Verducci, “A-Rod Agonistes,” Sports Illustrated, September 25, 2006. https://vault.si.com/vault/2006/09/25/arod-agonistes.

30 Filip Bondy, “E-Rod’s Night a Mess: Field of Screams Ends After Three Hours, Bad Toe,” New York Daily News, July 18, 2006: 62-63.

31 Associated Press, “A-Rod’s Amazing April,” Poughkeepsie (New York) Journal, April 23, 2007: 5C.

32 “A-Rod’s Amazing April.”

33 Barbara Barker, “How Bizarre! Hot Streak Turning A-Rod from Reviled Superstar into Fan Favorite,” Newsday, April 20, 2007: 84-85.

34 Mark Vancil and Alfred Santasiere III, Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), 173.

35 Associated Press, “Rodriguez Becomes Youngest in Baseball History to Hit 500 Home Runs,” ESPN.com, August 4, 2007. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story?id=2961185&src=desktop.

36 Ronald Blum (Associated Press), “A-Rod Wins Third MVP,” Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin, November 20, 2007: 1C.

37 “Yankees Bid Farewell to A-Rod After Likely MVP Opts Out,” ESPN.com, October 29, 2007. https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3085166.

38 Selena Roberts and David Epstein, “Sources Tell SI Alex Rodriguez Tested Positive for Steroids in 2003,” SI.com, February 7, 2009. https://www.si.com/mlb/2009/02/07/alex-rodriguez-steroids

39 “Eye to Eye: A-Rod Speaks Out,” 60 Minutes, December 17, 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVcqLt9sJLs.

40 “A-Rod Admits, Regrets Use of PEDs,” ESPN.com, February 9, 2009. https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3894847; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8zy1mW1QHI.

41 Mark Feinsand and Corky Siesmaszko, “He Should Be Okay-Rod: ‘No Surprises’ as Yankee Slugger Gets Hip Fix in Colo.,” New York Daily News, March 10, 2009: 5.

42 Associated Press, “Rodriguez Chokes up During Speech,” ESPN.com, January 24, 2010. https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=4853444.

43 J.R. Moehringer, “The Education of Alex Rodriguez.”

44 Tim Booth (Associated Press), “With Rodriguez on Shelf, Chavez Gets Opportunity,” Franklin (Indiana) Daily Journal. July 26, 2012: B2.

45 Cork Gaines, “Alex Rodriguez is on Fire at Age 39, and a ‘Miracle Surgery’ He Had in 2013 Is a Huge Reason Why,” Business Insider, August 20, 2015. https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-rodriguez-arod-surgery-mlb-yankees-2015-4.

46 Jane Woodridge, “A Year of Transformation for Miami’s Alex Rodriguez,” Miami Herald, October 31, 2015. https://www.miamiherald.com/article42080511.html.

47 Andrew Seligman, “Yankees’ Rodriguez Digs in for His Appeal,” Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle, August 6, 2013: 3D.

48 Jim Weaver, “A-Rod’s Confession,” Miami Herald, November 6, 2014: 1A, 2A.

49 Russell Berman, “A-Rod’s Desperate Search for Authenticity,” The Atlantic, February 18, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/arods-apology-handwritten-letter-fans-authenticity/385591/.

50 Tyler Kepner, “Alex Rodriguez at No. 3,000, with Bullet and Asterisk,” New York Times, June 20, 2015: D1.

51 David Waldstein, “Alex Rodriguez to Retire and Join Yankees as an Adviser,” New York Times, August 8, 2016: D1.

52 Frank Lovece, “J-Rod: We Are Better as Friends,” Newsday, August 16, 2021: A18; Madeleine Marr, “It’s Official: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Have Split: For Real, This Time,” Miami Herald, April 18, 2021: 4D.

53 Dennis Young, “Thanks a Billion: Cohen Reaches Agreement to Buy Mets at Last,” New York Daily News, September 15, 2020: 32.

54 Marc Stein, “Alex Rodriguez and Partner Reach Deal on Timberwolves and Lynx,” New York Times, May 14, 2021. https://www.proquest.com/usmajordailies/docview/2526924755/fulltext/C68A4A4DB3EF48AFPQ/1?accountid=46995.

55 Andrew Simon, “Storylines to Watch on ’22 Hall of Fame Ballot,” MLB.com, January 26, 2021. https://www.mlb.com/news/hall-of-fame-ballot-2022-storylines#:~:text=While%20the%202022%20ballot%20won,Jonathan%20Papelbon%20and%20Ryan%20Howard.

56 Ray Negron and Sally Cook, Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers (New York: Liveright Publishing, 2012), 202.

By the time Mike Schmidt retired early in the 1989 season, he was regarded as perhaps the greatest all-around third baseman in baseball history. No major-leaguer hit more homers during the 1980s, but he was not a one-dimensional threat: he curbed his tendency to strike out and stole bases when needed. In the field, he displayed great range, reflexes, arm, and daring. He charged bunts to make barehanded plays, nipping runners at first with submarine throws from somewhere between third base, the pitcher’s mound, and home plate. He also frequently barehanded high choppers off the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium, snagging the ball and firing in one smooth motion to get the out.

At the time of his retirement, Schmidt ranked seventh on MLB’s all-time home run list and was a three-time National League MVP, 12-time All-Star, and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner. Five years after his retirement, Schmidt was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Michael Jack Schmidt was born in Dayton, Ohio, on September 27, 1949, to Lois (Philipps) and Jack “Smitty” Schmidt1. Mike’s parents were the owners and operators of Philipps Aquatic Club on the north side of Dayton, one of the longest-surviving operations of a series of aquatic clubs throughout Ohio that were founded in 1865 by Lois’s great-grandfather, Charles Philipps.2 The couple also operated Jack’s Drive-In on the grounds of the club at Leo and Keowee Streets, and the two businesses were popular family destinations in Dayton for generations. Mike’s older sister Sally and her husband operated the businesses until they closed in 2009.3 “The family business was swimming pools and ice cream,” recalled Schmidt in 2014.4

As a five-year-old, Schmidt climbed a tree in his backyard and, from a high branch, reached for a wire that turned out to have 4,000 volts of electricity running through it. Lois Schmidt told a reporter in 1974 that her son’s heart had stopped, and after his grip relaxed he fell down through the tree with branches slowing his fall, “hit[ting] the ground hard enough to start his heart going.” He was fortunate enough to survive with just burn marks on his legs.5

Always an excellent athlete, “Schmitty”6 was a three-sport star at Dayton’s Fairview High School (playing youth sports against long-time Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager7, whom Schmidt later described as then being “the greatest athlete I ever saw”8) before two knee surgeries ended his participation in football and basketball.9 He was such a workaholic when it came to baseball at Fairview that his girlfriend at the time would tell her mother that she was with Mike at the batting cages, and mom wouldn’t be worried about the two of them.10 Schmidt also enjoyed golfing at the Kittyhawk Golf Center in northeast Dayton, leading to a lifelong interest in the links.11 Although not heavily recruited as a baseball player after only hitting .179 with one home run as a switch-hitting senior, he made the freshman team at Ohio University as a walk-on shortstop but hit only .260 with one homer.

The summer after his freshman year was pivotal for Schmidt. Playing for Parkmoor Restaurant in Dayton’s National Amateur Baseball Federation Summer League, he started at shortstop, gained confidence, and improved greatly over the summer. Of his 13 hits in the short season for Parkmoor, six were homers (leading the league), two were doubles, and he added a triple.12 Back at OU, at the suggestion of his coach, Bob Wren, Schmidt stopped switch-hitting to focus on batting right-handed. Wren, known as one of the finest college coaches of his era, also got Schmidt to build up his leg strength.13 The improvement in Schmidt’s game was immediately noticeable. As a sophomore, he hit .312 with seven home runs, and as a junior and senior did even better, batting .333 and .331, respectively, with 10 homers each year, being named as an All-American both years as well.14 The two 10-homer performance tied the Ohio Bobcat single-season record.15

Schmidt’s potential impressed legendary Phillies scout Tony Lucadello, who had followed him since high school. Lucadello wanted to draft Schmidt with the Phillies’ first pick in the 1971 draft, and when Schmidt was available in the second round (30th overall), the Phillies selected him one pick after the Royals selected George Brett.16 He signed for $32,500, bought a Corvette Stingray, and reported to Philadelphia.17

Schmidt’s professional career for the Phillies began with an exhibition game against the AA Reading Phillies in Reading, Pennsylvania, on June 17, 1971. Starting at shortstop for Philadelphia, he hit a game-winning home run against Reading.18 Although the Phillies had planned to start Schmidt in Class A, they instead assigned him to Reading. His transition to professional baseball was difficult. In 74 games with Reading, he struggled to adapt to professional pitching, batting only .211 with eight home runs and striking out 66 times in 268 at bats.19

Nonetheless, the Phillies promoted Schmidt to the AAA Eugene Emeralds for 1972. It was a breakthrough season, as he batted .291 with 26 home runs in 131 games. To take some of the pressure off Schmidt and allow him to concentrate on improving his hitting and reducing his strikeouts, manager Andy Seminick moved him to second base.20 Years later, Schmidt still fondly remembered two eight-day road trips to play the Hawaii Islanders, telling an interviewer, “That was one of the cool things about that year.”21

Despite a knee injury, Schmidt was promoted to Philadelphia as a September call-up. Although Steve Carlton was on his way to a Cy Young Award, the 1972 Phillies were the worst team in the NL. Eliminated from contention, they decided to evaluate Schmidt at the major league level. Wearing uniform number 22 — he would switch to his iconic number 20 the next season — Schmidt struggled with 15 strikeouts in 40 plate appearances, playing mostly at third base for manager Paul Owens.22 He did manage to hit his first career home run in the majors, a three-run blast off Balor Moore (after Moore intentionally walked Roger Freed with two outs and a man on third to pitch to the then unknown Schmidt) on September 16 that led to a 3-1 win over the Expos.23

Following the 1972 season, Owens returned to his GM role, and the Phillies hired Danny Ozark as manager.24 Ozark had developed prospects in the Dodgers organization and was hired to bring along the young roster, including Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, and Bob Boone.25 Schmidt was playing for the Caguas Criollos in the Puerto Rican winter league when the Phillies traded Don Money, clearing an opening for him at third base, although he still needed to beat out Cesar Tovar and others.26

Schmidt’s 1973 season got off to a slow start when he missed the first ten games with a dislocated shoulder. Relatively inexperienced with only a season and a half in the minors, he struck out too often (136 strikeouts in 367 at bats) and hit only .196 for the season. Owens and farm director Dallas Green wanted to return Schmidt to the minor leagues, but manager Ozark saw potential and wanted to allow him the opportunity to learn at the major league level. While Schmidt showed glimpses of his power potential (18 home runs, including a walk-off shot against Bob Gibson in April), highlights were few and far between in 1973.

Ozark’s frequent hitting suggestions affected Schmidt’s already fragile confidence, and his rookie year ended in an 0-for-26 slump.27 After the season, Schmidt returned to Caguas, this time managed by Phillies coach Bobby Wine, who told Schmidt not to swing so hard and let his natural talent take over. That tip and the encouraging feedback helped Schmidt recover his confidence and turn his career around. Swinging easily, Schmidt realized he could hit the ball just as far.28

Following his newfound winter ball success, Schmidt arrived confident for 1974 spring training — and as a newly married man, having wed his girlfriend Donna Wightman right before leaving Ohio. Once again, Ozark tried to change Schmidt’s approach, suggesting that he use a stance like Nate Colbert of the Padres. After trying it, Schmidt refused to make the change, preferring to return to the minors before changing the style that had worked over the winter. Having seen those results, coach Wine also argued on behalf of Schmidt, and Ozark relented.29 Schmidt’s decision to stick with what had worked was well placed. He arrived as a force in the major leagues in the 1974 season. Newly acquired second baseman Dave Cash coined the slogan “Yes we can!” for the Phillies, but he was also particularly encouraging to Schmidt, who started to believe that lofty goals such as 100 runs batted in were possible.30

On June 10, 1974, Schmidt made national headlines by hitting one of the most notable singles in baseball history. In the Astrodome, Schmidt hit what appeared to be a no-doubt-about-it home run, only to see it land in shallow center field. The would-be home run drive had hit a loudspeaker hanging from the roof, 117 feet off the ground. After the game, Schmidt told a reporter, “I said to myself, ‘That damn speaker cost me a homer.’ If for some reason late in the season I’m one short [of the home run lead], I’ll think back about it.”31 The next day, the speaker was raised by 56 feet.32

Schmidt was selected as a reserve for the All-Star Game, the new slugger having not even been listed on the fan ballot for consideration as a starter. While still striking out 138 times in 1974, he led the majors in home runs with 36, finished second in the NL in RBIs with 116, and batted .282. He was also the NL Gold Glove runner up to Doug Rader and finished sixth in NL MVP voting. Using current advanced metrics, Schmidt led the majors in wins above replacement (WAR) at 9.7, a full win above the next highest player, and his career peak in that statistic.33 At the same time, the Phillies finished at 80-82, a nine-win improvement from the previous season.34

In 1975, another mentor arrived when the Phillies signed Dick Allen. Well aware of Philadelphia fan pressure from his prior stint with the team in the ’60s, Allen joked with Schmidt and told him not to put so much pressure on himself. Schmidt again led the league in home runs with 38 (his first of three straight seasons at that figure) and the Phillies finished second in the division at 86-76, but it was a frustrating season. Schmidt struck out a league-leading 180 times (a career high), and his average dropped 33 points to .249. Bothered by the perceived lack of results and frequent boos from the fans, he again tinkered with his batting stance. He even tried transcendental meditation (as a number of other Phillies had also tried) before realizing that it was not helpful.35

The Phillies won 101 games in 1976 and reached the postseason for the first time since 1950. Schmidt hit 12 home runs in the first 15 games, including four consecutive home runs in an April 17 game in Chicago (then just the fourth player in MLB history to do so). The Phillies had fallen behind, 12-1, early in the game, but powered by Schmidt’s homers — the fourth in the tenth inning, they won, 18-16.36 Schmidt recalled in 2020, “I don’t think too many guys have hit four in a row. But, truthfully, there isn’t a lot of tension in an at-bat when you’ve already hit three! Got a pretty good day going here, you know? Sports Illustrated put me on the cover for the first time. You kidding me? The cover of SI? Back then? Wow.”37

The Phillies caught fire after that big comeback victory, going 55-22 from that point through the All-Star break. Philadelphia hosted the Bicentennial All-Star Game, and Schmidt was joined by teammates Boone, Bowa, Cash, and Luzinski on the NL All-Star team. When they clinched the division in Montreal on September 26, a possible rift in the clubhouse emerged. Schmidt joined Allen, Cash, and Garry Maddox for a separate celebration from the rest of the team, a fact to which Tug McGraw called attention. Schmidt noted, “It happened that my best friends on the Phillies were Black. I feel guys become friends because they have similar interests. And I’ve learned a lot from Garry and Dick. Tug brought it up, but it’s dead now. It wasn’t a good scene. But it’s over.”38

The season ended on a disappointing note as they were swept by Cincinnati in three games in the NLCS. Schmidt was solid in the series, batting .308 with two doubles and two RBIs, but it was not enough to beat the Reds.39 The year was a successful one for Schmidt. He again led the NL in home runs, finished third in NL MVP voting, and won his first Gold Glove, cutting his strikeouts and increasing his batting average. Following the 1976 season, Schmidt signed a six-year deal worth $565,000 per season to keep him in Phillies pinstripes.40

Schmidt got off to a torrid start in 1977 with 26 home runs by the All-Star break. His first half stats could have been even better had it not been for an incident in Pittsburgh on July 8. After being hit in the ribs by Bruce Kison, his second hit-by-pitch in four days, Schmidt took a few steps toward the mound. Kison challenged Schmidt to a fight, and Schmidt accepted. Ed Ott tackled Schmidt, fracturing Schmidt’s finger in the fray. 41 While he continued to play well in the second half of the season (leading to his second Gold Glove), the broken finger hampered Schmidt’s ability to swing the bat. For the first time since 1973, he did not lead the NL in home runs, but he did lead all NL position players in WAR.42 The Phillies again lost the NLCS, this time to the Dodgers.

Following two straight NL East crowns, the Phillies returned largely the same team for the 1978 season. Ozark named Schmidt team captain in spring training. He accepted the honor, but also pointed out, “It makes no difference at all being captain. It’s no big deal. There’s nothing my being captain can do to a ball game.”43 The captaincy may have brought with it some added pressure. Noting that Schmidt struck out in his first at bat of the 1978 season, one writer opined, “It is suspected in some circles that Schmitty gets a gang of those homers in 11-3 wins. After all, he was 1 for 16 in last year’s playoffs.”44

He got off to another strong start before hitting a string of injuries, leading to a prolonged slump and his first disappointing season since his rookie year. For the first time since 1975, he did not make the All-Star team. He had faced the ire of the Philadelphia fan base his entire career, but 1978 was particularly difficult. Yet Ozark noted, “The fans are trying to stimulate Mike. They figure maybe he’ll get mad and hit better. I don’t think they’re saying he’s no good.”45 He ended up with his lowest home run and RBI totals since 1973. Nonetheless, he was the NL’s second most valuable position player by WAR and won a third straight Gold Glove.

The Phillies again won their division and faced the Dodgers in a rematch of the 1977 NLCS, which Los Angeles again won in four games. The Phillies were proving themselves to be a great regular season team that could not win in the postseason, and Schmidt was viewed as one of the reasons. Following the series, shortstop Bowa thought that the pressure was getting to the team, saying, “I think that at home the players want to impress the fans so much that we’re not as relaxed as we should be. I know Mike Schmidt isn’t relaxed.” Turning to Schmidt’s sizable contract, Bowa added, “Remember the Phillies offered him the money; he didn’t put a gun to their head.”46

The pressure was on for the Phillies to overcome the NLCS hurdle. On December 5, 1978, they signed Pete Rose (who’d been a third baseman since early 1975) to be the final piece to a championship puzzle.47 They toyed with the idea of moving Schmidt to second, but Rose moved to first base and showed a strong interest in Schmidt from the start. Comparing him to former teammate Joe Morgan, Rose thought Schmidt could be the best player in baseball. Rose also took some pressure off by commanding much of the media’s attention. Like Dick Allen before him, Rose sought to get Schmidt to relax and have fun playing baseball, nicknamed him “Herbie Lee” and constantly reminded him how great he could be.48 Schmidt later wrote that “It’s unbelievable that in 1979 Pete joined the Phillies. The player I wanted so much to be like as a kid was now my teammate, friend and mentor.”49

Following his tenth-inning game-winning home run in a May 17, 1979 23-22 slugfest at Wrigley Field (mirroring 1976’s 18-16 Phillies win), the Phillies raced to the top of the NL East. After that game, Schmidt commented, “Ballplayers often will say that you never can get enough runs to win in this park, but they always say it sarcastically. After today, they can forget the sarcasm.”50

In July, following a stretch of 12 home runs in 18 games, Schmidt was ahead of Roger Maris’s season record pace as he and Dave Kingman battled for the NL home run lead. While wondering how long he could keep up the pace, Schmidt commented, “I don’t think it’s humanly possible to be any better hitter than I’ve been for the last month.”51 Although Schmidt ultimately fell short of both Maris’s record and Kingman’s total, he wound up with 45 home runs, his career high to that point, and won his fourth Gold Glove. However, plagued by a slew of injuries, the Phillies stumbled to finish just 84-78, in fourth place in the NL East. On August 31, the club fired long-time manager Ozark and replaced him with minor league director Dallas Green.52

Everything came together for Schmidt and the Phillies in 1980. As Schmidt told The New Yorker 40 years later, “When I look back, nothing tops 1980. I hit .300 most of that year.53 I got a hundred and fifty-seven hits, and forty-eight home runs, which I believe are career highs. My first M.V.P. award. We got our World Series ring. I won the M.V.P. of the Series. That was a storybook season.”54

The season started strong for the team and its third baseman. In May, Schmidt hit 12 homers, powering the Phillies to a 17-9 record, and moving them to within a game of the first-place Pirates. However, battling a pulled muscle that caused him to miss the All-Star Game, he slumped in June and July and the Phillies drifted to three games out on August 1, then picked up the pace in August as the Phillies climbed to just a half-game back. With the division title on the line, Schmidt had a great stretch run from September 1 through October 4 (.298/13/28), and the Phillies played well enough to force the race to a three-game winner-take-all series in Montreal. Schmidt homered and knocked in both Phillies runs in a 2-1 win in the first game and hit an 11th inning two-run home run in the second game to propel the Phillies back into the postseason.55 Said Schmidt, “I finally got the big hits when we needed them.”56

The 1980 NLCS is remembered as a classic series in which the Phillies and Astros battled into extra innings in the final four games of the five-game series. Schmidt’s postseason woes continued as he batted only .208, including just 1-for-6 against ace Nolan Ryan, whom Schmidt would call the toughest pitcher he ever faced.57 In the decisive Game Five, Schmidt struck out in both the eighth and tenth innings. He lamented, “All I had to do that last game in Houston was hit a grounder to short, and we would’ve won the game. So I looked at a third strike and walked back to the dugout.”58 Still, the Phillies ultimately won Game Five and were headed to the World Series for the first time in 30 years; Schmidt pointed out, “All the one-liners they’ve used about the Phillies, they can erase.”59

Schmidt more than redeemed himself in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. He hit in every game, going 8 for 21, driving in seven runs and scoring six.60 In Game Six, his single in the third inning knocked in two runs, all that Carlton and McGraw would need, as the Phillies won, 4-1, to clinch the franchise’s first world championship.61 He recalled later, “We were the kind of team that wouldn’t die.”62

In the chaos of the post-game locker room, Schmidt received a bizarre gift from his opposing third baseman, who famously suffered from a case of hemorrhoids during the Fall Classic. As reported in the Philadelphia Daily News, “[A] reporter from a New York newspaper forced his way through the congestion [and] delivered to Schmidt a basket of fruit and candies, then whispered in Mike’s ear. ‘You’re kidding,’ Mike Schmidt said. The basket had been sent by George Brett. ‘George said to tell you it will help your hemorrhoids,’ the guy pointed out.”63

Schmidt’s grandmother Viola Schmidt had died on September 26, and while he celebrated with his teammates, he kept her in mind. As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported the next day:

“She was the first person to throw a baseball to me,” Schmidt said. “That was the only prayer of mine that wasn’t answered down the stretch.” It should have been one of the happiest moments of his life, but Schmidt’s excitement was restrained. He was reflective, about his grandmother’s passing, his faith in God (“I play this game to glorify God, to tell you the truth”) and the image of the Phillies as a team that was uncommunicative, unlikable and one that couldn’t win the big ones. “I don’t think anyone would dislike me personally if they spent enough time with me,” Schmidt said.64

Schmidt later recalled, “We were kind of like that guy who can’t win a major in golf. Everybody is talking about you and thinking about you … 1980 erased all that sense of an inability to play under pressure. What a big anchor around our necks to be removed. It completed my career up to that point.”65

At the parade following the World Series, Schmidt provided an olive branch to the fan base that had booed him over the years, telling the gathering, “Take this world championship and savor it because you all deserve it!”66 (It was a less raunchy version of McGraw’s proclamation, “New York City can take their world championship and stick it, because we’re number one!”67) After the season, Schmidt was unanimously selected as the NL MVP, only the second unanimous winner; his 48 home runs had broken Eddie Mathews’s record for a third baseman.68

Expectations were high for 1981, as the Phillies brought back largely the same club except for Gary Matthews replacing long-time left fielder Luzinski. Both Schmidt and the Phillies got off to a strong start, and the team led the NL East by 1½ games when play was stopped by the strike on June 10. Schmidt was batting .284 with 14 homers and 41 RBIs. The All-Star Game on August 9 marked the return of baseball, and Schmidt’s two-run homer off Rollie Fingers gave the NL a 5-4 win, which he later described as his most memorable All-Star Game.69

Assured of a playoff spot as first-half division champions, the Phillies sputtered once play resumed, but Schmidt played some of the best baseball of his career, hitting .356 with 17 homers and 50 RBIs in 50 games in the season’s second half. Following the regular season, the Phillies battled Montreal in the first-ever NLDS, which the Expos won in five games, Schmidt going 4-for-16 with one home run.70

While 1980 may have been a more satisfying year for Schmidt, he had performed even better in the strike-shortened 1981 season. His .316 batting average marked a career high, and his .435 OBP, 31 home runs, and 91 RBIs paced the NL. He received his sixth straight Gold Glove and repeated as NL MVP. Reflecting on his successes in 1980 and 1981, he credited Rose’s example and Green’s leadership, noting, “The two greatest years I’ve had as a player were under the management of Green… It was a pleasure to play for that man and his coaching staff.” 71

During the 1981-82 offseason, Green was replaced by Pat Corrales, and Schmidt signed a new six-year contract with the Phillies, guaranteeing him at least $10 million through 1987, then the second-largest contract in baseball history. Unfortunately, the 1982 season started poorly for Schmidt — a rib cage pull hampered him through June. He still had a solid season, but the Phillies finished 89-73, three games out.

The Phillies decided to take one more run at a championship, so for 1983 they picked up two legends: Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. Nicknamed the “Wheeze Kids” because of their age (after the 1950 Phillies “Whiz Kids”), the team’s Opening Day lineup included Rose, Morgan, Schmidt, Perez and Carlton.72 Despite high expectations, the season started off disappointingly, and with the team tied for first at 43-42, Corrales was fired as manager, with general manager Paul Owens taking over. Schmidt spoke out against the distractions of team management (Owens in particular) and in support of his teammates,73 and the team went on an 11-game winning streak in late September and clinched the division, finishing 90-72. Schmidt ended the regular season with his sixth NL home run title.

In the NLCS, they dispatched the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games behind Gary Matthews’s MVP performance and Steve Carlton’s two wins and 0.66 ERA. Schmidt also had a great series (.467 batting average and 1.329 OPS). The World Series was a different story, though. The “I-95 Series” against the favored Baltimore Orioles started with a Phillies win on the road, but the Orioles came back to win the next four. Matthews and Schmidt cooled down, with Schmidt going just 1-for-20. It was a disappointing ending to an otherwise successful season.

After the Series, the Phillies released Rose and Morgan and sold Perez. Schmidt was now the clear team leader. During the 1983 season, not only did he make the club’s Centennial Team, but he was named the “Greatest All-Time Phillies Player,” beating Carlton by over 5,000 fan votes. It was quite an honor for a soon-to-be 34-year-old player with years left in his career.74 In 1984, the Phillies began a stretch of disappointing seasons, and Schmidt would not be on a playoff team again. However, he served as a mentor to younger players and clearly led by example. He topped the NL again with 36 home runs (seventh time), 106 RBIs (third time), and a .919 OPS (fourth time).

Playing on Veterans Stadium’s notoriously rigid Astroturf field began to take its toll, so he sought out veteran athletic trainer Pat Croce, who put him on a workout regimen emphasizing cardiovascular and weight training, with a focus on flexibility, that he followed the rest of his career and beyond.75

Schmidt began 1985 poorly, so in late May, the Phillies called up top prospect Rick Schu to play third base. His streak of nine straight Gold Gloves at third notwithstanding, for the rest of the season Schmidt primarily played first base. The change obviously agreed with him, as his batting stats as a first baseman in 1985 were significantly better than those he had put up in his first two months playing third. Schmidt credited the improvement to a change he made in his hitting approach. Facing Dwight Gooden on August 12, after struggling to that point in the season, he decided, “What the heck, I’m gonna swing down on any pitch he throws me. Just like Dick Allen used to do.” The result, as he described it: “I tomahawked it, really chopped down. … When I looked up, the ball was on its way toward the right-center field scoreboard, about 450 feet away.”76

Schmidt continued to hit that way until he hurt his shoulder in 1988. From that game through 1987, his new approach resulted in a batting average of .297, compared to his prior career average of .265. Further, his strikeouts in 1986-87 fell below 100 for the first time (excluding the strike season), while keeping his OPS over .900 and home run total in the mid-30s. Schmidt described the difference: “After fifteen seasons, I finally felt like a great hitter, a really tough out. A good hitter, not just a dangerous hitter. There’s a difference.”77

The 1985 season was also notable for the “wig incident.” In an April interview with a Montreal writer, Schmidt was critical of Phillies fans, saying, “Whatever I’ve got in my career now, I would have had a great [deal] more if I’d played my whole career in Los Angeles or Chicago, you name a town—somewhere where they were just grateful to have me around.”78 He described the fans as a “mob scene,” “uncontrollable,” and even “beyond help.”79

The interview was published when the Phils returned to Montreal for the final series of June, with the choicest quotes quickly printed by the Philadelphia papers as well. Phillies fans, frustrated by their team’s plunge in the last season-and-a-half after so many successful seasons, were livid, and on July 1, when the 32-40, fifth-place Phillies returned to town, they let him have it, with loud boos and jeers during pregame drills. Schmidt went into the clubhouse, found a long crimson wig and dark Porsche sunglasses, and headed out to the field wearing them. He kept the “disguise” on through the pregame warmup.

The fans began to laugh and cheer, and as Gary Mathews put it, “Schmitty loosened up the whole ballpark. I thought he turned around what could have been a tense situation.”80 Although he struck out in the ninth inning with the tying run on base and received the customary boos, the big story was the wig, and fans seemed to begin to have a different feeling about him. Pictures of Schmidt in his wig appeared in virtually all local papers the next day.81

In his role as team leader, Schmidt had been conducting an unofficial “State of the Phillies” press conference at the beginning of spring training for several years. One local newspaper impertinently described it in 1986 as “infielder Mike Schmidt making his annual State of Mike Schmidt address.” That year, Schmidt stated he was ready for a move back to third base, and in fact he did, as Von Hayes took over first base.82

The 1986 Phillies had a mix of young and old on their roster, the latter led by Schmidt, age 36, and Carlton, age 41. However, the two greats would head in opposite directions that year. After 16 starts and a 6.18 ERA, Carlton was released, while Schmidt hit .290, with 37 home runs and 119 RBIs, to win his final NL home run and RBI titles to go with his final Gold Glove. After the season, he also won his third and final NL MVP award, tied for the most ever at that point. The Phillies finished with a winning record, but well behind the Mets. In a press conference after the season finale, Schmidt said he thought he would play just one more season and then retire to spend more time with his family, but he admitted he would consider playing longer if his knees held out and his family could deal with it.83

Schmidt entered the 1987 season with 495 home runs, at the time the 14th most in history. He had hit his 100th, 200th, 300th and 400th home runs on the road, and number 500 would be no different. On Saturday, April 18, with the Phillies trailing the Pirates, 6-5, in the 8th, Schmidt (sitting at 499) came to bat in the ninth with two on and two out. Don Robinson went to 3-0, then threw a fastball over the plate, perhaps expecting Schmidt to take a pitch, but Schmidt deposited it high over the left field wall. He slapped his hands together and did a little jig, circling the bases to enjoy not just his milestone but also having given the Phillies the lead.84 Meanwhile on the television broadcast, beloved Phillies announcer Harry Kalas shouted, “Swing and a long drive! There it is, number 500! The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt!”85 Schmidt hit his 500th home run in (to that point) the fourth fewest career at-bats, behind only Ruth, Killebrew and Mantle.

Overall, Schmidt had yet another excellent year, but with the team losing more than it won, late in the season, he expressed frustration with the Phillies organization, the stadium, and the minor-league system, and he considered entering free agency.86 However, he signed a new two-year contract, with only the first year guaranteed; the Phillies held an option for 1989. At his 1988 state of the team address, he said he would look to enjoy himself a bit more.87 Unfortunately, the Phillies finished in last place for the first time since Schmidt was a rookie. On a personal level, he dealt with nagging injuries, finally taking himself out of a game on August 12 because of a season-ending rotator cuff injury. His numbers in the Triple Crown categories were his lowest since his rookie season.

After having rotator cuff surgery, Schmidt hoped for a better 1989. However, the Phillies declined to exercise their option, instead offering less money than he expected. Thus, he chose to become a free agent for the first time in his career. Other than the Phillies, only the Dodgers, Yankees, and the Reds — then managed by Pete Rose — showed any interest in him. Preferring to end his career in Philadelphia, Schmidt signed a one-year contract with the Phillies.88

He slumped during the first two months of the 1989 season. On the day before Memorial Day in San Francisco, he misplayed an easy grounder that would have ended an inning, leading to four unearned runs scoring when the next batter hit a grand slam. Schmidt said later that moment was when he knew it was time to hang up his spikes. With a .203 batting average and just six homers and 28 RBIs in 42 games, he told teammates that he was going to retire.89 He flew with the team to San Diego and, before the May 29 game, made an official announcement. His speech became famous, especially his closing line, delivered amid tears: “Some 18 years ago, I left Dayton, Ohio, with two very bad knees and a dream to become a major league baseball player. I thank God that the dream came true.”90 At the time of his retirement, Schmidt led all active players in home runs, runs batted in, total bases, intentional walks and strikeouts. In July, fans voted him as the NL’s starting third baseman for the All-Star game. He appeared in uniform but chose not to play in the game.

In January 1990, The Sporting News named Mike Schmidt “Player of the Decade” for the 1980s.91 Many more accolades would follow, but no offers to remain in baseball. Schmidt was interested in becoming the Phillies manager or general manager, but the team had just hired a new GM, and the front office did not believe Schmidt would be a good hire in any capacity.92 To stay involved in baseball, he worked as an NLCS pre-game show host for CBS in 1989, his first broadcast work other than a short stretch in TV news during the 1981 strike. In 1990, he became a color commentator for the Phillies’ pay cable partner PRISM, working alongside former teammate Garry Maddox. He admitted he was not a great fit and chose not to return for the next season. In 1991, Schmidt was part of an unsuccessful group seeking to start up the new Florida Marlins franchise.93

In 1995, Schmidt was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame — only Tom Seaver, Ty Cobb, and Hank Aaron had previously received more than Schmidt’s 96.5% vote share. The same year, his friend, Phillies favorite Richie Ashburn, was elected by the Veterans Committee, and Cooperstown was mobbed on July 30, 1995, by 28,000 Phillies fans.94 Earlier that month, Philadelphia magazine had published a controversial piece on Schmidt (as it had done a year earlier just before Steve Carlton’s induction95), quoting him as saying that Philadelphia “never did anything for me and, in general, made life miserable for me.”96 Schmidt had often been criticized throughout his career in the Philadelphia media for being too cool, too aloof, and not appearing to give the game his all. He was occasionally quoted in the press complaining about the fans, the front office, and even the stadium. As a result of his history with the media and the fans in Philadelphia, Schmidt was concerned that his comments, coupled with the love that Phillies fans had for Ashburn, might sour the day for him.97 With that in mind, he worked hard on his speech and made sure to make peace with the fans right at the start of it, stating “If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it in Philadelphia. The only thing I’d change would be me. I would be less sensitive, more outgoing and more appreciative of what you expected from me.”98 Phillies fans appreciated the effort, and he was roundly cheered, starting a thaw that remains in place to the present day.

In 2002, Schmidt was invited by Larry Bowa, then the team’s manager, to join the Phillies as a spring training instructor, a role he continued annually through 2018. In 2004, he accepted the Phillies’ offer to become the manager of the Single-A Clearwater Threshers. Schmidt enjoyed managing the team but was less happy with the long bus rides and the Florida humidity and decided not to return for 2005. In his 2006 book Clearing the Bases (an autobiography of sorts, focusing equally on his opinions on baseball issues of the day), he described his time managing the Threshers, writing of the difficulty he had with telling a player the team had released him, and making an argument for teams bumping up salaries for minor league managers in order to draw major league All-Stars to the job.99

Clearing the Bases was Schmidt’s third book, not surprising given his reputation as a cerebral ballplayer. In 1982, he wrote Always on the Offense, in which he discussed his philosophy on hitting and base running. He also offered further thoughts on the game and picked his “ultimate team of National Leaguers,” including teammates Manny Trillo, Garry Maddox, and Steve Carlton, and, modestly, the Braves’ Bob Horner at third base.100 In 1994, he wrote another hitting instructional book, entitled The Mike Schmidt Study: Hitting Theory, Skills and Technique, as well as a version targeted to young ballplayers. Schmidt continued as a scribe in 2006, writing columns on an occasional basis for the AP covering various baseball topics.

Following his playing career, Schmidt moved to Jupiter, Florida, with his wife, Donna, and two children (Jessica, born in 1978, and Jonathan, born in 1980). As of March 2021, he had two grandchildren as well. He made regular appearances over the years at Phillies games, returning for special events including Phillies alumni weekends each August, and many of the annual Phillies Phestivals that raised funds to fight ALS. Schmidt’s return in 2009 to deliver a touching tribute to his longtime friend Harry Kalas at his public memorial service at Citizens Bank Park, a televised event widely viewed throughout the Philadelphia region, had the unintended effect of helping turn the tide of local public opinion even more in his favor.101 Since 2014, he has served as a color commentator for Sunday home telecasts (advertised as “Sundays with Schmidt”).102 Long active in charitable work, his own organization, Winner’s Circle Charities, has raised more than $2.5 million for charitable causes.103

Looking back in 2020, Schmidt told a reporter, “I’ve been unbelievably blessed. My boyhood dreams came true tenfold. Of course, every player who makes it to the major leagues would have to say the same thing. Dreams are the wonders of life. I used to dream as a kid about Crosley Field in Cincinnati, with the terrace, where my father used to take me once or twice a year. I dreamt of players like Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson and Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. I mean, I ended up on the same team as Pete Rose! I’m sure I told him, you know, kidding around, ‘I used to dream about you, Pete!’ I had his poster on the back of my bedroom door. I ended up being friends with all of those guys! Can you believe that? It’s absolutely ridiculous the way my dreams have come true.”104

Mike Schmidt is undoubtedly the greatest player in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies. He is nearly universally viewed as the greatest third baseman in history as well, and while his hitting was his calling card, those who watched him on a daily basis, as well as those who didn’t but have the benefit of modern fielding statistics, know how excellent he was at the hot corner.105 During his career, he was underappreciated by the fan base, partly because his own high level of skill made it seem that he lacked the blue-collar work ethic that local crowds have always loved. Some ill-timed comments, played up by the press, also made him appear ungrateful, and the local media occasionally sought to tear him down.

But despite all that, his incredible ability, his work ethic, and his leadership during the Phillies’ first “Golden Era” inspired generations of Phillies fans and young ballplayers. One of them is Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who has proudly shared a photo of himself as a boy with Schmidt106 and described Schmidt as his hero: “I loved Michael Jack. I idolized him. I liked his game, his swagger, and especially his controlled aggression.”107 Schmidt achieved his baseball dreams, and happily for all, he regained the favor of Phillies fans with his 1995 Hall of Fame induction speech. They are proud to consider this legend one of their own.

Last revised: April 8, 2021

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello, Gregory H. Wolf, and Norman Macht,and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the authors also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 “Joseph Jack “Smitty” Schmidt,” Dayton Daily News, October 29, 2011 (https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dayton/obituary.aspx?n=joseph-jack-schmidt-smitty&pid=154304358&fhid=5161, accessed February 8, 2021).

2 Mickey Zezzo, “Pool Blues,” Dayton Daily News, September 3, 1995, 1B, 2B.

3 Michael Woody, “Memories of Philipps Aquatic Club, Dayton Local, July 7, 2016 (https://www.daytonlocal.com/blog/history/memories-of-phillips-aquatic-club.asp, accessed February 8, 2021).

4 Brian Kollars, “Schmidt Likes What They’ve Done to the Neighborhood,” Dayton Daily News, August 28, 2014, (https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/schmidt-likes-what-they-done-the-neighborhood/OV1f3b2IHsVOkwN97bCmoL/, accessed February 8, 2021).

5 Si Burick, “How Mike Schmidt Survived Grabbing Live 4,000-Volt Wire,” Dayton Daily News, June 25, 1974, 7.

6 While his father may have been known as “Smitty,” Mike’s most common nickname is “Schmitty,” but in Philadelphia he is equally known as “Michael Jack,” thanks to Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas regularly calling his home runs with some variation of “That ball is outta here! And Michael Jack Schmidt has given the Phillies the lead!” Schmidt acknowledged Kalas making that name popular in his eulogy for Kalas at Citizens Bank Park in 2009, available at approximately the 46:00 mark on YouTube, at https://youtu.be/HP5RJMZPXX0.

7 Tracy Lockwood, “Mike Schmidt’s Humility Makes a Big Hit,” Philadelphia Daily News, August 2, 1982, 25.

8 Meghan Montemurro, “Mike Schmidt: Only good vibes in Phillies’ clubhouse,” Wilmington News Journal, June 4, 2016 (accessed February 18, 2021 from https://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/mlb/phillies/2016/06/04/mike-schmidt-only-good-vibes-phillies-clubhouse/85409608/).

9 “Baseball’s Premier Home Run Hitter,” Phillies 1984 Yearbook, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Phillies, 1984, 62. Demonstrating the team’s focus on Schmidt as a drawing card from early one, he was pictured, usually in a group but occasionally as the primary subject, on the cover of every Phillies yearbook from 1974 through the end of his career, other than 1981 (Pete Rose’s World Series ring) and 1988 (generic stadium photo).

10 Bob Hertzel, “Phillies’ Star Mike Schmidt Was Also-Ran at Dayton,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 8, 1974, 31.

11 Kollars “Schmidt Likes What They’ve Done to the Neighborhood.”

12 Marty Williams, “Kees Scarff Wraps Up Class AA Batting Titles,” Dayton Daily News, September 1, 1968, 6D.

13 Marty Williams, “Fairview’s Schmidt Wren’s Newest Star,” Dayton Daily News, June 8, 1969, 11D.

14 Rob Maadi, Mike Schmidt: The Phillies’ Legendary Slugger, Chicago: Triumph Books, 2010, 3-15.

15 Ritter Collett, “Journal of Sports,” Dayton Journal Herald, August 27, 1970, 26. Collett also notes that Schmidt walked onto the Ohio U. basketball team and actually made the team, but he was not cleared to play by doctors.

16 “Baseball’s Premier Home Run Hitter,” 62-63.

17 Stan Hochman, Mike Schmidt: Baseball’s King of Swing, New York: Random House, 1983, 22-27.

18 Duke DeLuca, “Hot Royals Win on Field, Lose 2 Players to Omaha,” Reading Eagle. June 18, 1971, 26.

19 Hochman, 29-32.

20 Maadi, 17-18.

21 Interview on “MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, May 23, 2020 (available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBRRDGmeKE4).

22 Tom Van Hyning, “Balor Moore remembers his November 25th, 1973 Nine-Inning Perfect Game in Puerto Rico,” Beisbol 101, https://www.beisbol101.com/balor-moore-remembers-his-november-25th-1973-nine-inning-perfect-game-in-puerto-rico/, accessed January 1, 2021.

23 Hochman, 34-36.

24 Associated Press, “Danny Ozark Named New Phils’ Manager,” Reading Eagle. November 1, 1972, 60.

25 Hochman, 37.

26 “Baseball’s Premier Home Run Hitter,” 63.

27 Hochman, 37-43.

28 Maadi, 31-35.

29 Hochman, 46-55.

30 Maadi, 37-38.

31 United Press International, Huntingdon (Pennsylvania) Daily News, June 11, 1974.

32 Ken Rappoport, “Schmidt Hits Roof,” Reading Eagle. June 11, 1974, 22.

33 MLB.com describes WAR, an acronym for Wins Above Replacement as follows: “WAR measures a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a replacement-level player at his same position (e.g., a Minor League replacement or a readily available fill-in free agent).” (http://m.mlb.com/glossary/advanced-stats/wins-above-replacement) According to BaseballReference.com, the scale for a single season is as follows: “8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Reserve, <0 Replacement Level.” Between 1974 and 1987, Mike Schmidt’s WAR dipped below 6.2 only once (1984, at 5.7), and hit 8+ four times. Per BaseballReference.com, his career WAR of 106.9 presently ranks 25th of all-time, nine slots above the next third baseman on the list, Eddie Mathews.

34 Hochman, 46-57.

35 Maadi, 42-45.

36 Associated Press. “Schmidt Rips Four,” Reading Eagle. April 18, 1976, 61.

37 Andy Friedman, “Storybook Season: An Interview with Mike Schmidt,” The New Yorker, October 7, 2020 (accessed February 8, 2021, at https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/storybook-season-an-interview-with-mike-schmidt).

38 Hochman, 67-68.

39 Mike Schmidt with Glen Waggoner, Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Monster Salaries, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer’s Search for the Soul of Baseball, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006, 45.

40 Associated Press, “Schmidt Joins Elite,” Reading Eagle. March 5, 1977, 8.

41 Associated Press, “Fight Night: Phils Lose on Pass,” Reading Eagle. July 9, 1977, 6.

42 Hochman, 68-76.

43 Tony Zonca, “Phils Botch Another Opener,” Reading Eagle. April 8, 1978, 6, 9.

44 Zonca, “Phils Botch Another Opener.”

45 Hochman, 77.

46 John W. Smith, “SportopicS: Playoff Quotebook,” Reading Eagle. October 13, 1978, 26.

47 Joseph Durso, “Rose Signed by Phils to $3.2 Million Pact,” New York Times. December 6, 1978, Section A, 1.

48 Bill Conlin, “Batting Cleanup: Bill Conlin,” Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997, 38.

49 Mike Schmidt, “Schmidt: There Will Never Be Another Pete Rose,” Associated Press. April 12, 2013, accessed January 1, 2021 from https://apnews.com/article/441eba3a3ac44bcfaa9a00530582d692.

50 Dave Nightingale, “Flags Blew an Early Omen to Schmidt,” Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1979.

51 Thomas Boswell, “Schmidt in Heaven and Worried,” Washington Post. July 29, 1979, accessed January 21, 2021 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/29/schmidt-in-heaven-and-worried/eb896b3c-1637-43a2-847f-e5db6aae933b/.

52 Hochman, 80-90.

53 Schmidt’s 1980 was incredible, but his batting average had actually dipped below .300 to stay by June 2. He did hit over .300 in the months of May and August. His on-base percentage, on the other hand, barely dipped below .350 and ended up at .380, a significant reason why his OPS of 1.004 led the National League.

54 Friedman, “Storybook Season: An Interview with Mike Schmidt.”

55 Hochman, 91-98.

56 Friedman, “Storybook Season: An Interview with Mike Schmidt.”

57 Jim Hogan, “Catching Up with No. 20 in 2020,” in 2020 Philadelphia Phillies Yearbook, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Phillies, 2020, 141.

58 Bob Ibach and Tim Panaccio, The Comeback Kids, United States: Bel Air Printing Co-op., 1980, 11.

59 John W. Smith, “Bitter Memories Washed Away,” Reading Eagle. October 13, 1980, 20.

60 Associated Press, “Schmidt’s Hit Earns Series MVP Award,” Reading Eagle. October 22, 1980, 57.

61 John W. Smith, “Phillies Top Dogs in Baseball,” Reading Eagle. October 22, 1980, 57.

62 Interview on MLB Tonight.

63 Tom Cushman, “The day the Phillies won the 1980 World Series,” Philadelphia Daily News, October 22, 1980, accessed February 8, 2021, from https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/phillies/The_day_the_Phillies_won_the_1980_World_Series.html.

64 Lewis Freedman, “Hero Schmidt: Amid Storm, Calm,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 22, 1980, accessed February 8, 2021, from https://1980phillies.jimdofree.com/october/october-22/philadelphia-inquirer/).

65 Matt Breen, “Extra Innings: Forty years ago today, the Phillies finally paraded as world champions,” Philadelphia Inquirer. October 22, 2020, accessed January 1, 2021 from https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/phillies/phillies-world-series-1980-mike-schmidt-parade-royals-astros-20201022.html.

66 Ibid.

67 United Press International, “Phillies, fans celebrate with ticker tape parade,” Daily Vidette. October 23, 1980, 12.

68 Associated Press, “Schmidt Unanimous Choice as MVP,” Reading Eagle. November 26, 1980, 22.

69 Hogan, 141.

70 William C. Kashatus, Mike Schmidt: Philadelphia’s Hall of Fame Third Baseman. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000, 72-79.

71 Associated Press, “Schmidt MVP; He Is Third To Win Consecutive N.L. Awards” Reading Eagle. November 18, 1981, 37.

72 Kashatus, 84.

73 Maadi, 133-134.

74 Vince Nauss, editor, Philadelphia Phillies 1984 Media Guide, Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Phillies, 1984, 76.

75 Maadi, 143.

76 Mike Schmidt and Robert Ellis, The Mike Schmidt Study: Hitting Theory, Skills and Technique, Atlanta: McGriff & Bell Inc., 1994, 123.

77 Schmidt and Waggoner, 60.

78 Bill Conlin, “Fanning the Fire: Schmidt Says He Was Quoted Accurately, Questions Timing of Controversial Article,” Philadelphia Daily News. July 1, 1985.

79 Michael Weinreb, “Throwback Thursday: Mike Schmidt Wigs Out in Philadelphia,” June 30, 2016, Vice, accessed February 18, 2021 from https://www.vice.com/en/article/bmqn4q/throwback-thursday-mike-schmidt-wigs-out-in-philadelphia.

80 Mark Whicker, “Schmidt shows his rarest side to fickle fans,” Boca Raton News, July 3, 1985, 3C. It is well worth searching on Google for “Mike Schmidt” and “wig” to see a picture of Schmidt’s preposterous disguise.

81 Maadi, 148-150.

82 “Rawley, Hayes approve of action by Ueberroth,” Reading Eagle, March 2, 1986, C-15.

83 Maadi, 154-155.

84 Witnessed on television that afternoon by the writers of this article, with memories refreshed by Baseball-Reference.com.

85 Jeff McLane, “Call of 500th Home Run Links Kalas and Schmidt,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 18, 2009: D6. A recording of Kalas’s radio call is available at youtube.com/watch?v=pYeOOxlbBbs.

86 Maadi, 168.

87 Maadi, 175.

88 Kashatus, 107.

89 Maadi, 185-186.

90 Peter Pascarelli, “Mike Schmidt retires,” Philadelphia Inquirer. May 30, 1989, accessed January 21, 2021 from https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/phillies/archive_schmidt_original_retirement_story.html/.

91 Bill Brown, “Nobody Did It Better: Schmidt Selected TSN Player of the Decade,” The Sporting News, January 29, 1990, 9-11.

92 Kashatus, 113-115.

93 Schmidt and Waggoner, 74-77.

94 Among the 28,000 fans were the two writers of this biography.

95 Pat Jordan, “Thin Mountain Air,” Philadelphia Magazine, April 1994, accessible at https://thestacks.deadspin.com/thin-air-in-the-mountains-with-steve-carlton-armed-co-478492324.

96 Larry Platt, “The Unloved Mike Schmidt,” Philadelphia Magazine, July 1995, 53-56, 81-82.

97 Maadi, 198-201.

98 “At Hall, Schmidt Pleads for Rose,” Washington Post. July 31, 1995.

99 Schmidt and Waggoner, 168-175.

100 Mike Schmidt with Barbara Walder, Always on the Offense, New York: Atheneum, 1982.

101 Weinreb, “Throwback Thursday: Mike Schmidt Wigs Out in Philadelphia.” Schmidt’s touching eulogy, which also demonstrates his Christian faith, can be streamed at beginning at the 43:00 mark on YouTube, at https://youtu.be/HP5RJMZPXX0.

102 Hogan, 144. Schmidt also worked Saturday home telecasts from 2014-2018.

103 Mike Schmidt’s Winner’s Circle Charities, http://winnerscirclecharities.org. Accessed January 21, 2021.

104 Friedman, “Storybook Season: An Interview with Mike Schmidt.”

105 “Like most above-average defenders, Schmidt can be judged favorably based on modern metrics or traditional statistics. He led NL third basemen six times in participating in double plays, seven times in assists, four times in range factor (per game and per nine innings) and seven times in total zone runs.” Chris Haft, “10 definitive Mike Schmidt moments,” accessed on February 8, 2021 from https://www.mlb.com/news/mike-schmidt-s-top-moments-of-career.

106 Accessible at https://twitter.com/super70ssports/status/1285657069635411974.

107 Mike Piazza with Lonnie Wheeler, Long Shot, New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2013, 13.

A left-handed batter and thrower, Palmeiro played 20 seasons in the major leagues, from 1986 through 2005. He spent his first three years with the Chicago Cubs, where he mostly played left field. After he was traded to the Texas Rangers, he became a full-time first baseman, winning three consecutive Gold Gloves from 1997 through 1999. As he aged, he was also used as a designated hitter.

In the American League, Palmeiro hopped between two teams. He played with Texas for five years, the Baltimore Orioles for five years, then Texas for another five years before returning to Baltimore for the final two years of his career.

Born in Havana, Cuba, on September 24, 1964, Rafael was the third of Maria Corrales and José Palmeiro’s four sons. His brothers are José, Jr., Rick, and Andy. José, Jr. is 13 years older than Rafael, Rick, two years older, Andy, two years younger.

While Rafael’s father owned a concession stand in Cuba and made a good living, he and Maria thought America offered more opportunities. After years of trying, the family was finally allowed to leave Cuba in 1971 and settled in Miami, Florida.2 But when they left, José, Jr., 19 years old at the time, was not allowed to go because he was required to serve in the Cuban military. Although they kept in touch, it would be 21 years before the family reunited. 3

Once a fleet center fielder on a top Cuban amateur team, José would return from his job and practice baseball with his sons. “He’d come home at 4:30 every afternoon from being out in the sun working construction,” remembered Rafael, “and he’d come in, drink a glass of water, eat a sandwich and we’d go to the ballpark. That takes a lot of dedication and love.”4

José pushed the boys to improve, criticizing failure and ignoring success. “If I went 3-for-4 and struck out,” said Rafael, “he wouldn’t comment on the three hits. He would criticize the strikeout.” While his father’s method may not have been supportive, Rafael said, “[it worked] with me, because I understood what he was trying to do.”5

Rafael’s wife is the former Lynne Walden, whom he met in college. They married in December, 1985 and have two children, Preston and Patrick,6 both of whom have played minor-league baseball.

After proving his skill at Jackson High School in Miami, Palmeiro was selected by the New York Mets in the eighth round of the 1982 MLB June Amateur Draft. But when he was offered a full scholarship to Mississippi State University, he decided to go to college instead. “[The Mets] offered me $30,000 to sign,” Palmeiro said, “You can’t turn down four years of college for $30,000.”7 (In 2004, Palmeiro and his wife made the chief donation toward Mississippi State’s Palmeiro Center, a $3.8 million practice facility for baseball and football.)8

As a freshman, Palmeiro started the season with a 20-game hitting streak — the second-longest in Mississippi State history. An outfielder, he led the Bulldogs in batting average (.406) and home runs (18),9 set the school record for hits in a season (95),10 and was the only freshman selected to the Baseball America College All-America team.11

The next year Palmeiro led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with a batting average of .415, 94 RBIs, and a record 29 home runs, becoming the first SEC player to win the Triple Crown.12 Teammate Will Clark was right behind with 93 RBIs and 28 home runs. Their 57 combined home runs were the most by teammates in SEC history13 and the duo became known as “Thunder and Lightning.”14 Although he didn’t win, Palmeiro was nominated for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best college player in the country.15

As a junior, Palmeiro had his poorest season, batting only .300 with 20 home runs and 67 RBIs.16 Despite that, he set SEC career records for hits, home runs, and RBIs. So when he decided to enter the MLB draft at the end of the season, he was disappointed when he wasn’t chosen until the Cubs took him with the 22nd pick.

From 1985 through 1987, Palmeiro advanced through the Cubs’ minor league system and, at each stop, had a batting average over .290 and an OPS17 over .800. He spent most of September 1986 in the majors, but started the 1987 season with Triple-A Iowa. By mid-June he had earned a spot with the Cubs, finishing with a .276 BA and .879 OPS.

In 1988 he had the second-highest batting average in the National League (.307) and made the All-Star team, but hit only eight home runs in 580 at bats. As Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune wrote, “[Palmeiro’s production] would be acceptable from a slick-fielding, base-stealing middle infielder, but not from an outfielder-first baseman.”18

On December 5, 1988, the Cubs traded Palmeiro along with Drew Hall and Jamie Moyer to the Texas Rangers for Mitch Williams and five other players. Unhappy about the deal, Palmeiro said, “That’s what happens when you have [a manager and general manager] who don’t know what the hell’s going on.”19

After a mediocre first year with Texas, Palmeiro improved each of the next two seasons, leading the AL in hits (191) in 1990 and in doubles (49) in 1991. After taking two steps forward, Palmeiro took one step back in 1992. His OPS dropped 136 points and he made 25 fewer extra-base hits. In early September, the Rangers acquired the massively-muscled José Canseco, who would later call himself “the Godfather of Steroids.”

Through 1992, Palmeiro had hit 2.9 home runs per 100 at bats. In 1993, his home run rate more than doubled and he began an 11-year stretch during which he hit 37 or more home runs and drove in 100 or more runs 10 times. From 1993 through 2003, he led the AL in home runs (433) and RBIs (1266).

When Palmeiro became a free agent after the 1993 season, the Rangers said he asked for a six-year contract worth nearly $40 million. At that price, the team feared they would be unable to sign him and if they didn’t act quickly, would be left without a competent first baseman. On the market was Palmeiro’s former Mississippi State teammate, Will Clark, whom the Rangers swiftly signed to a five-year, $30 million deal. 20

In the aftermath, Palmeiro trashed Clark, saying, “That’s Will. That’s the way he is. He’s got no class. Friendship didn’t matter to him. He was looking out for himself. I don’t think much of Will. He’s a lowlife.”21

Palmeiro’s dislike for Clark went back to their college days. “[Our relationship] wasn’t that good.”22 He felt that Clark wanted to be the star of the team at Palmeiro’s expense. “I always pulled for him to do well. [But] I can’t say the same about him.”23

He also attacked Clark’s ability as a player. The previous season Palmeiro had hit 39 home runs and driven in 105 runs, while Clark hit 14 homers and drove in 73. “Fourteen home runs and 73 RBIs? That’s nothing,” he said.24 “Obviously, I’m the better player.”25

The next day, Palmeiro backed off, saying, “I think Will Clark is a great person and a great ballplayer. I was speaking out of frustration and I want to apologize to Will.” 26

Maybe he was also speaking out of jealousy. Clark had been drafted second, 20 picks before Palmeiro, even though it was Palmeiro who had set SEC batting records. Also, in their first eight MLB seasons, Clark had been an All-Star five times (Palmeiro twice) and finished in the top five in MVP voting four times (Palmeiro zero).

Palmeiro saved some venom for the Rangers. He called Rangers president Tom Schieffer, “a bozo”27 and “a backstabbing liar”28 and said, “[Schieffer] is very stupid when it comes to baseball.” 29 He also implied that Schieffer exhibited anti-Latino prejudice:30 “All I wanted was some respect as a player and a person. I feel like I got no respect. I think the man has something against me.”31

Palmeiro probably regretted overplaying his hand and was shocked when the Rangers forced him out. He said, “The whole idea was to build our dream house in Texas, sign, and stay there.”32 Rangers General Manager Tom Grieve said, “It evidently was very important to Rafael to stay in Texas — more important than it appeared . . . during negotiations.”33

Three weeks after the Rangers signed Clark, Palmeiro took Clark’s place in Baltimore, signing a five-year contract with the Orioles for $30.35 million.34 After hitting 23 home runs in the strike-shortened ’94 season, in each of the next four years he hit 38 or more home runs and drove in more than 100 runs, with peaks of 43 homers in 1998 and 142 RBIs in 1996 when he finished sixth in MVP voting. In 1998, the last year of his contract, he had the second-best season of his career, compiling a 6.3 WAR. The Orioles made the playoffs twice during those years, winning the Division Series, but losing in the League Championship Series — to the New York Yankees in 1996 and the Cleveland Indians in 1997.

Although it seemed Palmeiro had incinerated his bridges when he left Texas in 1993, he signed a five-year deal with them when his contract with the Orioles expired in 1998. Continuing the symmetry of their careers, Will Clark was signed by Baltimore to replace Palmeiro.

Measured by traditional statistics, Palmeiro had his best offensive season in 1999. In the first season of his return to Texas, he finished second in the AL and set career highs in home runs (47), RBIs (148), total bases (356), slugging percentage (.630), and OPS (1.050). He also placed fifth in voting for the MVP Award, the highest finish of his career. Texas won the AL West, but lost in the Division Series to the Yankees, three games to none. In Palmeiro’s other four seasons, Texas won no more than 73 games and did not qualify for the playoffs.

In 2003, the last year of his contract, Palmeiro joined Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, and Darrell Evans as the only players who hit 38 or more home runs in a season after becoming 38 years of age. But his OPS dropped below .900 for only the second time since 1993, an indication that his production was finally fading. When his Texas contract ended, Palmeiro returned to Baltimore for two years, concluding his 20-year career in 2005.

The beginning of Palmeiro’s end came when writers and fans began to suspect players of using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). In the late 1990s and early 2000s, bloated versions of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa became record-breaking home run machines. (Although MLB had banned steroids in 1991, it wasn’t until 2003 that it finally began testing players and handing out suspensions for failed tests.) In December 2003, Bonds had to testify before a grand jury in the BALCO steroids case.35 Thereafter, concern about steroid use rose to such a level that President George W. Bush condemned the drugs in his 2004 State of the Union address.36

The final shoe dropped when, in February 2005, former AL Most Valuable Player José Canseco unveiled his book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. In the book, Canseco named several MLB stars who he said had used steroids; one of them was Rafael Palmeiro. Canseco claimed that when they were teammates with the Texas Rangers, he had injected Palmeiro “many times.”37

Although the book was an indictment of the sport over which he presided, Commissioner Bud Selig said he would not investigate Canseco’s allegations. Selig’s inaction prompted Congress to investigate on its own.38 Because of his appearance in Canseco’s book, Palmeiro was invited to attend the Congressional hearing on March 17, 2005. Initially he declined because March 17 is his wife’s birthday.39 Soon after, Congress’s polite invitation was replaced by a subpoena.40

When it came time for his statement, Palmeiro wagged his finger as if to scold his interrogators and said, “Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids, period. I do not know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco’s book is absolutely false. I am against the use of steroids. I don’t think athletes should use steroids, and I don’t think our kids should use them.”41

It was not long before Palmeiro’s honesty was called into question. On May 4, he was selected under MLB policy for a random, unannounced drug test. About two weeks later, he was informed he had tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol. (Palmeiro submitted a second sample on May 27, which tested negative for all banned substances. Injected stanozolol is detectible for about three to four weeks, taken orally, only seven to 10 days.)42 Palmeiro challenged the positive test result, contending that if there had been steroids in his body, he had no idea how they had gotten there. His grievance arbitration hearing began on June 16. 43

Several things came out in arbitration that support his claim that he never knowingly took steroids. He tested negative in 2003, 2004, and after his positive test in 2005.44 Physicians and trainers associated with the Rangers and Orioles testified they never saw Palmeiro use steroids nor had any professional reason to believe he had. One pointed out that Palmeiro never developed the pumped-up body typical of a steroid user.45

Palmeiro’s representative at the arbitration hearing argued that Palmeiro “had nothing to gain and everything to lose by using steroids in 2005.” 46 He stated that since Palmeiro was in the last year of his career, he wouldn’t have done it to enhance his future earnings nor to help recover from an injury since he had none. He also contended that Palmeiro had no personal incentive to improve his performance,47 although that point is dubious because, as the season began, Palmeiro needed 78 hits to reach 3,000.

In the part of his book in which he named Palmeiro, Canseco also mentioned Texas teammates Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez, writing. “I sat down with Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Ivan Rodriguez, and educated them about steroids. Soon I was injecting all three of them. I personally injected each of those three guys many times, until they became familiar with how to use a needle and were able to do it by themselves.”48 In interviews with the arbitration panel, both Gonzalez and Rodriguez denied Canseco’s claims.49

Though in Palmeiro’s favor, the preceding points hardly mattered because none addressed the positive test. In his only attempt to explain how he could have taken the drug unknowingly, he advanced the notion that it may have come from taking vitamin B-12 contaminated with the steroid. 50 Palmeiro told the panel he had gotten the B-12 from teammate Miguel Tejada. But when his representatives obtained another vial of the B-12 from Tejada’s batch and had it tested, no trace was found of stanozolol or any other banned substance.51

When his representative admitted, “The Player’s Association does not contend that the B-12 shot that Mr. Palmeiro took caused his positive test result. We have no evidence to suggest that,”52 the panel ruled that he had not met “his burden of proof”53 and denied his challenge. (However, the panel made it a point to say its decision did not imply that Palmeiro had lied to them or to Congress and he was never charged with perjury.)54

Palmeiro served his 10-day suspension from August 1 through August 10. He returned to the Orioles’ lineup on August 14, but soon after missed five games due to injuries to his right knee and ankle. He came back on August 24, played five games, and went 0-for-18. In his last game, Palmeiro wore earplugs in an attempt to block out boos directed at him from opposing fans.55

On September 5, Orioles management told Palmeiro to leave the team and rehab his leg at home. Palmeiro agreed that his presence had become a distraction and said, “It was their idea . . . and I think it’s a good idea. I’ll be back. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I’ll be back.”56 He never made it.

The team’s concerns were realized soon after, when it was leaked that Palmeiro had compromised Tejada in an attempt to save himself. “I’m disappointed if that’s true,” said Orioles teammate Jay Gibbons. “I don’t think it would help to say another teammate gave you something. I think you’ve got to look in the mirror and take responsibility for your actions.”57 (Although Palmeiro had dragged Tejada into the steroid mess, Tejada did not seem to hold a grudge and publicly welcomed Palmeiro before his first game back from the suspension.)58

Palmeiro won the Silver Slugger Award twice, made the All-Star team four times, and finished in the top 20 in MVP voting 10 times. He was a consistent presence in his team’s lineup; in the 16 seasons from 1989 through 2004, he missed only 62 games, an average of fewer than four per year. He ranks 13th in home runs (563) between Harmon Killebrew and Reggie Jackson, 17th in RBIs (1835) between Ken Griffey, Jr. and Dave Winfield, and 29th in hits (3020) between Lou Brock and Wade Boggs. All these players are in the Hall of Fame.

Below are selected career totals for Palmeiro and Eddie Murray. They indicate Palmeiro was every bit as good as Murray, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

But, because of the positive steroid test, Palmeiro was seen as a cheater through the eyes of enough Hall of Fame voters to prevent him from being enshrined. Some voters have publicly expressed their disdain for steroid users:

• “Steroid users] bastardized baseball, eroded the implicit fairness of it and disadvantaged those who chose to play fairly to extents never seen before.” — Tom Verducci (si.com, January 8, 2013)59
• “I have been clear on my position on cheaters. I don’t vote for them.” — Murray Chass (murraychass.com, formerly of the New York Times, December 31, 2017)
• “If you cheated, you cheated and it’s not fair to all the players who played the game without cheating.” — Bill Madden (New York Daily News, on MLB Now, January 16, 2017)60

Many Hall of Fame members don’t want PED users inducted. In 2017 Hall of Famer and vice-chairman of the Hall, Joe Morgan, sent an email to voters in which he wrote, “Section 5 of Rules for Election states, ‘Voting shall be based on a player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which a player has played.’” Morgan continued, “. . . if a player did steroids, his integrity is suspect; he lacks sportsmanship; his character is flawed; and, whatever contribution he made to his team is now dwarfed by his selfishness.” Morgan added, “We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. They don’t belong here.”61

In 2011, the first year Palmeiro was eligible for the Hall, he was named on 11.0 percent (75 percent needed for election) of the ballots, followed annually by 12.8, 8.8, and 4.4 percent. Because the last total was below 5 percent, his name was removed from future ballots.

Palmeiro is not alone. As of 2020, several players have been or probably will be denied membership due to the taint of PEDs. On that list are definite Hall of Famers Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark McGwire and borderline candidates Sammy Sosa and Gary Sheffield.

In 2008, he was elected to the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame62 and, in 2012, to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.63 On February 16, 2019, a statue of Palmeiro (and one of Will Clark) was unveiled at Mississippi State’s baseball field.64

Palmeiro never made it back to Baltimore after he was told to leave in September 2005, and no other major league team signed him. In 2018, at the age of 53, he attempted a short-lived comeback with an independent team.65 He still maintains he never intentionally took steroids and says he’s at peace with baseball and himself. “There’s a lot of other things in my life that are way more important [than the Hall of Fame].” 66 But at times, the sting of rejection remains. “I try not to think about it too much, because it hurts.”67

Last revised: January 13, 2021

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Paul Proia and Norman Macht and fact-checked by David Kritzler.

Sources

Unless otherwise noted, statistics come from baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 Barring special circumstances, achievement of either milestone, let alone both, has meant certain membership in the Hall of Fame.

2 Ed Brandt, Rafael Palmeiro, At Home With the Baltimore Orioles (Childs, Maryland: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 1998): 125.

3 Donald Dodd, “Big League Reunion,” Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi), April 29, 1992: 1.

4 Dan Connolly, “Palmeiro’s Way: Quiet, Steady and Strong,” Baltimore Sun, July 17, 2005: A1.

5 Buster Olney, “Palmeiro’s Burning Desire Sparked On By Fiery Father,” Baltimore Sun, March 30, 1996: 1C.

6 Brandt, Rafael Palmeiro, At Home With the Baltimore Orioles, 125.

7 Barry Lasswell, “Palmeiro Has Designs for More Than Baseball,” Clarion Ledger, April 26, 1983: C1.

8 https://hailstate.com/sports/baseball Accessed July 22, 2020

9 Associated Press, “Palmeiro, Winkler Make All-America Team,” Clarion Ledger, June 4, 1983: 2C.

10 “Dawgs End Season With Hope,” The Yazoo Herald (Yazoo City, Mississippi), June 8, 1983: A7.

11 Associated Press, “NBA Fines 10 Players, Two Teams for Exhibition Games,” Clarion Ledger, July 14, 1983: 4C.

12 Armando Salguero, “Success Has Rafael Palmeiro Whistling Dixie,” The Miami News, May 24, 1985: 3B.

13 “State Enjoys Record-Breaking Year,” Enterprise Journal (McComb, Mississippi), May 31, 1984: 7.

14 Michael Bonner, “ESPN Puts Its Focus on ’85 Team,” Clarion Ledger, May 5, 2015: C1.

15 “McDowell Winner of Golden Spikes,” The Sporting News, November 19. 1984: 63.

16 Special Reports, “1985 an Unforgettable Year For Bulldogs,” Hattiesburg American, June 10, 1985: 1B.

17 OPS is short for On-base percentage Plus Slugging percentage. It has become popular because it is easy to understand and correlates well with a batter’s ability to produce runs. OPS+ indicates how much a player’s OPS is above or below average. Palmeiro’s lifetime OPS+ was 132, 32 percent above average.

18 Jerome Holtzman, “Calm Down, Palmeiro Fans, It Was Good Deal for Cubs,” Chicago Tribune, December 11, 1988: 3-6.

19 Alan Soloman, “Ranger Raffy Rips Frey and Zimmer,” The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois), December 6, 1988: C1.

20 Deene H. Freeman, “Palmeiro May Have Miscalculated Rangers,” The Kilgore News Herald, November 28, 1993: 2A.

21 Associated Press, “Will Clark: A ‘Lowlife’ or a ‘Great Person?’,” The Marshall News Messenger (Marshall, Texas), November 28, 1993: 5B.

22 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1994/03/01/texas-still-hurts-deep-in-heart-of-palmeiro/10a3f978-b8ff-4ee7-8714-1911d20f5582/

23 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1994/03/01/texas-still-hurts-deep-in-heart-of-palmeiro/10a3f978-b8ff-4ee7-8714-1911d20f5582/

24 “Palmeiro: Rangers Are ‘Low-Class,’ Clarks’ a ‘Lowlife’,” Tampa Bay Times, November 24, 1993: 2C.

25 “Palmeiro: Rangers Are ‘Low-Class,’ Clark’s a ‘Lowlife’.”.

26 Associated Press, “Rangers Sign Scioscia,” Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, Texas), December 15, 1993: 2-4.

27 Amy Niedzielka, “Palmeiro Rips Rangers,” Miami Herald, November 24, 1993: D1.

28 Gil LeBreton, “Palmeiro’s Pouting Reeking with Greed,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 24, 1993: C1.

29 Tony DeMarco, “Unhappy Palmeiro Blasts Team’s Decision,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 23, 1993: C1.

30 Randy Galloway, “Palmeiro Deserves Credit for Engineering Reunion,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 3, 1998: 1D.

31 “Palmeiro: Rangers Are ‘Low-Class,’ Clarks’ a ‘Lowlife’,” Tampa Bay Times, November 24, 1993: 2C.

32 Peter Schmuck, “Palmeiro Adapts to Lonely Star State,” Baltimore Sun, March 1, 1994: C1.

33 Amy Niedzielka, “Palmeiro Rips Rangers.”

34 Associated Press, “Will Clark: A ‘Lowlife’ or a ‘Great Person?’”.

35 Rob Gloster, “Bonds Talks on BALCO,” The San Francisco Examiner, December 5, 2003: 1

36 United States Congress House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Investigation Into Rafael Palmeiro’s March 17, 2005 Testimony At The Committee on Government Reform’s hearing: Restoring Faith In America’s Pastime: Evaluating Major League Baseball’s Efforts To Eradicate Steroid Use: 4.

37 Jose Canseco, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2005): 133.

38 U.S. Congress: 3.

39 U.S. Congress: 4.

40 U.S. Congress: 5.

41 U.S. Congress: 5.

42 U.S. Congress: 13.

43 U.S. Congress: 7.

44 U.S. Congress 13.

45 U.S. Congress 27-33.

46 U.S. Congress: 11.

47 U.S. Congress; 11.

48 Canseco, Juiced: 133.

49 U.S. Congress: 34.

50 U.S. Congress: 17.

51 U.S. Congress:: 9.

52 U.S. Congress: 12.

53 U.S. Congress: 12.

54 U.S. Congress: 12.

55 Roch Kubatko, “Palmeiro Covers His Ears, But O’s Can’t Plug Skid, 7-2,” Baltimore Sun, August 31, 2005: 3E.

56 Jeff Zrebiec, “Palmeiro to Rehab in Texas,” Baltimore Sun, September 6, 2005: C1.

57 Roch Kubatko and Dan Connolly, “Under Cloud of Steroids, He’ll Sit Out Season’s Final 10 Days,” Baltimore Sun, September 23, 2005: F1.

58 Dan Connolly, “Palmeiro Returns to Orioles, 10 Days Were ‘Tough Time’,” Baltimore Sun, August 12, 2005: F1.

59 https://www.si.com/mlb/2013/01/08/hall-fame-ballot-steroids-mark-mcgwire-barry-bonds-roger-clemens Accessed August 28, 2020.

60 https://www.cooperstowncred.com/hall-of-fame-conundrum-barry-bonds-roger-clemens/ Accessed September 8, 2020.

61 C. Trent Rosecrans, “Morgan: Keep Steroids out of Hall,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 22, 2017: 3C.

62 “Sports in Brief, Miscellaneous,” Clarion Ledger, August 20, 2008: 2C.

63 Associated Press, “Rafael Palmeiro Inducted Into Miss. Hall of Fame,” Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), July 29, 2012: 6B.

64 Tyler Horka, “Palmeiro, Clark Forever Linked,” Hattiesburg American, February 17, 2019: 2C.

65 Drew Davison, “No Joke: Palmeiro Serious About Comeback,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, January 13, 2018: 1B.

66 https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23784220/at-age-53-rafael-palmeiro-looks-rewrite-career-end Accessed September 10, 2020.

67 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/01/17/rafael-palmeiro-hall-of-fame-steroids-veterans-committee/96670114/ Accessed September 10, 2020.

“He’s a superhero without a cape. That’s the way we see him.” — Alex Cora1

Several of the biggest base hits in Boston baseball history came off the bat of “Big Papi,” David Ortiz. He sports three world championship rings and then wrapped up his career with one of the best final seasons any player has ever enjoyed. Within months of leaving the game, he was honored by the Red Sox, who retired his jersey number 34. He had already become an instant icon in Red Sox Nation.

Had he done no more than lead the 2004 team to triumph over the Yankees and then the Cardinals, he would still go down in team history for his key role in helping them win their first World Series in 86 years. But he came up big again in 2007 and was overpowering in 2013. His postseason exploits were a key reason why he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2022, receiving 77.9 percent of the writers’ vote.

Ortiz hit 541 home runs in the course of his major-league career, and 632 doubles. The only two batters before him to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles were Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

And Ortiz was, as a New York Times subhead once said, “a maestro in the statistics-defying art of clutch hitting.”2

The toast of the town in Boston, David Americo Ortiz Arias came from the humblest of backgrounds. He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on November 18, 1975, but from around the age of 14 grew up in the community of Haina, on the southern coast just west of the capital. The city of around 84,000 people has been dubbed the Dominican Chernobyl and is considered to be one of the most polluted cities in the world. “According to the United Nations, the population of Haina is considered to have the highest level of lead contamination in the world, and its entire population carries indications of lead poisoning.”3 The problem almost certainly emanated from the Baterías Meteoro battery plant, a now-closed automobile battery recycling smelter. David Ortiz himself said, “Piles of batteries, some as high as three-story buildings, could be found in the city. That alone put our lives in danger. … [B]attery acid and lead would seep into the soil.”4

As if that weren’t enough, the city was plagued with “Shootings. Stabbings. Drugs. Gangs. …We were poor and our neighborhood was teeming with violence and crime.” One day on his way to the bodega, young David saw a man murdered right in front of him.5 Had it not been for the values instilled in him by his parents, Enrique and Angela, he might have grown up to a different life entirely — or lost his own life at an early age. Enrique worked at automotive repair, “from parts to repairs to sales,” though he rarely had more than a moped himself. Angela originally worked as a secretary for the Department of Agriculture in Santo Domingo, but she “was always taking on jobs to pick up extra money. She would sometimes travel to other parts of the Caribbean, as far away as Curaçao and St. Thomas, to buy clothes and sell them to tourists at local hotels.”6 They worked hard, sacrificing to help provide for David and his younger sister, Albania.

David had talent at sports, basketball as well as baseball, with his father pushing hard for him to pursue baseball. David spent a lot of time at the Florida Marlins facility but elbow inflammation cropped up and they let it be known he wasn’t being seen as a prospect. A buscón7 named Hector “Machepa” Alvarez took David under his wing and a week and a half after David turned 17, he signed with the Seattle Mariners for $7,500 to $10,000.8 He was sent to play rookie ball in Peoria, Arizona, in the summer of 1994. His salary was $59 per week.9 He was far from home, in an alien environment, and he struggled. Had it not been for his sense of obligation to his parents and a competitive fire within himself, he might not have persevered. That first summer he played in 53 games and batted .246. In the summer of 1995, however, he bumped his average up to .332.

Ortiz was left-handed and grew to stand 6-feet-3 to 6-feet-4, listed at 230 pounds.

In his third year, Ortiz was assigned to the Class-A (Midwest League) Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in Appleton, Wisconsin. There he had five roommates, all Dominican, living in a two-bedroom home. (Until he made the majors, David always played professionally as David Arias, not David Ortiz.) That summer of 1996 saw him begin to hit for power as well as average, with 18 homers and 93 RBIs (both leading the team by a considerable margin), and a .322 batting average. Primarily a first baseman, he was now making $400 a week. He was voted the best defensive first baseman in the league.10

He also met a young woman from Kaukauna, Wisconsin, named Tiffany Brick. She was a photography student in Madison, and a fast-pitch softball player who had been voted “Most Athletic Girl” in her high school. They hit it off immediately and within two weeks, he says, the word “marriage” first came up.11

The Timber Rattlers made the 1996 league playoffs, but lost out in the final round.

On September 13 that year, Ortiz became the player to be named later in a trade with the Minnesota Twins, completing a deal made on August 29, when the Mariners acquired Dave Hollins in what may well have been a cost-cutting move for the Twins.

Ortiz played for four teams in 1997. First he was sent to Fort Myers to play in the Twins Class-A Florida State League team there. He hit .331 in 61 games, earning him a promotion to Double-A ball (with the Eastern League’s New Britain Rock Cats in New Britain, Connecticut). There he hit 14 homers (.322 BA) in 69 games. He was promoted to Salt Lake City of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and appeared in 10 games there, then became a September call-up to the Twins.

Ortiz’s first two major-league at-bats came as a pinch-hitter during interleague play at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. On September 2 he hit a fly ball out to deep left-center field. On September 3 he doubled to deep right-center for his first major-league base hit. He was 2-for-5 with his first run batted in on September 8 and, by season’s end, had made a bit of a mark with just one home run, but with 16 hits in 49 at-bats (.327).

As a youngster, the first player who had made an impression on him, watching the 1991 World Series on a simple TV in the Dominican Republic, was Kirby Puckett. As soon as he was able, Ortiz took the number 34 in tribute to Puckett. But the Twins were no longer the team that had inspired him back in 1991. Not since 1992 had they won as many as half their games; they played in the uninspiring Metrodome, and they were near the bottom of the league in terms of attendance. Ortiz also had a difficult relationship with manager Tom Kelly.12

Through the first games of the 1998 season, Ortiz was hitting over .300 with 20 RBIs, and second on the Twins in slugging, but a broken right wrist saw him unable to play from May 9 to July 9, and hampered his power numbers for the year. (Interestingly, he’d stayed in the game after breaking his wrist, and even homered later in the game.)13 He hit .360 in 18 September games, finishing with a .277 batting average. For the year, he drove in 46 runs despite missing two months; no one else on the Twins drove in more than 77.

In 1999, although the Twins were clearly in need of a big bat, Ortiz was one of the first players cut in spring training and he spent most of the year back in Salt Lake City. He put up some big numbers there, batting .315 with 30 homers and 110 RBIs. When called up in September, however, he was playing with a torn ACL and proved a very disappointing 0-for-20 at the plate, with 12 strikeouts.

There followed something of a journeyman season in the year 2000. Ortiz appeared in 130 big-league games, mostly as a DH, batting .282, and driving in 63 runs. His RBI total placed him fifth on the Twins; he ranked third in slugging percentage.

In 2001 he appeared in only 89 games, almost all as the DH. Another wrist fracture sidelined him for 2½ months. Though he hit 18 homers in the end (from August 9 through August 12, he homered in four consecutive games), he hit for only a .234 average, driving in 48 runs. He’d started off really hot, with 15 RBIs in his first 16 games, and was hitting .311 at the time of the injury. He clearly never fully recovered that season. He had shown plate discipline; in both the 2000 and 2001 seasons, he drew enough walks to add another 82 points to his on-base percentage. The Twins payroll in 2001 was the lowest in the majors when the season began.14

On New Year’s Day 2002, tragedy struck; Ortiz’s mother, Angela Rosa Arias, was killed in an automobile accident. Those who have watched David Ortiz hit home runs over the years will recall that, ever after, when he crossed the plate he would point heavenward to share the moment with his beloved mother.

The year 2002 was Ortiz’s first exclusively in the major leagues, and he appeared in 125 games. (A mid-April surgery to remove bone chips in his knee cost him almost a month on the DL.) Ortiz hit .272, with 20 homers and 75 RBIs, totals that would have both been higher had he not missed so many games. Even then, he ranked third on the Twins in the latter two statistics. He appeared in 15 games at first base, but was typically the DH. The Twins made the postseason and Ortiz’s ninth-inning double drove in the game-winner in the final Division Series game against the Athletics. The Twins lost the ALCS in five games to Anaheim; Ortiz hit .313 but drove in only a pair of runs.

Still skimping on payroll, the Twins weren’t prepared to pony up the money needed to sign Ortiz to a new contract and they didn’t want to go to arbitration with him, which might have forced them to pay him double the $900,000 or $950,000 he was being paid.15 They tried to trade him, but every team in baseball passed, and so they simply released him on December 16, 2002.16 Hard as it may be to believe today, the man who soon became perhaps the best DH in history and one of the most fearsome clutch hitters in postseason play was simply released. He was a man without a team. Notably, though, Tiffany Ortiz’s response was, “Good. Now we can apply for a job in Boston.”17

And Red Sox pitching ace Pedro Martinez (who was dining in the same restaurant in Santo Domingo the evening Ortiz got the word that he had been released) got to work, peppering the Red Sox front office with phone calls and telling them they simply had to sign David Ortiz. They did, with new Boston GM Theo Epstein offering a one-year deal for $1.25 million. It wasn’t a big commitment at the time, and the pursuit of Ortiz barely made the Boston papers. The team had Shea Hillenbrand, and was engaged in negotiations to sign Kevin Millar and Jeremy Giambi. But Ortiz put on something of a show in Dominican Winter League ball, batting .351 with 23 RBIs in 20 games.18 The Dominican team won the Caribbean Series, and Ortiz was named MVP.19

The signing itself was famously dubbed an example of the Red Sox “shopping at Wal-Mart.”20

Indeed, Epstein had proven a thrifty shopper, spending $5.3 million and landing David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, and Bill Mueller.21 Millar fired up the ballclub with his “Cowboy Up!” movement in 2003 and his “Don’t Let Us Win Tonight!” mantra in 2004. Mueller hit .326, good enough to win the American League batting title in 2003. And Ortiz, well, within three years he was being compared to Babe Ruth and described as “one of the all-time baseball bargains.”22

Ortiz was expected to contend for the first-base slot. Epstein sent scout Dave Jauss to look him over and said, “He showed good hands and feet around the bag. Jauss gave a really good report. We’re comfortable with him defensively, and more than comfortable with him offensively.”23

It wasn’t that Epstein needed Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez to speak up for Ortiz; he had already been tracking him back when Epstein was working for the Padres.24

Ortiz was given the locker next to Manny Ramirez. In both his autobiographies, Ortiz talked about the wholly different approach to the game (and the different atmosphere) he felt he encountered in the Red Sox organization and clubhouse. “I felt like I just got out of jail, bro,” he wrote. I felt like I could hit the way I wanted to hit.”25

Ortiz got off to a slow start with the 2003 Red Sox, hitting only one homer in April and batting just .200 as of May 1. He homered only once in May, but brought his batting average up to .272. Ortiz was still being passed over for others, until Pedro Martinez took the unusual step of telling Red Sox manager Grady Little that he wanted Ortiz in the lineup whenever he was pitching. Hillenbrand had been traded, and Giambi suffered numerous injuries and, ultimately, shoulder surgery. The job fell to Ortiz by default.

It was during this first season with the Red Sox that Ortiz acquired the nickname “Big Papi,” bestowed on him by Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy.26

He homered only twice in June. But he added eight in July as he started to get on a roll. He hit two home runs in a July 4 game at Yankee Stadium and then two more in the next day’s game as well, the first visiting player to ever do so.27

His first game-winning hit for the Red Sox was a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth on July 26 against the Yankees. That one at-bat was described at length and in context by Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe.28 From July 27 through August 7, 12 consecutive base hits were all extra-base hits (five doubles, two triples, and five homers). There were several games in which he seemed to make all the difference, such as a 5-4 win in 10 innings in Chicago, when Ortiz drove in four of the runs, including the game-winner.

By the end of the season, one which saw the Sox reach the playoffs, Ortiz had 31 homers and 101 RBIs. His .592 slugging percentage was tops on the team. He ranked fifth in league MVP voting.

Boston dropped the first two games of the 2003 ALDS to Oakland, but then took the next two. Ortiz hadn’t had a base hit until the bottom of the eighth in Game Four, but he doubled and drove in two runs, winning the game for the Red Sox, 5-4, and sending the Series to Game Five, where the Red Sox prevailed. In the American League Championship Series against the archrival Yankees, Ortiz hit a two-run homer to kick off Game One. The next runs he drove in were in Game Six, his two-run single in the third making the score 4-1, his three RBIs in the game proving the margin in Boston’s 9-6 win.

Ortiz’s solo homer in the top of the eighth in Game Seven extended the Red Sox lead to 5-2 and it looked like a trip to the World Series was in the cards … until Grady Little asked Pedro Martinez, to return to the mound and pitch another inning — only to see Pedro cough up three runs, see the game become tied, and watch the Red Sox lose it in the 11th. Any trip to the World Series would have to wait until 2004.

Ortiz said the 2003-04 offseason was full of sleepless nights for him. “The Game 7 loss to the Yankees had torn me up, knowing that we were just five outs away from going to the World Series. Anytime I got close to contentment, I’d feel the sting of that loss.”29

He worked hard and came back better than ever. In 2004, now secure as a starter (34 games at first base, 115 as DH), he put up bigger numbers than ever: 41 homers (second in the league only to teammate Manny Ramirez’s 43), 139 RBIs, a .301 batting average. Ortiz and Ramirez were a potent combination in Boston’s batting order. Six times that season, they went back-to-back; on August 22 in the eighth inning of a game at Comiskey Park, they homered on consecutive pitches –first Manny off Freddy Garcia, and then Ortiz off reliever Damaso Marte. Two teammates both hitting 40 homers, driving in 100 runs, and hitting for at least a .300 average had been done only eight other times since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did it in 1931.

Ortiz was rewarded by being named to the American League All-Star squad for the first of 10 times. He homered in the All-Star Game. In May he had been signed to a new two-year contract with a team option for 2006.

The Red Sox finished second to the Yankees in the AL East. As the wild-card team, they took the first two games from Anaheim in the ALDS. In the bottom of the 10th in Game Three, after the Angels had overcome a 6-1 deficit to tie the game, Ortiz came up with two outs and homered to the opposite field off Jarrod Washburn to advance the Sox to the ALCS — where they faced the Yankees again. In the ALDS, Ortiz was 6-for-11 with four RBIs and five walks.

He drove in two runs in Game One against the Yankees, but the Red Sox lost the first three games, Game Three an embarrassing 19-8 beatdown in Boston. The story of Game Four and all that followed has been told at great length elsewhere.30 The game went into the bottom of the ninth with the Yankees leading, 4-3. Two of the three Red Sox runs had been knocked in by Ortiz in the fifth. With Mariano Rivera on the mound, Kevin Millar walked, pinch-runner Dave Roberts stole second, and Bill Mueller drove Roberts in to tie the game. With the bases loaded, Ortiz popped up to second and the game went into extra innings. But Rivera wasn’t going to be around if Ortiz got up again and, he said, “I liked my percentages against anyone who wasn’t him.”31

In the bottom of the 12th inning, with the score still tied, Ortiz got another opportunity. Paul Quantrill was pitching and Manny Ramirez singled to left field. Ortiz, as a DH not needing to play the field, studied Quantrill on video, and he was ready. He homered into the right-field stands, winning the game 6-4 and sparing the Red Sox the ignominy of being swept. And “David Ortiz became the only player in baseball history to hit two walk-off home runs in the same postseason” while the Red Sox became the first team since the 1910 Chicago Cubs to be the only team down three games to none and win Game Four in extra innings.32

No team had ever come back after losing the first three and won it all, but simply the reprieve of taking Game Four offered some salve to Red Sox fans.

Next up was Game Five. The fourth game had ended after midnight, in the early hours of October 18. The fourth game started that evening. Ortiz drove in the first run of the game, in the first inning. The Yankees took a 4-2 lead into the eighth, and Ortiz homered to make it 4-3, then watched a Jason Varitek sacrifice fly off Rivera tie the game. Ortiz led off the bottom of the 10th and struck out. Facing reliever Esteban Loaiza in the 12th, he walked but was caught stealing.33 The game went into the 14th inning, Loaiza still on the mound. He alternated strikeout, walk, strikeout, walk, then faced Ortiz again. It was a 10-pitch at-bat. On that final pitch, Ortiz singled to center, driving in Johnny Damon, and for the second time on the same calendar date, he’d given the Red Sox a sudden-death, extra-inning walk-off win.

Suddenly this was a different Series entirely. Both teams went back to Yankee Stadium for Game Six. With four runs in the fourth, three on Mark Bellhorn’s three-run homer, the Red Sox took that one, setting up another Game Seven.

One could well say the Red Sox were giddy with success with the Yankees uptight and maybe panicked. Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the top of the first. Damon drove in six runs. The Red Sox won it easily, 10-3. Ortiz had driven in 11 runs in the ALCS and was named MVP. In back-to-back ALCS against New York in 2003 and 2004, he had homered five times and driven in 17 runs.

After winning four in a row to overtake the Yankees, the Red Sox won the next four games, too, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox were world champions.

Ortiz had driven in four runs, all in Game One, the first three coming on a three-run homer in the first inning.

And everyone knew he had come through in the clutch when the Red Sox were in the depths.

In the summer of 2005, Mariano Rivera stated what had become evident. Ortiz had developed as a hitter. “He used to have holes on the inside. You’d go outside. Holes? Now they’re not there anymore.”34 Ortiz’s work with video became legendary, it being written, “David Ortiz of the Red Sox does not look like a computer nerd, but he is. Ortiz is a slave to the laptop, hunkering over it several times a day, especially during games, to analyze at-bats. He wants to see how pitchers approached him, how he reacted and whether they had a counter-response.”35

With Ortiz as a designated hitter, the Red Sox were always faced with a choice when playing in a National League ballpark, for interleague play or in the World Series: Do they play him at first base and thus keep him in the lineup, or do they opt for a perhaps improved defense by using their regular first baseman, whoever he may be at the time? The decision was easier because Ortiz was a very good fielder, with decent range. Over the course of his 20 seasons in the big leagues, he handled 2,169 chances with only 22 errors — a .990 fielding percentage. He also recorded 164 assists, a particular one a highlight indicating good situational awareness. It came in Game Three of the 2004 World Series, the first game in St. Louis. It was only the second game Ortiz had started at first base since July 22, and it had rained earlier in the day so he had been unable to take infield practice. But when the moment came, he was ready. In the bottom of the third inning, with the score 1-0 in Boston’s favor, Cardinals starting pitcher Jeff Suppan led off and singled. After Edgar Renteria doubled to right field, the Cardinals had runners on second and third with nobody out. Larry Walker grounded to second base, and Mark Bellhorn threw to first base to get Walker. Ortiz recorded the out, but alertly had his eye on Suppan, who had indecisively headed toward home but then decided to retreat to third, only to be caught when Ortiz took a couple of steps toward third and fired the ball across the infield for a double play. The Cardinals failed to score in the inning.

Although the team enjoyed no postseason success in 2005, David Ortiz had a very good regular season. He led the majors in runs batted in, with 148. He upped his home run total to 47 but again finished second. He hit an even .300 and walked 102 times, just barely edging his OPS over a magic mark — to 1.001. His best single day was probably an August 12 game against the White Sox; he was 4-for-5 with two homers and drove in six runs. The Red Sox won, 9-8. After a game on September 6, when a solo Ortiz home run beat the Angels in the bottom of the ninth, 3-2, Red Sox ownership presented him with a plaque they had prepared and held for the right moment, proclaiming him the “Greatest Clutch Hitter in the History of the Boston Red Sox.”36 They couldn’t have known how much history was yet to be written.

The Red Sox did make the postseason, but it was the White Sox’ turn to break an even lengthier curse than the Red Sox had suffered. They swept Boston in three games in the Division Series; Ortiz hit .333 with one homer. The White Sox beat Houston and won their first World Series since 1917.

Early in 2006, Ortiz played for the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic. He hit three home runs (and walked once with the bases loaded) but Japan won the tournament and four players either matched or exceeded Ortiz’s three homers.37 In April he agreed to a four-year extension of his contract with the Red Sox, for an amount thought to be $52 million.38

In 2006 Ortiz had 31 home runs before the All-Star break. He set a franchise record with 54 home runs, this time leading the league. (Jimmie Foxx had held the Red Sox record, with 50 homers in 1938.) Ortiz’s 137 RBIs also led the American League, as did his 355 total bases. It was a year that Boston finished third, however, and out of the postseason.

And speaking of clutch performances, in just the four-year stretch from 2003 through 2006, Ortiz had 15 “walk-offs” — two in 2003, five in 2004, three in 2005, and five in 2006.

The Red Sox had finished in second place eight years in a row, 1998 through 2005, and then third in 2006. In 2007 they were in first place from April 18 on and never once relinquished the spot.

The team won another world championship in 2007, again by a sweep (this time over the Colorado Rockies). Ortiz hit a career-high .332 batting average, and his .445 on-base percentage led the league. He homered 35 times and drove in 117 runs. His 1.066 OPS was the highest of his career; this was the third year in a row he topped 1.000.

After homering and driving in two runs to help beat the Angels 4-0 in Game One of the Division Series, the Angels walked him four times in Game Two. He homered again in Game Three, and Boston swept that series with Ortiz batting .714. It took the full seven games to beat Cleveland in the ALCS. Ortiz contributed three RBIs and seven runs scored; he hit .292. In the World Series, he drove in four runs and scored four. He was 5-for-15 with three doubles.

An amusing story surfaced in April 2008. It turns out that Gino Castignoli, a member of the construction crew building the new Yankee Stadium, had buried a Red Sox jersey bearing Ortiz’s number 34 in concrete. When the story emerged, the team ordered jackhammers to work to remove the offending jersey.39 (The jersey was later placed on auction on eBay to raise money for the Jimmy Fund, and fetched $175,110.)40

The next two times the Red Sox reached the postseason, Ortiz was unable to match his high standards of production. In 2008 he had a difficult year; playing in only 109 games, he hit .264 with 23 homers and 89 RBIs. He became an American citizen in June, but a serious left wrist injury on Memorial Day weekend made an already difficult season (due to a slow start) even more so. The team beat the Angels in four Division Series games with just one RBI from Ortiz, an insurance run on a single in Game One. They were down one game to three to Tampa Bay in the Championship Series with Ortiz even driving in one run, and with manager Joe Maddon employing a fairly dramatic defensive shift when Ortiz came to bat. Game Five was at Fenway Park, and when the Red Sox came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, they were losing 7-0 and on the brink of elimination. After Dustin Pedroia drove in one run, Ortiz hit a three-run homer and put them back in the game. They scored three more runs in the eighth to tie it, and J.D. Drew won the game with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Ortiz knocked in the fourth run of a 4-2 win in Game Six, but the Rays prevailed in Game Seven. Ortiz had hit just .154 in the ALCS.

Shifting against Ortiz was often effective, though he had a significant number of opposite-field hits and was even known to lay down a successful bunt toward third base on occasion.

In the midst of the 2009 season, a story in the New York Times reported that both Ortiz and Manny Ramirez had turned up in 2003 on a list of players who had tested positive for steroids. That year was the first year of testing for steroids, and all tests were meant to be anonymous.41 Ortiz vehemently denied ever knowingly taking any substances that might have resulted in a positive test, and said he believed that all players should be tested. If anyone was found guilty, he suggested a penalty greater than any ever employed: “Ban them for the whole year.”42

Ortiz has reportedly never been informed as to the substance for which he reportedly tested positive, and thus remains in the dark. Given that it was the first year of testing, the tests may also have been faulty. The same article said that Barry Bonds had not tested positive, but a later retest did show the presence of steroids. Years later, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on October 2, 2016, that there were “legitimate scientific questions about whether or not those were truly positives,” acknowledging that the tests were flawed, and that it was “entirely possible” that, in reality, Ortiz had not truly tested positive.43 In the 13 seasons after 2003, and the 7½ seasons after the Times article, Ortiz was tested numerous times and no positive test ever occurred.

The Angels swept the Division Series in 2009. Ortiz was 1-for-12 (.083) with a single. During the regular season, he’d suffered a very slow start and at one point did not homer for 149 at-bats. He came to feel he might have been over-thinking his approach to batting and decided to “act like I was in Little League” — just to play to have fun, and unclutter his mind.44 In the end, he hit for a .238 average but he had found his stroke and done damage: he drove in 99 runs. He homered 28 times.

The Red Sox didn’t see the postseason again until 2013.

Ortiz’s batting average picked up in 2010 and 2011 (.270 and .309). He’d had a very slow start in 2010 (.143 at the end of April, with one homer, and not passing .200 until May 14) and some became alarmed, thinking age had caught up with him. By the end of the season, though, he had 32 homers and had driven in 102 runs — numbers most players would give anything to attain. The team finished in third place.  

In 2011 the Sox finished third again. Ortiz hit steadily throughout the season, falling four RBIs short of the 100 mark, homering 29 times.

In 2012, signed to just a one-year deal, he had a very strong first half, but a severely strained right Achilles tendon saw him only appear in one game after July 16. He played in only 90 games, though he drove in 60 runs, homered 23 more times, and hit .318. Under manager Bobby Valentine, the Red Sox finished in last place. Though not something we want to dwell on here, Ortiz absolutely shredded Valentine in his book Papi: My Story.

The year 2013 was a magical year, though it started with the horrible tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing. It was April 15 — Patriots Day — and the Red Sox, per local tradition, started the game at 11:05 A.M., timed to end around the time the first runners of the Boston Marathon crossed the finish line, just two subway stops from Fenway Park. Ortiz was not in the game, but he was at the ballpark. He was still rehabbing from the Achilles problem, and didn’t play his first game until April 20. The Patriots Day game ended at 2:08, and the team dressed to head for the charter going to Cleveland for the next day’s game. At 2:40, two bombs exploded 12 seconds apart and three young people were killed, including 8-year-old Martin Richard. Dozens were injured and the city was under a “shelter in place” situation later in the week after the bombers killed an M.I.T. police officer and drove off without being caught. Ortiz was in Greater Boston all the time, and lived through what area residents experienced.

The team seemed to draw on the sense of togetherness, embodied in the “Boston Strong” movement, and in a powerful speech before the next Fenway game, an unfiltered Ortiz said, “This is our fucking city. And nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”

Ortiz opened his season with a 2-for-4 game, kicking off a 15-game hitting streak. After the first nine games, at the end of April, he had 15 RBIs and was batting .500. He rarely missed a game after he got started, appearing in 137 games and batting .309, with 103 RBIs and 30 homers. The Red Sox rocketed from worst to first, from a 69-93 record in 2012 to 97-65. They beat Tampa Bay and then Detroit, and played the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. One of the most celebrated home runs of his career came in Game Two of the ALCS. The Tigers had won the first game, 1-0, and were leading 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in Game Two.

Three and a half months earlier, on June 23, Joaquin Benoit had struck out Ortiz in the ninth inning of a game in Detroit. Ortiz filed the pitch away in his mind and was waiting for another chance to attack it. With Boston baserunners loading the bases, manager Jim Leyland called on Benoit to pitch to Ortiz. Big Papi was waiting.45 Swinging at Benoit’s first pitch, Ortiz hit a grand slam into the Red Sox bullpen to tie it. The Sox won it in the ninth. Clutch? No fan would say otherwise.46

There was no certainty the Red Sox would win the World Series. The Cardinals were up two games to one, and the score was 1-1 at the midpoint of Game Four. “We were playing like zombies,” Ortiz said later. “Quiet, no emotion, a little stiff.”47 So he called a quick meeting right then and there in the dugout and basically gave them a pep talk, telling them how rare it was to get to the World Series, that they were better than St. Louis, and it was time to get going. A Jonny Gomes three-run homer in the top of the sixth followed, and the team never looked back.

Ortiz hit a spectacular .688 in the World Series (11-for-16), with eight bases on balls giving him a .760 on-base percentage. It was the highest batting average in World Series history. He drove in six runs and scored seven (two on his own home runs). The Red Sox won it in six games, and Ortiz collected his third world championship ring in 10 years (2004, 2007, and 2013). He was named Series MVP.

And after the Series, owner John W. Henry called on Ortiz, offering him a contract that in effect offered him a player option for as long as he wanted — a contract for the life of his playing career.48

In each of his next three seasons — his last three as a ballplayer — Ortiz drove in more than 100 runs, each season knocking in more runs than the season before. In 2014 he had 35 homers and drove in 104 runs. In 2015 he had 37 homers and drove in 108 runs. And in his final season — 2016, having announced his retirement before the season began — he had perhaps the best year any player has ever had in his final season. Playing in 151 games, he hit for a .315 batting average, led the major leagues with 48 doubles, led the American League with 127 RBIs (tied with Edwin Encarnacion), and led all of baseball in slugging (.620) and OPS (1.021).

It would have been nice to say Ortiz went out with another ring, but the Cleveland Indians swept the Red Sox in the ALDS. Ortiz was 1-for-9, the one hit a double. After the season, Ortiz was recognized for the second time with baseball’s Hank Aaron Award (the first time had been in 2005). He won his seventh Silver Slugger Award.

Retirement awaited, though Ortiz was often seen around Boston during 2017. David and Tiffany Ortiz continued to maintain their principal residence in Massachusetts, with their three children, Jessica, Alexandra, and D’Angelo. There had been a time early in 2013 when the couple had separated, but in time they reconciled. Tiffany later told him, “As clutch as you were on the field, you did that and more to win me back and put our family back together again.”49

For David, his number 34 was retired during the summer. He had a street named after him, as was the bridge that spans the Mass Pike as people leave Kenmore Square to go to Fenway Park. And he became Dr. David Ortiz when Boston University bestowed an honorary degree on him in May 2017.

Ortiz was active in charitable endeavors, and also saw his second autobiography published. Following a very moving visit to a Dominican hospital in February 2005 where he encountered children recovering from heart surgery, he established the David Ortiz Children’s Fund in 2007 and partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital and CEDIMAT, the first Diagnostics and Advanced Medicine center in the Dominican Republic. The Fund sponsors an annual golf tournament in La Romana, DR, and has raised more than $2 million. It reckons to have “saved over 500 lives in the Dominican Republic” and helped others in New England.50

For his career as a whole, Ortiz hit better against right-handed pitchers, batting .294 for his career against them as opposed to .268 against lefties. He faced more right-handers, of course, but hit 421 homers off them as opposed to 120 off left-handers. Against Blue Jays pitching, he homered 62 times; against the Orioles, 55 times, and against both the Rays and the Yankees, 53. As the season progressed, he seemed to hit more home runs. In May: 79. In June, he hit 86. In July: 95. In August: 105. And in September/October, he hit 102. More of his home runs were hit on the road (300) than at home (241). Conversely, he drove in more runs at home (953) than away (815).

On September 13, 2017, the Red Sox announced a mutual long-term commitment between the ballclub and Ortiz: “In his new role, Ortiz will act as a mentor for current players, participate in recruitment efforts, make a variety of special appearances for the club, and work in a business development capacity for Fenway Sports Management and its partners.”51

David Ortiz was shot in the back on June 9, 2019, while seated outdoors at the Dial Bar and Lounge in Santo Domingo. Within the first 10 days after the shooting, 11 suspects were arrested with several more still at large, but on June 19, prosecutors announced that Ortiz had not been the intended target of a contract killing, but that the gunman had been after another man who was seated near Ortiz. Many Dominicans were skeptical.52 In the meantime, reportedly suffering injuries to both intestines, his gall bladder, and liver, he had been brought to Boston for medical treatment, where he underwent multiple surgeries over a period of more than a month at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was released from the hospital on July 26.

On September 9, before the Monday evening game against the Yankees, David Ortiz bounded up the steps of the Red Sox dugout and out onto the field to throw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch. He spoke a few words, thanking the fans in Boston for their support and thanking a couple of the Yankees for making the time to come visit him. He had his big smile, was full of energy, and sat in seats next to the dugout for most of the game — at one point giving the jersey he had worn to a youngster seated several rows behind him. Big Papi was back.53

Last revised: January 25, 2022

A postscript on walk-offs

Following up on walk-offs, the number any player can have is limited by the fact that you can have only one in a home game. David Ortiz had 20 in regular-season play. Two players had more: Frank Robinson (26) and Dusty Baker (21). No player in history had ever had more than two walk-offs in the postseason — but David Ortiz hit three of them in 2004.

David Ortiz’s walk-off hits

For the Twins:

• April 4, 2000: tie-breaking single in the ninth
• July 31, 2002: single in 10th
• September 25, 2002: home run in the 12th

For the Red Sox:

• July 26, 2003: single off the Wall in the ninth, against the Yankees
• September 23, 2003: HR in the 10th
• April 11, 2004: HR in the 12th
• June 11, 2004: single in the ninth
• October 8, 2004: HR in bottom of the 10th to clinch a win in the ALCS against the Angels
• October 17, 2004: home run in the 12th to win Game Four of the ALCS against the Yankees
• October 18, 2004: single in the 14th to win Game Five of the ALCS against the Yankees
• June 2, 2005: Three-run HR in the ninth to come from behind and beat the O’s
• September 6, 2005: HR in the ninth
• September 29, 2005: single in the ninth
• June 11, 2006: Three-run HR in the ninth to overcome a 4-2 deficit
• June 24, 2006: two-run homer in the 10th
• June 26, 2006: single in the 12th
• July 29, 2006: single in the ninth
• July 31, 2006: three-run homer in ninth to overcome two-run deficit
• September 12, 2007: two-run homer in the ninth to overcome one-run deficit
• August 26, 2009: tie-breaking solo homer in the ninth
• July 31, 2010: three-run double in the ninth to overcome two-run deficit
• June 6, 2013: three-run tie-breaking homer in ninth
• May 14, 2016: double in the 11th

Sources

In addition to the sources noted in this biography, the author also accessed the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Retrosheet.org, and Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Peter Abraham, “Ortiz Was All That Mattered at Fenway,” Boston Globe, June 10, 2019: C4.

2 Jack Curry, “An Island of Calm in a Sea of Doubt: Ortiz’s Clutch Hitting Keeps Red Sox Moored Despite Struggles,” New York Times, September 17, 2005: D1.

3 worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/50.

4 David Ortiz, with Michael Holley, Papi: My Story (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017), 2.

5 Papi: My Story, 2-3.

6 Papi: My Story, 9, 125. David’s father’s name was Americo Enrique Ortiz and he had wanted to be a ballplayer himself. That aspiration was one of the reasons he worked closely with David, and encouraged him every step of the way. See David Ortiz, with Tony Massarotti, Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits (New York: St. Martin’s, 2007), 20-23.

7 A buscón in the Dominican Republic is a free-lance scout and agent. The word is Spanish for searcher.

8 In Big Papi, he said it was $7,500. In Papi: My Story, he said it was $10,000.

9 Papi: My Story, 13.

10 David Ortiz, with Tony Massarotti, Big Papi, 69.

11 Papi: My Story, 18.

12 In both of his autobiographies, Ortiz expresses his dissatisfaction with Kelly.

13 Gordon Edes, “Sox Officially Bring in Ortiz,” Boston Globe, January 23, 2003: E3. Also see Big Papi, 95-96.

14 Murray Chass, “Surprising Twins Give Foes a Run for Their Money,” New York Times, April 24, 2001: D1.

15 Bob Hohler, “Epstein Negotiating for Millar,” Boston Globe, January 18, 2003: F3.

16 See, in particular, Big Papi, 191-192. The Associated Press said Ortiz was “released … before the draft to make room for shortstop Jose Morban.” See, for instance, AP, “Anderson Released by Pirates,” Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, December 17, 2002: C4.

17 Papi: My Story, 38. David and Tiffany had sealed their longstanding relationship with marriage on November 16.

18 Bob Hohler, “Epstein Negotiating for Millar.”

19 Joe Burris, “Opportunity Knocks for Sox’ Ortiz,” Boston Globe, June 12, 2003: C8.

20 Gordon Edes, “Sox Officially Bring in Ortiz.”

21 Tyler Kepner, “Red Sox Trying to Picture the Parade,” New York Times, February 8, 2004: SP1.

22 Harvey Araton, “New Babe in Boston Has Torre Looking for the Right Move,” New York Times, October 1, 2005: D1.

23 Araton.

24 Gordon Edes, “Smashing Success,” Boston Globe, September 12, 2003: E1.

25 Big Papi, 128.

26 Ricky Doyle, “Where Did David Ortiz’s ‘Big Papi’ Nickname With Red Sox Come From?’ NESN.com, October 3, 2016. See nesn.com/2016/10/where-did-david-ortizs-big-papi-nickname-with-red-sox-come-from/.

27 The last Yankee to do so was Roger Maris, hitting two homers in each game if the June 25, 1961 doubleheader. Gloria Rodriguez, “After a Boom, the Red Sox Go Bust,” New York Times, July 7, 2003: D3.

28 Jackie MacMullan, “Ortiz’s Bat Does Talking in the Ninth,” Boston Globe, July 27, 2003: D1.

29 Papi: My Story, 62.

30 The author’s admittedly biased preference is the oral history of the season as told by 59 players, coaches, support staff, and others in Allan Wood & Bill Nowlin, Don’t Let Us Win Tonight: An Oral History of the 2004 Boston Red Sox’s Impossible Playoff Run (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2014).

31 Papi: My Story, 80.

32 Don’t Let Us Win Tonight, 137.

33 Ortiz did steal 17 bases in his regular-season career. He was caught nine times.

34 Jack Curry, “Big Guy, Big Numbers, Big Smile,” New York Times, July 14, 2005: D1.

35 One of the better articles on Ortiz’s work with video is Jack Curry, “A Scientific Hitter in the Computer Age,” New York Times, October 12, 2007: D1.

36 Chris Snow, “A Blast, Like the Past,” Boston Globe, September 7, 2005: F1.

37 Seung-Yeop Lee, KOR — 5; Adrian Beltre, DOM — 4; Derrek Lee, USA — 3; Hitoshi Tamura, JPN — 3; and David Ortiz, DOM — 3.

38 Associated Press, “Ortiz Agrees to Four-Year Extension,” Register-Star (Rockford, Illinois), April 11, 2006: 27.

39 Karen Matthews, Associated Press, “Sox Shirt Found in Yanks’ New Stadium,” Daily Northwestern (Evanston, Illinois), April 14, 2008: 15.

40 Joshua Robinson, “Ortiz Jersey Cemented at the New Yankee Stadium Brings $175,110,” New York Times, April 5, 2008: D3.

41 Michael S. Schmidt, “Stars of Red Sox Title Years Are Linked to Doping,” New York Times, July 30, 2009: A1.

42 Schmidt.

43 Alex Speier, “Commissioner: ‘Entirely Possible’ Ortiz Did Not Test Positive in 2003,” Boston Globe, October 2, 2016.

44 Jack Curry, “To Enjoy the Game Again, Ortiz Tries Playing It as if He Were a Boy,” New York Times, September 26, 2009: D5.

45 See Ortiz’s description in Papi: My Story, 195, 200.

46 Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times, however, wrote an article entitled “Ortiz’s Consistency Comes Across as Clutch.” See the newspaper on October 15, 2013: B12. The eighth-inning homer saw Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter make a valiant effort to catch the ball before it landed in Boston’s bullpen. He fell into the pen, both legs upraised behind him, forming something of a “V” while City of Boston policeman Steve Horgan, stationed in the bullpen, raised both of his arms in a celebratory “V” — creating an iconic image captured by Boston Globe photographer Stan Grossfeld. See, for instance, https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/boston-cop-fenway-bullpen-celebrates-david-ortiz-grand-132350182–mlb.html.

47 Papi: My Story, 204.

48 Papi: My Story, 207. Henry told Ortiz it was “a contract that allows you to play as long as you want to.”

49 Papi: My Story, 205.

50 davidortizchildrensfund.org/.

51 Media release, Boston Red Sox, September 13, 2017. The actual description of his duties was vague in the extreme, so much so that Craig Calcaterra ran a piece headlined, “David Ortiz Will Be Doing … Um, Stuff and Things for the Red Sox.” See nbcsports.com/2017/09/13/david-ortiz-will-be-doing-um-stuff-and-things-for-the-red-sox/. Chances were thought to be his work would be in a “player development consultant” role, along the lines of Carl Yastrzemski and Dwight Evans, but with Ortiz perhaps more active.

52 Danny McDonald, David Abel, and Aimee Ortiz, “David Ortiz Was Not Intended Target in Shooting, Officials Say,” Boston Globe, June 20, 2019: A1. See also David Abel, “Many Are Skeptical of Mistaken-Identity Explanation,” Boston Globe, June 20, 2019: A8. A detailed summary of the story, informed by a visit to the Dominican Republic, is Danny Gold, “David and the D.R.,” Sports Illustrated, July 29 – August 5, 2019.

53 In his first comments to an English language publication, he talked about the experience to the Boston Globe. See Bob Hohler, “Near Death, Ortiz Pushed Through Despair,” Boston Globe, September 15, 2019: 1, C9.

It may seem a bit of tomfoolery to think of an actual tree house hosting some of the greats of the game of baseball. But on August 15, 2011, that is exactly the scene one might envision. Minnesota Twins slugger Jim Thome joined that elite group when he hit home runs 599 and 600 against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. He became the eighth player to achieve the monumental feat, and he became the first to hit numbers 599 and 600 in the same game.

Thome stepped to the plate in the in the top of the sixth inning, with Jason Kubel on first base and no one out, and homered to break a 3-3 tie. In the seventh inning, he connected for a three-run homer off pitcher Dan Schlereth. The ball sailed over the left-field wall for number 600. Detroit left fielder Delmon Young, who had been traded to the Tigers from Minnesota earlier that day, leapt in vain to catch the baseball. “If Delmon would have caught that, I might have went out there and kicked his butt,” said Twins manager Rod Gardenhire.1

As Thome rounded third base and headed to home, his teammates were there to greet him. Detroit baseball fans, a knowledgeable bunch, recognized a historic moment when it presented itself, stood, and showered Thome with thunderous applause. “I wasn’t really aware of it. I knew he was close to 600, but I didn’t know if that was going to be the one,” said Schlereth. “I’m not exactly happy about it, but he’s a great player, and I’m a huge fan of his. He did a great thing tonight, and … I felt kind of awkward, I didn’t know whether to clap or what.”2

Said Thome, “It’s an unbelievable night. You dream about it, but when it happens it’s kind of surreal. You envision, is it ever going to happen? You don’t know. At 40 years old, approaching 41, you don’t know. I never tried to take it for granted.”3 It was fitting that Thome hit the historic blast against the Tigers, as he had hit more home runs against Detroit (66) than any other club in his 22-year career.

Thome reached the 600-home-run plateau in 8,167 at-bats. Only the Babe was faster; it took the Bambino 6,821 at-bats. “It’s an honor and a privilege to welcome another member to the 600-home-run club, especially someone like Jim Thome, who is not just a great baseball player, but a great person as well,” said Ken Griffey Jr. “I offer Jim my heartfelt congratulations.”4

James Howard Thome was born on August 27, 1970, in Peoria, Illinois, one of Chuck and Joyce Thome’s five children. Chuck Thome worked as a foreman at Caterpillar Industries Inc. There was baseball lineage in the Thome family. Chuck played fast-pitch softball on teams sponsored by Caterpillar. His sister Carolyn played fast-pitch as well and was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 1966. Jim’s grandfather, Chuck Sr., played baseball in the minor leagues. Thome paid tribute to his grandfather by wearing his socks pulled all the way up. He noted, “My dad told me that my grandfather hit a home run off Bob Feller when Feller was barnstorming through the Midwest one year.”5

The story that is often told of Thome as a young boy is how he idolized Chicago Cubs slugger Dave Kingman. On one visit to Wrigley Field with his father, young Jim sought out Kingman for an autograph. But his attempts were unsuccessful. Not to be deterred, he bounded into the Cubs dugout. Thome was returned to Chuck Thome via a delivery from Cubs catcher Barry Foote.

Thome was a two-sport star at Limestone High School in Bartonville, a Peoria suburb, garnering All-State recognition in both basketball and baseball. After high school Thome enrolled at Illinois Central College, where he excelled in both sports. The National Junior College Athletic Association named him an All-American in baseball. Cleveland scout Tom Couston remembered Thome hitting ropes all over the field. “There were a bunch of scouts there, but they’d all come to see another player,” Couston said. “Thome was playing shortstop, and he went 1-for-4 or maybe it was 0-for-4. But every ball he hit was a rocket. His swing was so quick and powerful that I was surprised he didn’t kill somebody. “6

Couston asked the coach for permission to speak to Thome. “First of all, he sent over the wrong kid,” said Couston. “I told him I don’t want you, I want the shortstop. When Thome came over, I didn’t want any of the other scouts to see me talking to him. So we’re standing back-to-back. Jimmy kept calling me sir and turning around to talk to me and I kept saying ‘Don’t look at me, keep looking into the distance.’ He probably thought I was a wacko. I asked him, ‘If we draft you, will you sign?’”7 Thome said he would.

Cleveland selected Thome in the 13th round of the June 1989 free-agent draft. He was assigned to the Indians rookie-level Gulf Coast League team, where he struggled, with little power. The following year Thome established a relationship that would serve him through his career and beyond. At the end of spring training, he was not assigned to a minor-league team, and stayed in extended spring training waiting for one of the Class A short-season teams to begin its schedule. Charlie Manuel, Cleveland’s big-league hitting coach, was named manager of the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs for 1990. Manuel took note of how hard Thome hit the baseball, and worked with him on his swing. A relationship was formed and then strengthened from 1991 to 1993, when Thome spent parts of all three years playing for teams Manuel managed.

From 1991 through 1993, Thome spent the beginning of each season at the minor-league level, but he made his way to the big-league club during each year. He made his major-league debut on September 4, 1991, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Thome played third base and went 2-for-4 at the plate, with an RBI and a run scored.

Thome demonstrated a high aptitude for hitting. Except for his initial year in 1989, he hit well over .300 in each year in the minors. In Charlotte in 1993, under Manuel’s tutelage, Thome smacked 25 home runs and drove in 102 runs while batting .332. Thome, like Manuel, was a left-handed hitter. Manuel noted that Thome was unable to pull the ball to right field. One day in the clubhouse, some players were watching the movie The Natural. “In the movie, Robert Redford would point the bat out in front of him and then bring it back,” said Manuel. “I thought that might work for Thome. He was so tense at the plate that he’d bow his back. This way, he could point the bat out in front of him, take a deep breath and bring it back.”8 Manuel also had Thome open up his stance so he could pull the ball more to right field.

When the 1994 season began, Cleveland was in a new ballpark, Jacobs Field. Thome started at third base, but mostly only against right-handed starters. The players strike halted the season on August 12, with Cleveland one game behind Chicago in the American League Central Division. Expectations were high in 1995. Thome had hit .304, with 18 homers and 43 RBIs against right-handed pitching in 1994. Overall, he batted .268 with 20 homers and 52 RBIs.

The 1995 season offered little resistance for Cleveland. With a lineup including Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Paul Sorrento, Eddie Murray, and Thome, the Indians decimated their opponents. They led the league in batting (.291) and ERA (3.83). They clinched their division on September 8, 1995. Thome caught the final out to send the Indians to the postseason for the first time since 1954.

Cleveland swept through Boston in the Division Series and toppled Seattle in the ALCS in six games. But in the World Series the Indians lost to Atlanta in six games. Thome had four homers and 10 RBIs in the postseason.

The Indians won the division title again in 1996 with little trouble. Thome’s 38 homers and 116 RBIs were second on the team to Belle’s 48 and 148. Thome walked 123 times, and had an on-base percentage of .450. He was named the third baseman on The Sporting News AL All-Star Team in both 1995 and 1996. “He’s a natural-born hitter,” said Sandy Alomar. “He’s gotten better since he’s been in the big leagues, and I think he can continue to improve.”9 In 1996 the Indians were eliminated in four games by Baltimore in the ALDS.

First baseman Paul Sorrento left Cleveland after the 1995 season. The Indians signed Julio Franco to replace him. As it turned out, eight different players started at first base in 1996. It was a situation that general manager John Hart addressed in the offseason, acquiring third baseman Matt Williams from San Francisco, and moving Thome across the diamond to first base for 1997. “When you get a Matt Williams, that’s two pretty good corner guys who can hit the ball,” said Thome.10

Other changes were made. Belle left the club through free agency, and Lofton was traded to Atlanta for David Justice and Marquis Grissom. The 1997 Indians were a much different club than in 1995, but they won their second pennant in three years and reached the World Series. Thome was selected to his first All-Star Game, the first of three straight. He led the team in home runs with 40 and finished second to Williams in RBIs with 102. Thome led the league in walks with 120. But the Tribe fell short, losing to the Florida Marlins in seven games in the Fall Classic.

Over the next few years the Indians returned to the playoffs, but were not able to get back to the Series as they were defeated in the ALDS (1999 and 2001) and the ALCS (1998). Meanwhile Thome became the face of the franchise. He was a dependable, hard-working, blue-collar type of ballplayer whom fans cheered for, referring to him as a “throwback.” In 1998 Thome hit 30 homers and drove in 85 runs. Pretty good numbers considering he missed five weeks of play after breaking a bone in his left hand at Tampa on August 7. After the 1998 season, Thome tied the knot with Andrea Pacione on November 7 in Chicago. Pacione was a newscaster at a local TV station. They had two children, Landon and Lila.

Over the next four seasons (1999-2002), Thome averaged 42 home runs and 114 RBIs each year. He hit the longest home run in Indians history on July 3, 1999. He hammered a 3-and-1 fastball from Kansas City Royals pitcher Don Wengert an estimated 511 feet. The ball hit a pillar to the right of the bleachers in center field and ricocheted through an iron fence and on to Eagle Avenue behind the park. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball hit that far,” said manager Mike Hargrove.11

Thome broke the single-season home-run mark of 50 set by Belle in 1995 when he smacked 52 in 2002. From June 25 through July 3, Thome hit a home run in seven straight games. He missed tying the major-league record of eight games, shared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey Jr. “It was a nice run,” said Thome. “Streaks always come to an end. They’re fun while they last.”12

But perhaps the most important achievement for Thome in 2002 was receiving the Roberto Clemente Award. The award is given to the major-league who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement, and the individual’s contribution to his team.” Thome was the second Cleveland Indian (Andre Thornton was honored in 1979) to be so honored. “My father and brother told me when I was young what kind of player Roberto Clemente was,” said Thome. “They told me he was the best player who ever lived. But I really didn’t know what kind of man he was.”13 Thome helped raise more than $200,000 for the Children’s Hospital in Peoria, and another $200,000 with the United Way.

Thome was at the apex of his career. A 32-year-old free agent after the 2002 season, he was looking for long-term security for himself and his family. That offer came from the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed the left-handed slugger to a six-year deal worth $85 million. Thome may have inked a big contract, but it did not change his personality one iota. He made an immediate impression on Phillies manager Larry Bowa in spring training. “Jim Thome hasn’t missed a road trip,” said Bowa. “I’ve given him the option. He says: ‘I like to ride the bus. I get to bond with my players.’ I’ve never heard that in my life.”14

Bowa had to like what he saw of his new first baseman on the diamond. Thome clubbed 47 home runs to lead the senior circuit in 2003 and his 131 RBIs were third in the league. He provided dependable glove work, fielding at a .997 clip, his highest fielding percentage in the majors. His home-run total came up one short of the franchise record. (Mike Schmidt cracked 48 homers in 1980) But the Phillies could not catch the Braves.

Thome’s mother, Joyce Thome, died of lung cancer on January 5, 2005. “In a lot of different ways, she was my best friend,” said Thome. “My mom was the really go-to lady in our family. She was the rock. She was the foundation. We all kind of fed off what she did.”15

On the baseball front, Bowa was replaced by Charlie Manuel. But the Thome-Manuel reunion was short-lived. Thome suffered through elbow and back injuries, limiting him to 59 games in 2005. With the emergence of Ryan Howard, who won Rookie of the Year honors that season, the Phillies traded Thome and cash to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Aaron Rowand and pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

The White Sox were world champions in 2005, and both Jim and Andrea though it was divine intervention on his mother’s behalf that brought him back home. Chicago had a team with good power, including Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, and Joe Crede. Now they were adding Thome to the lineup as their designated hitter. “The DH role should help him stay healthy,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. “We want to save him from the wear and tear on the field. We feel confident he can be the hitter he’s always been.”16

In essence, Thome was replacing Frank Thomas, the White Sox’ all-time home run leader. The Big Hurt was a free agent and like Thome had battled injuries in 2005. Thomas signed a deal with Oakland over the winter. “I knew (general manager Kenny Williams) was going to go out and get us a bat,” said first baseman Konerko. “I had no idea it’d be someone the caliber of Jim Thome. That clinched it. It showed me that not only were we trying to stay on top, but we were also trying to get better. From what I’ve seen so far this spring he’s going to hit 30, 35 home runs by accident.”17

Maybe Konerko should have given up his day job to become a full-time prophet, and then some. Thome clubbed 42 home runs, drove in 109 runs, totaled 107 walks and batted .288 in 2006. It was the ninth time in a run of 11 seasons that Thome posted at least 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and 100 walks. The two seasons in which he did not exceed these numbers were cut short by injury. He was named Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News and Major League Baseball.

On September 16, 2007, Chicago was hosting the Anaheim Angels. The score was tied, 7-7, in the bottom of the ninth inning. The White Sox’ Darin Erstad led off the inning with a single to right field against his former team. Thome stepped to the plate and hit a home run to left-center field off Angels reliever Dustin Moseley. Not only did the blast give the White Sox a win, but it was the 500th career home run for Thome, in his 2,000th big-league game. He became the 23rd player to reach the 500-HR plateau, and the first to do it in walk-off fashion. “Just can’t believe it, I really can’t,” said Thome. “I never would have imagined doing that as a walk-off. It’s hard to explain what’s going through me right now. What a great day. It’s hard to hit home runs when people want you to.”18

Three days later Thome and his father made the 14-hour drive from Peoria to Cooperstown to deliver the home-run ball to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For Thome, it was the first time he would see the entire shrine, as his only visit up to that day had been for exhibition games.

After falling shy of making the postseason, the White Sox returned in 2008, winning the AL Central Division by one game over Minnesota. But they were eliminated in the Division Series, losing in four games to Tampa Bay. On August 31, 2009, Thome was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Back in the NL, with no DH, Thome was employed solely as a pinch-hitter.

A free agent after the 2009 season, Thome signed with the Minnesota Twins on January 26, 2010. He was used as a designated hitter and pinch-hitter for Ron Gardenhire’s club. Even in limited duty, Thome hit 25 home runs, drove in 59 runs, and batted .283. The Twins won the AL Central, but were swept in the Division Series by the New York Yankees. Thome was traded back to Cleveland on August 25, 2011, for a player to be named later. The move was in part symbolic, as Thome had just hit his 600th home run 10 days earlier. But the Tribe’s DH, Travis Hafner, was out for the season and Thome filled the void. In the last home game of the season on September 25, 2011, the Indians inserted Thome at third base for one play, as he bade farewell to the fans upon his exit.

Thome signed with Philadelphia in 2012, reuniting him again with Manuel. He was used mostly as a pinch-hitter and as a designated hitter in interleague games. On June 17, 2012, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Thome hit his fourth home run of the season. With that blast, Thome became only the fourth major leaguer to hit 100 home runs with three different clubs. (Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Jackson, and Darrell Evans preceded him) Thome hit 337 homers for the Indians, 134 for the White Sox, and 101 for the Phillies.

Not long after that, Thome was on the move again, traded to the Baltimore Orioles on June 30 for two minor leaguers. The Orioles won the wild card game over Texas, but lost in the ALDS to the Yankees in five games.

Even though he would not officially retire for two more seasons, Thome’s playing days had come to an end. In a career that spanned 22 years, he hit 612 home runs and had 1,699 RBIs, 451 doubles, 1,747 walks, a batting average of .276, and a slugging percentage of .554. Through the 2017 season, Thome ranked eighth all-time in home runs and seventh in walks.

On August 2, 2014, the Cleveland Indians dedicated a statue to their all-time home-run hitter. The pose is of Thome with his bat extended out in front, just as Charlie Manuel made him bat over 20 years before. “How do you ever imagine, when you play this game, getting an opportunity to have an organization put a statue up for you?” Thome said. “I’m a little lost for words. It’s much bigger than all of us. What’s going to be cool is that it will stay. I mean like now, in the snow. I always look up at Bob Feller’s statue and No. 1 you appreciate the player, but the fact that it’s up all year and people can come see it. If you were their favorite player, maybe they pass on a memory to a kid, it’s humbling.”19 Before the unveiling ceremony, Thome signed a one-day contract with Cleveland, so that he could retire as an Indian.

As of 2016 Thome was a special assistant to Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn. Someday he would like to manage on the big-league level. In 2017, Thome joined the MLB Network as a studio analyst, in addition to his duties with the White Sox. Jim Thome was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018, becoming only the second player in Indians history, after Bob Feller, to be elected on his first year of eligibility.

In 2012 Steve Aschburner wrote a biography of Harmon Killebrew, for which Thome wrote the foreword. Thome wrote of his career parallels with Killebrew: their pursuit of 500 home runs, the need to practice hitting home runs in batting practice. Thome ended the foreword by detailing the “living legends” he encountered on his journey in the major leagues. “All those guys, they came back and gave their time to the game. It’s important that guys today appreciate that. You’re talking about the living legends.”20

Include yourself in the mix, Jim. Indeed you are a living legend.

Last revised: January 24, 2018

This biography was published in “1995 Cleveland Indians: The Sleeping Giant Awakes” (SABR, 2019), edited by Joseph Wancho.

Notes

“Manny being Manny” — the simple phrase seemed to instinctively capture the essence of his baseball persona. He was one of the greatest right-handed hitters of the past 50 years. As of 2015, he ranked ninth all-time in career slugging percentage (.5854), has 555 major-league home runs (placing him number 14 — and he’s got another 29 postseason home runs — more than any other player), and is number 32 in career on-base percentage (.4106). He won the American League batting crown in 2002 and was World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox in 2004. He’s a 12-time All-Star, with nine Silver Slugger awards, and he’s third all-time in grand slams.

And yet his judgment was questionable. He was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for banned substances in 2009, and when he tested positive again in 2011, he retired rather than take the prescribed 100-game suspension.1

He’s been called a hitting savant. And with his “fielding miscues, baggy uniforms, flowing dreadlocks, big hits, and tired anecdotes, the public is left with caricatures of Manny as a carefree goofball and spoiled superstar.”2 He earned over $200 million as a major leaguer. Yet biographers Rhodes and Boburg also write that, however inscrutable he may be, he “defines himself by what he is least known as — a dedicated athlete, a well-regarded teammate, and a beloved father, husband, and son.”3

Ramirez was also beloved by fans entranced by his hitting and his charisma at the three main stops on his career route — Cleveland, Boston, and Los Angeles. Each time, he burned bridges behind him, leaving fans disappointed, or worse, though one wouldn’t know that from the statistical record alone.

Named after his father (and a statesman of ancient Athens) as Manuel Aristides Ramirez, he was born on May 30, 1972, in Santo Domingo. His high school, though, was George Washington High School in New York City. An outfielder throughout his career, he was a first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians (the 13th pick overall) in the 1991 draft.

Manny moved to New York when he was 13. His mother, Onelcida, had worked a desk job at a dermatological institute in the Dominican Republic but in New York had to take a job as a seamstress in a sewing factory. Father Aristides had worked as an ambulance driver and then, after marriage, driving tank trucks. In New York he was a factory worker and sometimes in and out of work. Manny was the only son in what seemed a matriarchal family, with his mother and his grandmother Pura; he had three older sisters. They moved into an apartment building in a Washington Heights neighborhood that was heavy with drug dealers and murders.4 But Manny himself had started playing baseball at age 5, playing with the proverbial stick and bottlecap in the DR — and even announcing at 7 his ambition to play professionally. In New York he found Highbridge Park near the apartment and signed up for Little League under coach Carlos “Macaco” Ferreira. Bizarrely, Manny kept baseball separate from family and not even his sisters or mother knew he was ultimately named New York City Public High School Player of the Year, his sister Evelyn admitting, “When we found out that Manny was drafted, we had no idea. I mean, nobody knew about it. Somebody called us and told us to turn on the television … the six o’clock news. We knew he loved to play baseball, but we had no idea.”5

Manny was active in Brooklyn’s Youth Service League ball from the age of 14, and played here and there in the various boroughs, not always letting school get in the way of baseball. He was often the first on the field and the last to leave. It is likely that school attendance being a prerequisite for sticking on the high-school team helped get him through school. He may also have been cut a little slack; “maybe that was when he began to realize that for a gifted athlete like him, the rules did not apply.”6

Manny’s lack of English-language skills left him unsure of himself in situations where conversation was called for, but his work ethic showed from an early age in punishing workouts, waking as early at 5 A.M. on a regular basis to get in his running — and quite often running up hills in the city, tugging a 20-pound tire behind him secured by a rope around his waist. Even years later, teammates on, say, the Boston Red Sox, mentioned that no one worked harder in the weight room and with training than Manny Ramirez. Under the baggy uniforms was a sculpted body that might have been featured in a fitness magazine; as a major leaguer, he was listed as an even 6 feet tall and 225 pounds.

Once on the Washington High team under coach Steve Mandl, Manny truly excelled. As early as age 17, he made the first of two trips to New Mexico with the Youth Service League to play in the Connie Mack World Series.7 He hit for a .630 batting average in his junior year and was named to the All-City team. In his senior year, he surpassed that, batting .650. He was named New York City Player of the Year.

Needless to say, scouts began to pay attention — even if it meant making the trip into neighborhoods one could understatedly deem dodgy. Cleveland Indians scout Joe DeLucca followed Ramirez carefully, but also at a bit of a distance so the other scouts wouldn’t see how interested he was. He wanted to make Manny a first-round pick, but there were 12 other teams picking first. Indians scout George Lauzerique told DeLucca, “No Latin-American immigrant kid has even been drafted in the first round,” but that didn’t faze DeLucca, who stuck to his guns.8 The Indians selected Ramirez in the June 1991 draft, and signed him with a $250,000 bonus.

The Indians had Ramirez attend a two-week minicamp and then go to Burlington, North Carolina, for rookie ball in the Appalachian League. He did well — hitting .326 with 19 homers and more than one RBI a game — 63 RBIs in 59 games.

Ramirez’s 1992 season was a tougher one. The Indians asked him to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic, but he quit after 15 days and returned to New York. Playing for the Kinston Indians, in the high Class-A Carolina League, he got off to a very slow start, but he started to hit in June and the beginning of July — when he broke the hamate bone in his left hand, costing him the rest of the season. He hit just .278 in 81 games.

In 1993 Ramirez was assigned to the Canton-Akron Indians (Double-A Eastern League), got into 89 games (.340, 17 HR, 79 RBIs) and got himself called up to Triple-A, to the Charlotte Knights (International League). He played in another 40 games and drove in 36 runs, with a .317 average — and also got himself called up to the major leagues, to Cleveland. He was later named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year.

When he got the call, Ramirez asked Charlotte manager Charlie Manuel, “Can you come with me?”9 The sentiment was emblematic of his attachment to certain mentors along the way. Needless to say, Manuel couldn’t drop everything — he had the Knights on the way to the league pennant. Ramirez joined the Indians in Minneapolis on September 2 and was 0-for-4, though three of the balls were well-hit fly balls. The very next day, they played at Yankee Stadium, with lots of Manny’s family and friends at the game. He hit a ground-rule double to left field his first time up, flied out in the fourth, hit a two-run homer to left in the sixth off Melido Perez, and then hit another one — also to left — off Paul Gibson. Two homers, three RBIs, and a 7-3 Cleveland victory.

It was quite a splash but Ramirez struggled from that point on, getting only six more hits in 45 at-bats, with two more runs batted in and no more extra-base hits of any kind. With one exception, he DH’d, and pinch-hit in four games — and, perhaps a little oddly, pinch-ran in five. He ended the season, after appearing in 22 games, batting .170.

The Indians, once again, asked Ramirez to play winter ball. It was another fiasco; he even took one of the team buses and drove off, AWOL for the day. He wasn’t welcomed back.10

The 1994 season ended with a players’ strike. The Indians played 113 games, and Ramirez appeared in 91 of them. It was his official rookie year, and he came in second in Rookie of the Year voting, though compared to the rest of his stats, it was one of his least productive years. He did drive in 60 runs.

The Indians opened the 1995 season in Texas. The team went on to Detroit, and after they left, there was a typical Manny moment — he’d left his paycheck in a boot underneath his locker. It had to be shipped onward to him. Ramirez himself hit 11 homers in just the month of May. (He was named AL Player of the Month.) He made the All-Star team for the first time, drove in 107 runs (helped by 31 homers), and helped the Indians reach the World Series. He hit only .222 in the Series itself (with a .364 on-base percentage), with one homer, but there was only one Indian who hit higher — Albert Belle with .235. The Cleveland offense was clearly lacking — 19 runs in six games, losing to the Atlanta Braves.

Ramirez’s early career was replete with a number of fielding and baserunning lapses. He was cut slack, of course, given his hitting — in 1996 he drove in 112 runs, with 33 homers. He hit for a higher average in 1997 (.328) but his RBIs declined to 88. Matt Williams, Jim Thome, and David Justice each drove in just over 100. The Indians made the postseason again, and went all the way to the World Series once more, playing the Florida Marlins. At one point or another, the Indians held a lead in each of the seven games, but in the end they lost four. Ramirez contributed some key hits in the first couple of rounds, but was 4-for-26 (.154) in the World Series. Average alone was deceptive; he drove in six runs in the seven games.

Occasional lapses aside, Ramirez had a strong and accurate arm. Twice he led the AL in assists from his position: 1996 as a right-fielder, with 19, and in 2005 as a left-fielder, with 17.

There was a time when Manny paid an unannounced visit to his old high school, and wandered into the gym where coach Steve Mandl was talking to the baseball team. Asked if he wanted to say anything to the team about hitting, Manny said, as simply as possible, “See the ball. Hit the ball.”11

With 45 homers and 145 RBIs in 1998, Ramirez had an exceptionally productive season, despite a batting average six points under .300. At one point in September, he homered in four at-bats in a row and eight times in a five-game stretch. It was the second year he made the All-Star team, and the first year in what became a string of 11 consecutive annual All-Star selections. The Indians beat Boston in the ALDS but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. Ramirez hit two homers in each round, batting .357 and .333 respectively.

There were thoughts, though, that Ramirez’s fielding may have cost the Indians the chance to get to another World Series. It was Game Six, at Yankee Stadium, and the Indians had just scored five runs in the top of the fifth to pull to within a run of New York. (Thome hit a grand slam, but Ramirez had struck out with the bases loaded.) In the bottom of the sixth, Derek Jeter tripled to right field to drive in two big insurance runs — but the ball was a catchable one. A New York Times article was headlined: “Ramirez: Big Bat, Blunders.” Ramirez had leapt to catch the ball, only to have it land at his feet. He wasn’t charged with an error, but he had clearly erred in anticipating the ball’s trajectory.

Ramirez drove in 20 more runs (to a total of 165, tied for 14th all-time for single-season RBIs) in 1999. He hit .333 (with a .442 on-base percentage) and scored 131 runs. He homered 44 times. For the fifth year in a row, the Indians made the postseason, but this time lost to the Red Sox in the Division Series. Ramirez got just one base hit in 18 at-bats (.056), but he did draw four bases on balls and scored all five times he got on base. Ramirez placed third in the MVP voting, the highest he ever ranked. (It was a ranking he tied in 2004.)

The year 2000 was Manny’s contract year in Cleveland and he got off to a great start, but he was on the disabled list with a serious hamstring injury from May 29 to July 13, missing 39 games. Despite missing a quarter of the season, he still had 122 RBIs and 38 homers. He hit .351 and led the league in slugging (.697) and OPS (1.154). There was no doubt Ramirez was due for a big contract.

Red Sox GM Dan Duquette won the bidding war. Ramirez was a huge fan favorite in Cleveland and the Indians kept upping their offer, but he signed with the Red Sox for a reported $160 million/eight-year deal.12 Manny had one final condition before signing: that the Red Sox hire Cleveland clubhouse man Frank Mancini, to accompany him to Boston.13 It was reminiscent of him wanting Charlie Manuel to come with him from Charlotte. It also didn’t happen.

Some wondered if Ramirez could handle the intensity of the Boston market. Rhodes and Boburg quoted Macaco as saying that “Manny’s lack of anonymity at shopping malls was one of his primary dissatisfactions with life in Boston.” Bizarre as that may seem, “Manny always wants to go to shopping malls. Sometimes we’ll go two or three times a day.” And it wasn’t necessarily to buy anything.14 He just liked going to malls, but quite naturally didn’t want to be relentlessly fawned over and followed by fans.

Ramirez was the Red Sox DH into June, when he began to play left field. In late August he reverted to DH. (He was DH for 87 games and left fielder for 55.) He had a career high in strikeouts, with 147, but still achieved a .405 on-base percentage (hitting .306), and drove in 125 runs, 37 more than anyone else on the Red Sox. He had 41 homers, 14 more than Trot Nixon’s second-place 27.

Ramirez lost more than a full month in 2002 due to a broken left index finger, fractured on a head-first slide into home plate on May 11 (he was out), and not returning until June 25. In 120 games, he drove in 107 runs, with 33 homers. His .349 average (.450 OBP) won the American League batting title.

It was back to the playoffs in 2003, the first full year under new ownership. Ramirez played in a career-high 154 games, and led the league in on-base percentage (.427). He hit .325, just one point behind the AL batting champion, teammate Bill Mueller. He hit 37 homers, drove in 104 runs (one behind teammate Nomar Garciaparra), and scored 117 runs. Too often, there seemed to be a discordant note. In late August the Yankees came to Boston for what was really a key series. Manny was excused from the game due to throat inflammation — but was discovered in the Ritz-Carlton bar with Enrique Wilson of the Yankees, which didn’t go over well with the Red Sox fan base. Neither Ramirez nor David Ortiz hit that well in the Division Series, but the team pulled through and Manny’s three-run homer in Game Five made all the difference in the 4-3 win.

Ramirez homered twice and drove in four runs in the ALCS against the Yankees, a series that went to seven games and seemed to be in Boston’s hands until manager Grady Little (who’d been the bench coach on the Indians in Manny’s last years there) put Pedro Martinez back into the game when he seemed so obviously out of gas. The Yankees rallied and tied the game, then won it on Aaron Boone‘s home run leading off the bottom of the 11th. Little was fired, and Terry Francona hired as manager for 2004.

Ramirez had more than once expressed a wish to get out of Boston. At the end of October the Red Sox placed him on waivers — they could have called him back if any team had claimed him, but none did. There was, after all, close to $100 million remaining on his contract. Perhaps the Red Sox did it just to make a point with Manny about what a good deal he had — so good no other team was willing to pay the freight to get him.

There was also discussion about trading Ramirez, as part of two trades that would have brought Alex Rodriguez from the Rangers for Manny and Jon Lester, and sent Garciaparra to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez. A-Rod wanted to come to Boston and was willing to take a $25 million pay cut to do so, but the Players Association refused to sign off on such a hefty cut.

Early in 2004 Ramirez became an American citizen and, when he took his position before the game on May 11, he ran out to left field carrying a miniature American flag. He then handed it off to a spectator. He later joked, “Now they can’t kick me out of the country.” Before his first at-bat, the team played the song “Proud to Be an American” on the sound system.15

Manny Ramirez was World Series MVP in 2004, the Red Sox this time rolling over Anaheim in the Division Series (he had seven RBIs in three games) and then losing the first three games of the ALCS to the Yankees, only to come back and win an unprecedented final four in a row. Oddly, Ramirez didn’t have even one RBI in the ALCS, though he hit .300 and scored three times.

Facing the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, Ramirez looked like a stumblebum in left field, committing two errors in Game One. He overran a ball in the top of the eighth, allowing one run to score, and then made an awkward slide to try to catch a ball on the very next play, letting it get past him as another run — the tying run — scored, costing the Red Sox the lead. He was 3-for-5 in the game with two RBIs.

In Game Three, he homered in the first inning and drove in another run later in the game, a 4-1 Red Sox win. Derek Lowe shut out St. Louis in Game Four and the Red Sox swept the Series. It was their first World Series win in 86 years. Any number of Red Sox players might have been voted MVP, but Ramirez (1-for-4 in Game Four, without either an RBI or run scored) got the nod, perhaps in recognition of his having had at least one base hit in every one of the 14 playoff games in which the Red Sox had played.

The Ramirez work ethic was noted earlier. Billy Broadbent, the Red Sox video coordinator, said Manny put in as much time with video as any other player or more, and he added a few twists to his study. Preparing for whomever he might face, if it was a pitcher against whom he’d not previously batted, he’d call up at at-bats of another right-handed slugger, like Miguel Tejada, and look to see how the pitcher had worked Tejada. “It’s something he came up with all on his own,” said Broadbent. “It’s nothing we suggested. He came up to these determinations on his own. He was one of the hardest workers that you’d ever want to see.”16

Ramirez may have seemed oblivious at times, or just downright goofy, but there were perhaps two unexpected aspects to the approach he took to hitting. First of all, the way he slipped into a kind of zen mode helped to create an almost preternatural focus, slowing down time and allowing all that he had learned to be brought to the fore. He could tune out distractions. Simply put, in the words of Jim Thome, “He’s good at not letting things get to him.”17 He was perhaps like the “absent-minded professor, whose mind is so specialized and consumed by his craft that he is as helpless as a lamb outside the lab.”18 There was also craftiness in the way he would try to set up pitchers. Allard Baird reportedly told columnist Joe Posnanski that he believed “Manny will swing and miss at a pitch in April so that the pitcher will throw him the same pitch in September.”19 Alex Rodriguez told the New York Times, “When it comes to his craft, his art, his skill, he’s as smart as anyone in the American League. And he takes it as seriously as anyone in the game.”20 If he was a savant, he was a studious savant. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t also a little flaky and a little naïve.

Ramirez never once hit over .300 in 2005, and was as low as .224 more than a quarter of the way through the season (on May 27, after game number 47). One month later, on June 26, he was leading the American League in RBIs (with 66) and he finished the season with career highs in homers (45, matching his 1998 season in Cleveland) and drove in 144 runs, just four behind the league leader, David Ortiz. This was the season when Manny stepped inside the Green Monster during a conference on the mound and didn’t come out until after the first pitch after play resumed. He was also marching to his own drummer, when he insisted on taking a scheduled day off despite teammate Trot Nixon having suffered an oblique strain in late July. There was tension in the Red Sox clubhouse, which had a player apparently unwilling to set his personal wishes aside to help out his team in a pennant race. There was a stronger sense of him quitting on the team in 2006, when he reported himself unable to play because of patellar tendinitis and he missed 22 games from late August into September. He still drove in 102 runs but the Red Sox failed to make the postseason (they’d gotten into the ALDS in 2005, but were swept in three games, Ramirez hitting .300).

In 2007 the Red Sox won the World Series again. Ramirez started slow, got hot for a stretch, and then suffered his own oblique strain. His power numbers were down on the year, with only 20 homers and 88 RBIs (the first time he’d been below 100 in a decade, since 1997), but come the playoffs, he contributed. In Game Two of the Division Series, when Angels manager Mike Scioscia had Ortiz walked to get to Ramirez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, it may have triggered something in Ramirez — he hit a walkoff three-run homer. His fourth-inning homer in Game Three was literally the game-winner, giving Boston a 2-1 edge in a game they won, 9-1.

In the 2007 ALCS, Ramirez was facing his former team, the Indians. He drove in 10 runs, with two more homers and a .409 average. The Red Sox swept the Rockies in the World Series; he hit .250 and drove in two runs, but all in all, he was .348 with 16 RBIs in the 14 postseason games.

The last guaranteed year of Ramirez’s Red Sox contract was 2008. It was the year he joined the 500-HR club, homering off Chad Bradford in Baltimore on May 31. June was a tough month for Manny’s reputation in Boston. First he got into a fight with Kevin Youkilis in the Red Sox dugout during a game. Then, on June 28, he got in an argument over complimentary tickets with traveling secretary Jack McCormick and shoved the 64-year-old man to the ground.21 There were a couple of game-play situations where Ramirez seemed not to be giving his all. There were thoughts he was provoking the team into trading him. On July 31, at the trading deadline, two deals were done: Ramirez’s contract was transferred to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who agreed to pick up the money remaining on his contract (the Red Sox freed him from the two option years), and Boston acquired left fielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh to take his place.

If he’d been dogging it, it wasn’t entirely self-evident; Ramirez had hit .347 during July. But he’d worn out his welcome in Boston. Once he hit Los Angeles, he became an instant sensation and he reveled in the “Mannywood” moniker given him. In 53 games, he drove in 53 runs, and he hit for a .396 average. The Dodgers won the NLDS (Manny hit .500 with two homers), but lost the NLCS in five games (Manny hit two more homers and drove in seven runs, batting .533).

Come 2009, however, Manny’s hitting came back to earth — he was 37 years old, and hit .290 in 104 games, with 63 RBIs. He likely would have played more games, but he tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for 50 games during the season, from May 7 through July 2.22

In 2010 Ramirez got off to a good start with the Dodgers, and was batting .322 through the end of June. But he played in only two games in July and, after a month, returned to play in five late-August games. The Dodgers placed him on waivers and he was selected by the Chicago White Sox on August 30. For the White Sox, he played in 24 September games but hit for only a .261 average, with just one home run and only two RBIs in 24 games. The White Sox chose not to try to re-sign him. At the end of January the Tampa Bay Rays signed Ramirez on perhaps something of a flyer but he again tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and thus faced a 100-game suspension. He played in five games (batting .059) but then announced his retirement.23

After the 2011 season was over, however, Ramirez struck a deal under which he would accept a 50-game suspension and be permitted to return. He signed with the Oakland Athletics for 2012. He played in 17 games, batting .302 without a home run, for Oakland’s Triple-A club in Sacramento, but never played for Oakland itself. The Athletics released him in June.

Ramirez played in Taiwan for the EDA Rhinos, but left at the midpoint of the season. His agent, Barry Praver, said, “The reason he decided not to return for the second half was to free himself to be available to play in the United States. This whole thing with Manny in Taiwan was a phenomenon. He invigorated the league. Attendance went through the roof. It was a very positive experience for both sides.”24

The Texas Rangers signed Ramirez to a minor-league deal in July 2013, but six weeks later, after he hit .259 for Triple-A Round Rock in 30 games, they released him.

Near the end of May 2014, Ramirez signed with the Chicago Cubs and he was again asked to play in Triple-A, this time for the Iowa Cubs as a player/coach. He claimed he was a new man, that he and his wife, Juliana, had been in church for almost four years. “Now, I realize that I behaved bad in Boston,” he said. The Boston Globe‘s Christopher L. Gasper wrote, “Manny being Manny means something entirely different now if you are to believe Ramirez, who will turn 42 on Friday. Chastened by time, the diminishing of his skills, and his newfound faith, he has finally found a manager he likes — God.”25 Of course, time will tell. The Cubs’ president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, hoped he would become a mentor for Cubs prospects. He played in 24 games and hit .222 with three home runs.

Last revised: July 25, 2016

Notes

1 The 2009 drug was human chorionic gonadotropin, a fertility drug for women. See New York Times, May 10, 2009.

2 The best source for much more information about Manny Ramirez and the primary source for this biography is Jean Rhodes and Shawn Boburg, Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball’s Most Enigmatic Slugger (New York: Scribner, 2009). The quotation noted here is from page 3.

3 Rhodes and Boburg, 5.

4 The “Ramirez family settled in one of New York City’s most dangerous and drug-infested neighborhoods (between 1987 and 1991 there were 462 homicides, 58 percent of them drug-related, in Washington Heights’ police precinct).” Rhodes and Boburg, 49.

5 Rhodes and Boburg, 9, 10.

6 Sara Rimer, New York Times, April 26, 2011. Rimer’s lengthy profile of Ramirez, someone she had met and observed since his high school years is recommended to readers.

7 Rhodes and Boburg, 84, 85, 96.

8 Rhodes and Boburg, 111, 118.

9 Rhodes and Boburg, 147.

10 Rhodes and Boburg, 152, 153.

11 Rimer, New York Times.

12 New York Times, December 12, 2000.

13 Rhodes and Boburg, 193.

14 Rhodes and Boburg, 128, 143.

15 Boston Globe, May 12, 2004.

16 Author interview with Billy Broadbent on June 28, 2013.

17 New York Times, July 22, 1999.

18 Rhodes and Boburg, 290.

19 Rhodes and Boburg, 292.

20 New York Times, April 17, 2008.

21 It wasn’t the first time Ramirez had struck a team employee. In 1998 he slapped Cleveland clubhouse assistant Tom Foster. See New York Times, March 30, 1998.

22 For a full report on the suspension, see the May 8, 2009, New York Times.

23 New York Times, April 9, 2011.

24 espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9403816/manny-ramirez-parts-ways-eda-rhinos-taiwan-league. Posted June 20, 2013.

25 Boston Globe, May 29, 2014.         

Barry Lamar Bonds was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California, to Bobby Bonds and Patricia Howard. The teenagers had grown up next door to each other, Bobby the star athlete and Pat the beauty, and married at 17. Bobby came from a very successful sporting family; his sister, Rosie, competed in the 1964 Olympics as a hurdler, and his brother, Robert, was drafted by both the National Football League and the American Football League before their merger. A year after Bobby and Pat’s wedding, Barry was born, and two weeks after that Bobby signed a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants. He went on to a prolific major-league career, showing both power and speed while playing for eight teams in a 14-year career.

While Bobby was in the minor leagues, Barry lived with his mother in Riverside, where they welcomed a second son, Ricky, a year after Barry, and a few years later a third boy, Bobby Jr. The family also adopted a girl, Cheryl. The children were raised by the metaphorical village, their mother being helped by friends and family around town while Bobby was away playing baseball.

In 1968 Bobby was called up to the major leagues, making his debut with the Giants in June. He quickly established himself, and soon his family came visiting, Barry making his first appearance in a major-league locker room. Bobby and teammate Willie Mays had become close, and Bobby asked Mays to be Barry’s godfather.

In 1969 Bobby moved his family to San Francisco, to the almost exclusively white area of San Carlos. Barry was usually one of few black children where he lived and at the schools he attended. Later in life he referred to himself as having come from Los Angeles, in an attempt to gain some credibility, but black players who had grown up in the inner city would ridicule him for it.

In school Barry was an average student, but his athletic ability dominated people’s perception of him. Some people considered him a bully on the sports fields, although one of his teachers said that wasn’t the case, but rather that “whatever he was playing – Four Squares or dodgeball – he played to win.”1

Bobby was traded to the New York Yankees at the end of the 1974 season, just as Barry was beginning his own baseball career. As a 10-year-old, Barry awed the adults in the San Carlos Little League, where he played for the Lions Club Yankees under coach Lloyd Skjerdal. “It was as if he had appeared out of nowhere – just showed up one day, ready to be a star,” said Skjerdal.2 Barry hit over .400 each season in Little League, showing both the talent and cockiness that would follow him throughout his career.

In 1978 Barry entered Junipero Serra High School, which was well known for its athletic program, producing a number of future MLB and NFL stars, like Jim Fregosi and Tom Brady. Barry’s high-school coach, Tim Walsh, said, “He wanted to be great. A lot of kids just wanted to play. That wasn’t enough for him.”3 Bonds played basketball and football in high school for a couple of seasons, and played well in both, but it was clear that baseball was his preferred sport. He led the league in home runs, and in his senior year he hit .467 with14 homers and 42 RBIs. But he never studied, he was late for practice, and showed up other teams on the field (watching his home runs, for example, something he would continue to do in the major leagues). As scouts came sniffing around, this behavior began damaging his reputation, with scouts noting his arrogance, one even writing “Asshole” under “Attitude/Personality” in his report.4

Bobby had retired from professional baseball, his career derailed by alcoholism, which had turned a number of teams away. Thus the news that he would act as Barry’s adviser in the coming 1982 draft caused Barry’s stock to drop. An expected first-rounder, he fell to the Giants in the second round. They offered Barry $70,000 to sign, but when Bobby said he wanted $5,000 more, the Giants said no thanks, and Barry headed to college.

Barry attended Arizona State, one of the powerhouses of college baseball. A starter as a freshman, he led the team with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs, and dominated the College World Series, though the team finished third. Barry didn’t make friends easily; his college coach, Jim Brock, said: “I don’t think he ever figured out what to do to get people to like him.”5 Bonds in fact made enemies with his attitude, skipping or being late for practice, ignoring team rules, and generally acting as the big man on campus. Brock, trying to settle things in 1984, told the team to vote on whether Bonds should stay on the team. Almost all the players voted against Bonds, which surprised Brock since he had expected them to want to keep his playing ability. Switching his plan, he told them that he wouldn’t remove Bonds since their vote had not been unanimous.6 The team went back to the College World Series, where it lost again, but Bonds set a College World Series record with hits in seven straight at-bats.

Bonds spent a short period in Alaska in the summer of 1983 after signing with the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks. Because of school commitments, he never played a game in Alaska. He suited up but did not play in the Alaska Baseball League tournament, then played six games for the Goldpanners in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas, where he went 4-for-18 with no home runs.

In 1985 Arizona State suffered severe penalties for NCAA violations; some players were suspended and the team was banned from postseason play. While the team struggled, Bonds got even better, hitting .368-23-66 and being named a second-team All-American. He decided he would turn pro after his junior year. In June 1985 Bonds was drafted in the first round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he signed a couple of days later for a bonus of $150,000. The Pirates sent him to play for Prince William in the Class A Carolina League, where Bonds performed well, hitting .299 with 13 home runs. This earned him a promotion to the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League the next season. Bonds enjoyed his time in Hawaii, spending days on the beaches and nights in the ballpark, but he wasn’t there long, hitting .311 with 7 home runs in 44 games.

With the Pirates struggling at 17-24, Bonds was called up and made his major-league debut on May 30, 1986, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium. Looking to use his speed, manager Jim Leyland inserted Bonds into the leadoff spot, where he remained for the next four years. His debut was a day to forget for Bonds, as he went 0-for-5 with a walk and three strikeouts, and the Pirates lost in 11 innings. Bonds got his first hit the next day, leading off the first inning with a double off Rick Honeycutt – and was then immediately picked off second by Honeycutt.

In one of those scheduling oddities, Bonds ended up with a hit before his major-league debut. The Pirates and Cubs had played on April 20, but the game was suspended in the 14th inning with the score tied. The game was made up on August 11, and Bonds, now with the Pirates, pinch-hit in the 17th inning, hitting a single that scored two runs (one of them on an outfield error), which proved to be the difference in the score. Because major-league rules consider the date of a suspended game to be the date on which it began, Bonds is credited with a hit and an RBI on a date more than a month before his official debut on May 30.

It didn’t take Bonds long to show his power, his first major-league home run coming on June 4 in Atlanta off Craig McMurtry, a day that ended with four hits and four RBIs. It took a few more days to get a stolen base, when on June 7 Bonds stole twice against Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets.

Bonds ended the season hitting just .223 and striking out 102 times. But he showed flashes of his future self, with 16 home runs and 36 steals. This was enough for Bonds to finish sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Bonds kept improving with the Pirates, and the team followed. Leading off and running wild, he continued to show the combination of power and speed that he had shown in his rookie year. In 1987 the team traded for Andy Van Slyke to play center field, pushing Bonds to left. This was an acknowledgment that Bonds had not been a good center fielder in his rookie season, seemingly ignoring coaching and playing shallow, trying not to show how weak his throwing arm was. The problem with that was that balls hit over his head could roll forever.

Van Slyke won his first Gold Glove after the 1988 season, and Bonds admired the trophy Van Slyke received. “Next year I’m gonna win me one of these,” he said. It actually took him two years, but in 1990 he began a streak of winning eight Gold Gloves in nine seasons. Van Slyke said that Bonds had felt he hadn’t needed to be a good outfielder, but once he decided to, “he willed himself to become great.”7

In June 1987 the Pirates traveled to Montreal for a series with the Expos, and Bonds went to a local strip club, where he met the bartender, Susann “Sun” Branco. After a telephone courtship for the rest of the season, Sun moved to Phoenix to live with Barry at the end of the year, and in February 1988 they were married in Las Vegas.

Leading off for the Pirates, Bonds got better and better each year. He was hitting for power, he was stealing regularly, and was showing all-round ability in everything he did. He wasn’t liked, though, the working-class city of Pittsburgh occasionally seeing him making little effort, while players like Van Slyke busted on every play. Bonds was almost traded a couple of times, the Pirates making it clear that if they got a good package they would make him available. But he stayed, eventually moving in 1990 to fifth in the batting order, behind Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla, where the three would spearhead a powerful middle of the order and bring success to the Pirates. “He’s maturing as a player and he’s coming of age,” said Leyland.8

Bonds’ success gleaned personal rewards as well: his first of 14 All-Star games, and his first MVP award for a 1990 season in which he hit .301-33-114. “I decided this year was time for me to get the respect I deserved for myself,” he said.9 He finished a close second in the MVP race to Terry Pendleton of the Braves the next year, many speculating that Bonds’ personality and relationship with the media cost him enough votes for him to lose the race. He made sure that wouldn’t matter the following year, winning the MVP again in 1992 with another dominant season.

Bonds led the Pirates to three postseasons in a row in 1990-92. In those three playoff series Bonds hit just .191 in 20 games, with one home run, coming in a 13-4 win. In one of the iconic moments in postseason history, the Atlanta Braves beat the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS, the final play of the series being Francisco Cabrera’s hit to left field that scored Sid Bream with the winning run, Bonds’ throw home just too late.

In high school, in college, and in the major leagues, Bonds’ performance when the season was on the line was nowhere near his regular-season performance. This was because the opponents were much tougher, and because those teams, recognizing that Bonds was the biggest threat, generally pitched around him. His postseason mediocrity led Pirates fans to say good riddance when he left, using anything to mask their disappointment at their star player leaving.

As his time in Pittsburgh wore down, it became clear that the small-market Pirates would not be able to re-sign Bonds to the big contract the market could give him. He entered free agency as the premier player on the market, but found himself not as wanted as he thought he would be. His personality and his disdain for both fans and media led some teams to think he would be more trouble than he was worth. They were wrong, of course; it has been shown many times in history that performance on the field can far outweigh actions off it. But still, Bonds’ agent, Dennis Gilbert, had to call around and beg teams to make an offer. Their lukewarm response bothered Bonds, but his agent mentioned any kind of contact to the media, telling journalists how many teams were interested in his player. This ended up becoming somewhat of a joke within baseball circles.

Bonds’ demands to be the highest paid player in baseball were more than even the Yankees could afford. But there was a new owner in San Francisco, and as many new owners do, Peter Magowan wanted to make a splash. Splash he did, signing Bonds to what was then the biggest contract in baseball, for six years and $43 million. Bonds was returning to his childhood home. “Every time I step on that field … I know my godfather’s in center field and my dad’s in right field,” he said.10

Immediately Bonds alienated Giants fans, though, being given Mays’ retired uniform number 24. (He quickly changed to 25 when there was an outcry.) That alienation didn’t last long, as he won the fans over with his performance on the field.

For the rest of his career, even when it seemed as if the rest of the baseball world had turned against him, Bonds was loved in San Francisco. He was theirs and they were his, whether he returned their love or not.

Bonds started with a bang in San Francisco, leading the league with 46 home runs and 123 RBIs (his only RBI title) in 1993, and finishing fourth with a .336 batting average, establishing himself as a legitimate Triple Crown contender. He won his second MVP in a row. But then things changed. Bonds still performed at an outstanding level, but he had set the bar so high that when he didn’t reach those heights he lost MVP votes. For example, in 1995 he finished 12th in the voting, when WAR (wins above replacement) suggest that he was the second-best player in the league, behind Greg Maddux (who finished third in the MVP balloting). Unless he was having a truly dominant season, it seemed, voters were not giving him the benefit of the doubt. “Once you’ve won it a few times, the standards for you are very high,” he said11

In 1996 Bonds became just the second player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season. (Jose Canseco in 1988 had been the first.) Bonds accomplished the 30-30 feat five times, matching his father, Bobby, as the only two players to have five 30-30 seasons. On three other occasions Barry was close, each time having enough home runs but twice finishing with 29 steals and once with 28.

In 1993, Bonds’ first season in San Francisco, the team had made a huge leap, going from 72 wins to 103, but missing out on the playoffs as Atlanta won 104 games that year. The Giants spent the next few years struggling, but setting things up for a run from 1997 to 2004 in which they finished first or second in their division each year.

In 1998 Bonds got one of the ultimate honors: being intentionally walked with the bases loaded, just the fifth time that had ever happened in the major leagues, and the first since 1944. On May 28, with the Arizona Diamondbacks leading 8-6 with two outs in the ninth, Buck Showalter ordered Bonds walked. The next batter lined out to end the game. This was a huge sign of respect for Bonds, and intentionally walking him (albeit without the bases loaded) was a trend that would grow to historic proportions.

Bonds was a very private person, not letting many people into his inner circle even when he was a child. Stories abound about his social interaction, both with teammates and others. He reportedly did things in private for many people, not wanting any publicity about them. Other reports talk of him yelling at youngsters seeking his autograph. In the clubhouse he was disliked, a loner whom other people didn’t get on with at all. His attempts at humor often fell flat, tending to insult others, and when others played pranks on Bonds, he tended to take it as an insult.

Bonds would use the media when he needed to but would ignore them or be rude to them when he didn’t. He spent much of his career telling reporters “tomorrow” when they asked for an interview, but of course tomorrow never came. Much of this attitude came from his father’s career; Barry had seen how the media had treated Bobby when he fell into drinking and wasting his talent. Bobby had instilled the idea that the media would raise you up when they wanted to and tear you down when they were done with you, and Barry took it to heart. He regularly had people in the locker room protecting him from reporters trying to approach, and would often blow off prearranged meetings or interviews.

All these stories paint a picture of a lonely man, one with a desperate need to be loved and admired for his performance but unable to open up and let others in and see beyond the player. Bonds was admired for his feats, but never loved by fans around the league like his contemporaries, people like Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa.

Bonds had divorced Sun in 1995, and married Liz Watson in 1998. They had known each other since before Barry married Sun, a friendship that Sun was not happy about. But Bonds had another life on the road, spending many road trips in the company of a girlfriend, Kimberley Bell. That affair would become public knowledge in 2005, causing Bonds much trouble both personally and in legal matters.

Bonds had a son, Nikolai, in 1990 and a daughter, Shikari, in 1991 with Sun. The children did not spend much time with him, living with their mother after they divorced. They would spend a couple of weeks during the summer with their father, but were never close. Bonds had another daughter, Aisha, in 1999 with Liz. He and Liz separated a couple of times, then divorced in 2010.

After the 1998 season things changed for Bonds. He had just watched Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa battle for the home-run record, and watched the baseball world’s attention turn to them and away from him. Bonds always wanted to be in the limelight. He changed himself and achieved a new level of greatness because of this. Some say it was a strong work ethic that brought him through. Many others allege he did it illegally, that this was the period when he began using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to boost himself to new heights.

In the winter following the 1998 season, Bonds began working with a trainer called Greg Anderson. Anderson was a low-level steroids user and dealer, hanging out in local gyms. Bonds began exercising with him, lifting weights and working out in an intense fashion. Anderson also introduced him to various steroids, which Bonds took on a regular basis. He showed up in spring training in 1999 having put on a lot of muscle weight. On first seeing him, teammate Charlie Hayes said to a reporter “Did you see my man? … He was huge!”12 But the rapid muscle gain came at a cost; in early 1999 Bonds suffered a torn triceps from stressing his elbow so much. He required surgery and eventually missed a third of the season.13

Bonds set a career high for home runs in 2000, with 49, but that was just a warmup. The 2001 season began with an Opening Day home run, followed shortly by six straight games with home runs. On April 17 he joined the 500-home-run club with a blast into San Francisco Bay off Terry Adams of the Dodgers. In May he hit nine home runs in six games, including three in a game in Atlanta. After a slow July (six home runs) he ended the month with 45, not far off the pace to attack McGwire’s record 70. Bonds passed his own career high on August 11 with his 50th home run of the season, and kept on going.

He had 63 home runs on September 11, when events at the World Trade Center shocked the world and put baseball on hold. It could have been the end of Bonds’ chase for McGwire’s record if the ensuing games had been canceled, but instead they were postponed and baseball resumed a week later. Bonds resumed hitting home runs, and was up to 69 with a week left in the season, when the Giants went to Houston for a three-game series. The Astros were fighting for a playoff spot, and were determined to not let Bonds beat them. They pitched around him all series long, to the ire of their own fans, who had filled the park in expectation. It wasn’t until the ninth inning of the third game of the series, on October 4, with the Giants leading 9-2, that the Astros finally pitched to Bonds. Bonds homered off Wilfredo Rodriguez to tie McGwire for the single-season record. Back at home against the Dodgers the next day, Bonds took care of things quickly, homering in the first and third innings off Chan Ho Park to break the record, and adding another on the last day of the season to set the single-season record at 73.

Bonds was rewarded with the National League MVP for 2001, the first player to win four MVPs. He also signed a new contract with the Giants in January 2002, a five-year, $90 million deal that astounded people because he was 37 years old. With his age and related injuries – a painful degenerative disk in his back – no one expected that he would be playing by the end of the contract.

By now Bonds was feared, perhaps the most dangerous hitter of all time. He was being intentionally walked at all-time record rates, his 68 intentional walks in 2002 blitzing Willie McCovey’s record of 45 in a season. Two years later, in 2004, Bonds was intentionally walked an incredible 120 times, out of a total of 232 walks, which contributed to his reaching base 376 times that season, just three behind Babe Ruth’s record. Teams would rather put Bonds on base and take their chances with anyone else. The Giants reaped the reward, Bonds scoring over 100 runs for them every season from 1993 through 2004 except for strike-shortened 1994 and injury-shortened 1999. Because of all the walks, he usually ended up scoring more runs than he drove in, a factor in his winning just one RBI title, in 1993. Bonds would probably have broken the career RBI record if he hadn’t been walked so much (and spent the first four years of his career leading off). Still, his 1,996 RBIs were fourth all-time when he retired, not far behind Hank Aaron’s 2,297.

Bonds was well rewarded for his performances in the early 2000s. In 2000 he finished second in the MVP race to teammate Jeff Kent, who hit .334-33-125 compared with Bonds’ .306-49-106, and got 22 first-place votes to Bonds’ 6. It is reasonable to say that Kent benefited from hitting behind Bonds in the lineup, and by most advanced statistical measures Bonds was the better player (WAR of 7.7. against 7.2 for Kent).

Bonds then was voted the MVP in four straight seasons, 2001-04. No other player ever won more than two in a row, and Bonds’ total of seven MVPs outstripped everyone else; the next highest total, shared by nine players, is three. Bonds was simply dominating the league. He won two batting titles, hitting .370 in 2002 and .362 in 2004. In 2001 he barely missed breaking Ruth’s single-season OPS record, then he broke it in 2002, and again in 2004.

There are hardly words to describe how dominant Bonds was in that period. Debates will always rage, but statistically Bonds’ efforts from 2000 to 2004 can be claimed as the greatest five-year period ever for a hitter.

But for all Bonds’ personal success, team success proved elusive. In the 15 seasons he played for the Giants, they won just three division titles (1997, 2000, 2003), losing the National League Division Series each time, and Bonds struggled in all three series. In 2002, their most successful postseason while Bonds was there, they finished second in the National League West, and with their wild-card entry into the playoffs, Bonds finally hit well in the postseason, as the Giants beat the Braves in the NLDS, then the Cardinals in the NLCS.

So Bonds got his one appearance in the World Series spotlight that year against the California Angels, and did all he could, having one of the greatest World Series of all time. In his first World Series at-bat he homered leading off the second inning of Game One, and the Giants held on to win 4-3. In Game Two he walked his first three at-bats, but Giants pitching couldn’t keep the Angels down, and even though Bonds hit a solo homer with two out in the top of the ninth to bring the score to 11-10, it merely staved off defeat when the next batter popped out to end the game.

Bonds put on another display of power in Game Three with a homer in the fifth inning, making it three straight games with a home run, but this time the Angels were far ahead and it didn’t make a difference. By now the Angels had awakened to the fact that Bonds was at last a postseason threat, and intentionally walked him three times in Game Four, although the rest of the Giants did enough to squeak out a 4-3 win. They pitched to Bonds again in Game Five (he hit two doubles), but only because the Giants ran away with the game, 16-4. The Series returned to Anaheim with the Giants leading three games to two, and again Bonds was worked around. He homered leading off the sixth in Game Six, but was walked twice and the Giants bullpen blew a 5-0 lead to lose 6-5. And in Game Seven Bonds was quiet, with a single and a walk, but so were the rest of the Giants and the Angels were 4-1 winners to clinch their first World Series title.

Bonds’ one shot at a ring was gone, despite having by far his best postseason ever. He had hit .471 in the World Series with four home runs (tied with several others for second all-time), 6 RBIs and 8 runs scored, with seven of his record 13 walks being intentional (and most of the rest effectively intentional as well).

Off the field, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon. In September 2003 federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO). Run by Victor Conte, BALCO had for years been supplying both legal and illegal performance-enhancing drugs to athletes across the United States. Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, had introduced him to Conte, and when Conte was questioned, federal agents saidhe admitted that he had supplied various steroids to Bonds. Over the next several months story after story would come out about the allegations against Bonds and many other athletes. In November Bonds won his sixth MVP Award, and at the ensuing press conference, asked about PEDs, he denied any knowledge of them. But in December he appeared before a federal grand jury to answer questions under oath about the relationship he had with BALCO.

A year later, in December 2004, the San Francisco Chronicle printed the supposedly secret grand-jury testimony. Bonds had told the grand jury that he used steroids known as the “clear” and the “cream,” but that his trainer, Anderson, told him they were flaxseed oil and rubbing balm.14 A few months later, Kimberly Bell, Bonds’ longtime girlfriend, told the media that she had seen Bonds using steroids. The case against him was damning.

A longtime knee injury had gotten serious enough that Bonds had required multiple surgeries over the winter of 2004-05. He remained in pain and recovery for much of the 2005 season, and it wasn’t until September that he got back on the field for the last couple of weeks of the season. In 2006 he was almost a shadow of his former self, hitting .270 with 26 home runs – he passed Babe Ruth’s 714 in May – but still receiving plenty of walks of both kinds. He came back again in 2007, with the all-time home-run record in his sights. On August 4 in San Diego he tied Hank Aaron with home run number 755, and three days later, on the 7th, he homered off Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals to break the record. San Francisco celebrated wildly, as the city did most things Bonds, but the rest of the baseball world was angry that a cheater had broken the sport’s most illustrious record. “It will be the most challenged piece of sport history in memory,” one writer wrote15. The widespread belief was that the record was tainted by steroids, and many had moved on to other things, including baseball itself, which was beginning to crack down on the problem. Bonds celebrated, but after taking the record to 762 by season’s end, discovered that the Giants were not interested in re-signing him. He worked out and was ready to play, but following an indictment for lying to a grand jury he was a pariah in baseball, and no team would take a chance on him.

Bonds finished with many all-time records to his name, not just the home-run title. The all-time leader in walks and intentional walks. (His 688 far exceeded runner-up Aaron’s 293.) Third in runs scored, fourth in total bases, fifth in RBIs. All-time leader in games played as a left fielder. Perhaps most amazingly, most telling about his all-round talent, was that of the eight players with at least 300 stolen bases and 300 home runs, Bonds is not merely the only one with 400 of each but also of 500 each. He was far and away the greatest combination threat of power and speed ever.

Bonds may have expected in his retirement to receive many accolades, and enjoy a long and happy life, but things didn’t work out that way. Legal trouble and baseball trouble would follow.

During his grand-jury testimony in the BALCO case, Bonds had made statements that were ambiguous about receiving steroid injections from Anderson. The prosecutors decided that he was evading their questions, and in November 2007 he was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. In 2011 Bonds was convicted on the obstruction charge but the jury deadlocked on the perjury charges. He was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, along with community service and probation. However, after a series of appeals, in 2015 the conviction was overturned. A federal appeals court decided that although his answers were rambling and evasive, he did not lie on the stand. When prosecutors declined to continue their appeals, the criminal case was over.

That hadn’t helped Bonds’ case with baseball voters, though. His name went on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2013, and with Roger Clemens also on the ballot, the issue of PEDs climbed into the spotlight. The thought of many was that players who used PEDs should never be allowed into the Hall of Fame, and both Bonds and Clemens suffered in the voting, each receiving just over a third of votes from baseball writers. In the following years his vote total remained very similar, not moving much in either direction. For a player who was almost certainly Hall of Fame level even before he began using steroids, Bonds was clearly being punished by voters. It remained to be seen whether that sentiment would fade, or whether Bonds would be kept out of the Hall of Fame for many years to come.

In recent years Bonds appeared to be trying to change his public image. He regularly posted on social media about events in his life, and tried to present a positive image. Whether that would be sufficient to sway any Hall of Fame voters was doubtful; decades of treating the media badly are difficult to unravel in a short period. Bonds could spend his life beloved in San Francisco but otherwise disliked in public and in baseball, a sad ending for a career that promised so much and delivered on it all, aided perhaps by steroids but also by a strong drive to be the best.

Last revised: December 1, 2015

Photo credits

Barry Bonds, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

Notes

It wouldn’t be long after the mortar had dried that Griffey would leave for what he had hoped would be a storybook return to his hometown of Cincinnati. But frequent trips to the disabled list stifled the talents of one of the greatest center fielders to play the game, and Griffey’s carefree attitude seemed to dissipate along with his playing time. Still, although it is tempting to contemplate what could have been were it not for those injuries, it is still gratifying to marvel at what was. Griffey’s effortless home-run swings, dazzling center-field catches, and 1,000-watt smile lit up the game for an entire generation of baseball fans, and few would dispute that he saved baseball in Seattle.

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born on November 21, 1969, in Donora, Pennsylvania to parents George Kenneth Sr. and Alberta, better known as Birdie. He shared a birthday and a birthplace with Stan Musial, who was born exactly 49 years earlier in Donora, a former steel town 20 miles south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. Griffey was followed 18 months later by a younger brother, Craig, as well as a sister, Lathesia, two years after Craig.

With Griffey Sr., a baseball star himself, the younger Ken Griffey grew up in major-league clubhouses, often spotted in a miniature Reds uniform at Riverfront Stadium surrounded by stars like Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. For the Griffeys, it was about family time. “My dad didn’t care if we watched him play baseball,” said Junior. “He cared about spending quality time with us.”1

Junior’s time in the clubhouse with his dad would also influence his own eventual path in the major leagues. When Griffey Sr. was with the Yankees, manager Billy Martin requested through one of his coaches that Griffey’s kids be removed from the clubhouse after they’d been playing in the stadium corridors with the other players’ kids before and after a blowout loss. Though 14 kids had joined them, Martin allegedly only wanted the Griffeys gone.2 From that moment, Griffey Jr. had distaste for the Yankees and ultimately vowed never to play for them. “I don’t forget things like that,” he said. “And I never will.”3

It wasn’t long before the standout high-school athlete piqued the interest of major-league scouts. One such scout was Tom Mooney. Mariners’ owner George Argyros had directed general manager Hal Keller to promote his then-chauffeur Mooney to the scouting staff in 1984, and Mooney went on to cover Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana for the Mariners. After an abysmal last-place finish in 1986, the Mariners had the first pick in the 1987 draft, and their selection was still very much in the air. In the spring of 1987 Mariners director of scouting Roger Jongewaard joined Mooney to watch Griffey’s Moeller High School team play in a new community park in Cincinnati. The park had a grove of trees roughly 20 yards beyond the outfield fence. In his second at-bat, Griffey lobbed one high into right field and well over the fence. “Which tree did it hit?” Jongewaard asked. “Roger,” said Mooney, “it went over the trees.”4 High-profile baseball names were also taking note. “I saw Ken Griffey Jr. in high school at Moeller High in Cincinnati and he was the best prospect I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Bobby Cox, then general manager of the Atlanta Braves. `”There was nobody even close to him; he was outstanding.”5

Still, Mariners ownership was hesitant to take on another high schooler after their 1986 first-round pick, Pat Lennon, had flopped. Also, Griffey had failed a psychological test that baseball teams used to forecast a player’s behavior and character. In fact, his test result was the worst the Mariners had ever seen.6 While Griffey was averse to retaking the test, he desperately wanted to be the number one pick in the draft. “The thing in our favor was that he knew everyone would remember who the No. 1 pick was,” Mooney recalled. “He was very proud of that and wanted to show his dad.”7 So Mooney re-administered the test one afternoon at the Griffey house. This time Griffey had an average result. More importantly, though, Mooney saw firsthand in Griffey’s home how he interacted with his mother, grandmother, brother, and friends. He declared him a normal kid, and the endorsement trickled up to the front office. Argyros remained skeptical, but he reluctantly agreed to selecting Griffey after Griffey and his agent agreed to sign for just $160,000. When agent Brian Goldberg told Griffey he might be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table, Griffey replied, “I’ll make up for that later. Let’s be No. 1.”8

In spite of a seemingly bright future, Griffey struggled with turmoil in his teenage years. “It seemed like everyone was yelling at me in baseball, then I came home and everyone was yelling at me there,” said Griffey. “I got depressed. I got angry. I didn’t want to live.”9 In the summer of 1987, Griffey was playing for the Bellingham Mariners of the short-season Class-A Northwest League. While on the team bus one day, Griffey got into a dispute with the teenage sons of the bus driver. One of them had reportedly expressed racial epithets toward Griffey, while another allegedly threatened him with a gun. Griffey recalled, “Growing up back home I never had to deal with anything like that.”10 When he returned home to Ohio that fall, he was regularly staying out until the early-morning hours, often worrying his mother. Griffey Sr. decided that his son should either pay rent or get his own place. Griffey Jr. recalled, “I was confused. I was hurting and I wanted to cause some hurt for others.” He had contemplated suicide many times, and on one fateful day in January 1988 he followed his thoughts with action. A 17-year-old Griffey ingested 277 aspirin and wound up in an intensive-care unit in Mount Airy, Ohio. Shortly thereafter, a frightened and angry Griffey Sr. arrived at the hospital and a fight commenced. Though Birdie was distressed, she knew the primary source of conflict and angst for Junior originated with Senior and opted to stay out of the fray. Eventually Griffey Jr. moved into his own condo. While the arguments continued between father and son, an increased understanding began to develop between the two of them.

Griffey quickly ascended the minor leagues. His first hit with the Bellingham team in 1987 was a home run, and he finished his first professional season in Low A, batting .313 in 54 games. In 1988, after he clubbed 74 hits in just 58 games for San Bernardino of the Class-A California League, the team retired his jersey. He was promoted to Vermont of the Double-A Eastern League later that season, and the mere 17 games there would be his last as a full-time minor leaguer.

Griffey joined the big-league club in Tempe, Arizona, for spring training in 1989, and it didn’t take long for him to make a splash in the Cactus League. He hit .359 that spring and compiled a 15-game hitting streak. He also set Mariners preseason records in three categories with 32 hits, 49 total bases, and 20 RBIs.11 He had extra incentive to make the Opening Day squad, as his father told him, “This could be my last season, so you had better make the team.”12 The baseball world quickly took note. Prior to the 1989 season, Baseball America ranked Griffey the best number one draft pick since the draft’s inception in 1966. While an Opening Day roster spot seemed like a foregone conclusion, manager Jim Lefebvre couldn’t resist giving Griffey a hard time. “At the end of spring training, he called me into his office,” Griffey recalled. “He goes through, like, five minutes of stuff like ‘These decisions are so tough,’ ‘You know, we’ve got a lot of veterans that have earned their chance,’ then at the end, he sticks out his hand from across his desk and says, ‘You’re my starting center fielder.’ … And he had managed to keep a straight face the whole time.”13

Like Lefebvre, Griffey’s teammates also couldn’t help but give the rookie a razzing about his big promotion. The Mariners had one last exhibition game in Las Vegas prior to the season opener in Oakland, and it happened to fall on April Fools’ Day. “I walk into the clubhouse, and everyone’s talking about a big trade we just made for Dale Murphy. Which would mean he’s our new center fielder, not me,” remembered Griffey. “So, I make that long walk to Lefebvre’s office, and he says, ‘I guess you’ve heard about the big trade we made?’ And again, he goes on and on, then finally he says, ‘Do you know today’s date?’” 14

Griffey made his major-league debut on April 3, 1989, at the Oakland Coliseum, facing Athletics ace Dave Stewart. “We got to Oakland, and man, I’m nervous,” Griffey recalled. “Dave Stewart’s on the mound, and he could have rolled the ball up there, I would have swung.”15 In spite of his nerves, Griffey hammered a 375-foot double to left-center in his first at-bat on the second pitch he saw. “He was scary all night long,” remarked Oakland manager Tony La Russa. “The young man has a world of talent. … He’s going to be something to contend with.”16 One week later, in his home debut at the Kingdome, Griffey hit his first major-league home run, launching the first pitch he saw from White Sox pitcher Eric King into the left-field seats.17 Griffey’s quick success led to a near-instantaneous fan following in Seattle. Just over a month after his debut, a Seattle-area trading-card company launched a Ken Griffey Jr. candy bar. Demand quickly soared, and ultimately nearly one million bars were purchased.18 Ironically, Griffey was allergic to chocolate.19

By late July, Griffey was a leading candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year award, batting .287 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs. But on July 25 he suffered a fracture in his right hand, purportedly after falling while coming out of the shower in his Chicago hotel room.20 However, club officials later admitted that the injury occurred when Griffey slammed his hand in anger against a hotel-room wall during an argument with a girlfriend.21 The incident suggested to Mariners management that Griffey still had a lot of maturing to do. Griffey, who was raised by his mother and grandmother, often struggled with homesickness. “He was the only player I’ve ever dealt with where I’d have to call his mother,” said Mariners GM Woody Woodward.22 He missed nearly a month of playing time as he healed. After returning to the lineup on August 20, Griffey finished out the year with an additional three home runs and 16 RBIs and ended the season batting .264. He finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He did receive one first-place vote, presumably from Bob Finnigan of the Seattle Times, who wrote, “I will vote for Ken Griffey Jr. … He has brought to the Mariners an exuberance long missing. … Seeing Griffey play almost every day, there is no way I cannot vote for him.”23

As the 1989 season came to a close, Griffey’s future in Seattle seemed bright. He pondered the possibility of his father joining him in Seattle. “Nothing would make him happier than to be in one game with me,” said Griffey.24

While Griffey had become known for his swing, he was also increasingly becoming known for his glove. On April 26, 1990, with Randy Johnson on the mound, Yankees right fielder Jesse Barfield, having homered off Johnson in his first at-bat, was aiming for a repeat, and with a loud crack of the bat he launched Johnson’s offering deep to left-center. Griffey ran to the fence, gave it a quick glance, and dug a spike into the soft padding, hoisting his shoulders above the 7-foot-3 wall at Yankee Stadium. With his perfectly timed leap, he robbed Barfield of what would have been his 200th home run. Griffey’s wide grin could be seen even before he landed. His father, who was seated next to Barfield’s wife in the stands, commented, “I think (the smile) was for me.”25

Though the Griffeys had already made history in 1989, becoming the first father-son combination to play in the major leagues in the same season, that storyline was eclipsed in 1990. Griffey Sr. was released by the Reds on August 18 and was picked up by the Mariners on the 29th, a move the Mariners hoped would help the younger Griffey mature. “A big reason we signed his father was so he would be with him,” said Jongewaard.26

On August 31 the two Griffeys became the first father and son tandem in major-league history to play in a game on the same team, with Griffey Sr. in left and Griffey Jr. in center. That evening the two hit back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first. “I wanted to cry or something,” said Junior after the game. “It just seemed like a father-son game, like we were out playing catch in the backyard. But we were actually playing a real game.”27

The fairytale culminated two weeks later on September 14 in a game against the California Angels in Anaheim. In the first inning, Griffey Sr., facing Angels starter Kirk McCaskill, hammered an 0-and-2 pitch 402 feet over the center-field wall. He was greeted at home plate by his son. “I felt for him then,” said Senior. “I knew he would be thinking home run. I could see it in his eyes when I crossed the plate.”28 What Senior saw in Junior’s eyes soon became reality. Junior came to the plate and ran the count to 3-and-0. He was given the green light by third-base coach Bill Plummer and followed his dad’s lead with a 388-foot shot over the left-field wall. Senior reacted with a quiet clap of his hands in the dugout and waited for his son by the bat rack while his teammates climbed the dugout steps for high fives. Junior looked for his father in the dugout, and the two shared a smile and an embrace. “It’s about time,” Griffey Sr. told his son.29 The father-son duo played 51 games together before Senior retired the following year. Many credited Senior’s presence for a change in Junior’s demeanor. One clubhouse aide noted, “He toned down when Senior got there. He went from a brash and outspoken kid to someone more respectful of elders. He really quieted down a lot.”30

Griffey Jr. wrapped up the 1990 season batting .300 with 22 homers and 80 RBIs. He was named to the American League All-Star squad and earned his first Gold Glove. The future appeared bright for the young phenom.

In 1991 Griffey continued to dazzle. He was elected to the American League All-Star squad as the top vote-getter in the junior circuit. Griffey was still finding his way, however, and often struggled with the high expectations set for him and criticism by fans and the media. Just before the All-Star break, Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley published an open letter to Griffey criticizing him for not giving his all. He accused Griffey of playing to be a multimillionaire rather than a Hall of Famer, not running out groundballs and taking a lackadaisical approach in the outfield. Kelley drew talent comparisons to Willie Mays, citing Mays as a player who always strived to reach his full potential and condemning Griffey as one who squandered his talents.31 Griffey fired back the next day. “People have no idea why I play,” he said. “My thing is I don’t like to be criticized. I hate for people to say I don’t do this right or that right. How do they know?” To fans’ sky-high expectations, Griffey responded, “I’m still learning what I can do. I’m driven. … I’ll never hit 40 home runs in a year. … Numbers are not everything, only if they help the team win.” Griffey was also grappling with the impending reality of his father’s retirement. “That’s why I’ve been struggling, because I don’t want him to go.”32

Griffey silenced his critics in the second half, batting .373 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs, and he had much more fun doing it. He credited teammate Harold Reynolds with his turnaround. “We were in Toronto right before the break and Harold sat me down,” Griffey said. “He told me I wasn’t having any fun. He was right.”33 Griffey took home another Gold Glove as well as the American League Silver Slugger award that season after batting .327. For the first time in franchise history, the Mariners finished with a winning record. Griffey was having more fun off the field as well. After the season he appeared, in animated form, on an episode of The Simpsons titled “Homer at the Bat.” He also collaborated with Seattle-area rapper Kid Sensation to co-write and record a rap song titled “The Way I Swing.”

By 1992 there was little doubt as to who was the centerpiece of the Mariners. Third baseman Mike Blowers noted, “There was a lot of pressure on him, not just fans, but from veterans in the clubhouse.”34 The pressures of big-league stardom coupled with a tumultuous ownership group constantly threatening to sell or relocate the team were difficult for a sensitive Griffey. Still, he managed another stellar season, hitting .308 with 27 homers and 103 RBIs, and winning another Gold Glove. He was also the MVP of the All-Star game, ending a triple short of a cycle. Opposing NL manager Bobby Cox marveled, “He doesn’t have a ceiling that I can see.”35

After the season finished, Griffey married his girlfriend of three years, Melissa Gay, a Seattle-area native, in a ceremony in Kirkland, Washington.

In 1993 Griffey’s power began to take center stage. He clubbed his 100th homer on June 15, becoming the sixth-youngest player to reach that milestone. After being named to his fourth consecutive All-Star team, he became the first player to homer off the B&O warehouse in Baltimore’s Camden Yards, hitting a 445-foot shot during the Home Run Derby.36 On July 28 he tied the major-league record for consecutive home-run games, homering for an eighth consecutive day, this time into the third deck of the Kingdome. Griffey finished the season leading the American League in total bases (359), winning his second Silver Slugger Award, and finishing fifth in MVP voting. He added a fourth Gold Glove to his trophy case.

In January 1994 Griffey became a father when Melissa gave birth to a baby boy, Trey Kenneth Griffey, at a Seattle-area hospital. “He has a full head of hair,” said a proud Griffey. “I mean, he came out with an Afro.”37 Those around him noted the calming influence Griffey’s family had on him, and his family became the center of his world. “They’re the two most important things in my life,” Griffey said of Melissa and Trey.38

Griffey’s power streak continued in 1994. He clubbed his 30th home run of the season into the Kauffman Stadium fountains in Kansas City on June 17, tying Babe Ruth’s record for home runs before July 1. “That’s one of the hardest hit balls I’ve ever seen,” remarked Seattle manager Lou Piniella.39 Griffey went on to surpass Ruth’s record with home runs on June 22 and June 24. He was named to his fifth consecutive All-Star squad, shattering Rod Carew’s record for All-Star votes (4,292,740 in 1977) with a staggering 6,079,688-vote tally.40 True to form, Griffey credited his father for the votes. “To have his name. … It was a little bit easier for people to look at me and recognize what my dad has done.”41 Then the players’ strike put an end to Griffey’s stellar season. As baseball shut its doors on August 11, Griffey finished with 40 home runs, the highest tally in the AL. He added another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger to his résumé and finished second in AL MVP voting. He also bolstered his acting résumé, making cameos in the movie Little Big League and the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Griffey ventured into the video-game business, partnering with Mariners owner Nintendo to develop a series of video games bearing his name.

After baseball resumed in 1995, the Mariners went on to have a season permanently etched in franchise lore, and Griffey played a central role. On May 26, in a game against Baltimore in the Kingdome, he made a catch that would feature in highlight reels for decades to come, scaling the center-field wall to make a backhanded grab of a Kevin Bass bid for an extra-base hit. The dazzling play would ultimately become known as the “Spiderman” catch. However, Griffey suffered a broken left wrist on the play and missed 73 games. He returned to the roster on August 15, and on August 24 he delivered one of the most crucial home runs of the season. The Mariners were in the heat of the wild card race and were trailing the Yankees 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. After Joey Cora hit a single to tie it, Griffey strode to the plate with two outs and clubbed a two-run homer off closer John Wetteland. From there, the Mariners went on a tear through late August and September, securing their first-ever AL West division championship.42

The 1995 ALDS pitted the Mariners against the wild-card champion Yankees. The Mariners had home-field advantage, meaning they would open the series in the Bronx (prior to 1998, the ALDS had a 2-3 rather than a 2-2-1 format). Game One went to the men in pinstripes, though Griffey gave a solid effort, going 3-for-5 with two home runs. The Mariners fell to the Yankees again in Game Two in a heartbreaking 15-inning marathon, losing 7-5 in spite of Griffey’s clubbing another home run, going 2-for-6. The series headed back to Seattle, with the Yankees needing just one win for the series victory. Back on their home Astroturf, the Mariners battled back, winning the next two games and forcing a decisive Game Five.

The Yankees’ Game One victor David Cone held the Mariners to two runs through seven innings, leaving them trailing, 4-2. Griffey faced Cone with one out in the eighth, sending a fastball into the second deck of the Kingdome, for his fifth homer of the series – a division series record. The Yankees’ lead was cut to 4-3, and Seattle tied the tense contest to send Cone to the showers before the inning ended. After dramatic relief appearances by the Yankees’ Jack McDowell and the Mariners’ Randy Johnson, the Mariners fell behind 5-4in the 11th. In the bottom of the inning a confident Griffey came to the plate with Joey Cora on base. He ripped a McDowell fastball into center for a single, advancing Cora to third. Edgar Martinez came to the plate and bashed a fastball into the left-field corner. Cora scored easily to tie the game, and all 57,411 eyes in the Kingdome turned to Griffey, who represented the winning run. “I saw that (Gerald) Williams was playing toward left-center,” Griffey said. “When I saw the ball land near the line, I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could. When I got to third, Sammy (Perlozzo) said, ‘Keep going!’ So I did.”43 Griffey slid home safely and was quickly dogpiled by his teammates as they took home the Mariners first-ever division series championship. Griffey’s smile was so bright that it could be seen from the Kingdome rafters. The Mariners went on to lose to the Indians in six games during the ALCS, but their division championship remains etched in fans’ memories as the quintessential Mariners moment.

The excitement continued that offseason for Griffey when he and Melissa added a daughter to their family. When Taryn Kennedy Griffey was born, her father noted, “We’ve added a track star to the family,” he said. “I can tell.”44

On January 31, 1996, Griffey became baseball’s highest-paid player when he signed a four-year, $34 million deal. He clubbed his 200th homer on May 21 at just 26 years old. He enjoyed a huge game against the Yankees on May 24, hitting three homers, scoring five runs, and driving in six. He finished the 1996 season fourth in AL MVP voting, adding another All Star selection (7), Gold Glove (7), and Silver Slugger (4) to his résumé. His popularity soared, and a Nike campaign promoting Griffey as a presidential candidate was ubiquitous. “Griffey in ’96” began appearing on TV commercials, T-shirts, and even bumper stickers.45

In 1997 construction began on a new Mariners ballpark. Before ground had even been broken, the stadium was being billed as “The House That Griffey Built.” By design, Griffey was the only player to fly up for the groundbreaking ceremony during spring training. “It was the right thing for me,” he said. “I thought it was important that I go.”46

Griffey led the Mariners to their second American League West Division championship in the 1997 season. He scored an American League-leading 125 runs and bashed a staggering 56 home runs, while leading the majors with 147 RBIs. In addition to garnering what was becoming his standard All-Star-Gold Glove-Silver Slugger trifecta, he was named the unanimous MVP of the American League, snagging all 28 first-place votes. For Griffey, the award was vindication against his toughest critics. “All my life in professional baseball, people said, ‘He could be better,’” Griffey said. “This award means a lot.”47

On April 13, 1998, Griffey hit his 300th homer. Only Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx had reached this milestone at a younger age. That same season, he left Foxx in the dust, hitting his 350th home run on September 25 and reaching that plateau at nearly a year younger than Foxx was at the time he achieved it. Griffey was named to his ninth All-Star team in July, this time at the hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver, and disappointed fans when he opted not to participate in the Home Run Derby. He cited a plethora of reasons, including the Mariners’ travel schedule, a sore wrist, and a poor performance in the prior year’s derby. Yet after the boos rained down over him as he stepped out for American League batting practice, Griffey was taken aback. “I don’t like to get booed,” he said.48 Minutes later, Griffey re-emerged from the clubhouse with his signature backwards cap and a bat in his hand, ready to participate. “If they want to see me in the home-run competition, the fans, there’s 4 million reasons why I did it, for them.”49 Griffey made it worth their while, hitting eight homers in the first round, eight more in the second, then beating Jim Thome in the final round, securing the Home Run Derby crown. Griffey finished the 1998 season by matching his prior-season home run total of 56. He finished fourth in AL MVP voting.

The 1999 season marked the end of an era in Seattle, in what would turn out to be more ways than one. In July the Mariners moved out of the Kingdome – their home since the franchise’s inception in 1977. Griffey hit the last home run ever to be hit in the Kingdome, on June 27. He tallied 198 home runs in the Kingdome, more than any other player. He was selected to his 10th All-Star Game in July, and won his second straight Home Run Derby title, this time at Fenway Park. He moved into his new home, Safeco Field, two days later. Many were concerned that Griffey’s offense would be stifled in the new, larger outdoor stadium, and that Griffey – whose contract was set to expire after the following season – would flee to more hitter-friendly pastures. In his 42 games at Safeco that summer, Griffey hit .278 with 14 homers.

Griffey was one of 100 players nominated as potential vote-getters for the All-Century team in July. During the 1999 World Series, it was announced that Griffey was one of 30 players selected to the team.

In November the Mariners announced that Griffey had turned down an eight-year deal worth in excess of $135 million, and had requested to be traded to a team closer to his hometown of Orlando, Florida. Griffey, a 10-and-5 player with 10 years of major-league service and five with the same team, had the power to reject any trade the Mariners proposed. In December Griffey announced that his short list had narrowed to just one team: the Cincinnati Reds.

On February 10, 2000, Griffey’s day of reckoning had arrived. He was traded to the Reds for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, infielder Antonio Perez, and minor-league pitcher Jake Meyer. The Reds signed Griffey to a nine-year, $112.5 million contract. “Well, I’m finally home,” Griffey said in his first press conference at Cinergy Field. As he had in the past, Griffey left money on the table for what he felt was the right decision. “This is my hometown. I grew up here. It doesn’t matter how much money you make; it’s where you feel happy. Cincinnati is the place where I thought I would be happy.”

In Griffey’s first season with the Reds, he hit 40 home runs and drove in 118 runs. He also reached the 400-homer milestone on April 10, his father’s 50th birthday. While few would have expected it, 2000 would turn out to be his best Reds season. Later in the season, during a confrontation with broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Griffey admitted to having played hurt all year with a sore hamstring.50 It was a harbinger of things to come.

On Opening Day 2001, Griffey sat out for the first opener in his career with a sore hamstring. He went on the disabled list on April 29. In July Griffey’s former teammate and then-ESPN analyst Harold Reynolds criticized the Reds’ decision to play a recovering Griffey when they were out of contention. “They gave me the green light to play,” Griffey retorted. “If I blow out, I blow out. But I am going to do it under my own terms.”51

Six games into the 2002 season, the Reds were facing the Expos at home when Griffey was caught in a rundown between third and home. He slipped and twisted his right knee, tearing his patella. Season-ending surgery was contemplated, but Griffey decided to rehab instead. He played 70 games that season, hitting .264 with eight home runs.

One bright spot for Griffey that season was the welcoming of adopted son Tevin Kendall in May. Since Melissa had been adopted, the Griffeys always wanted to adopt a child into their family. It was challenging finding the right match, as prospective birth parents were trying to extract favors from the Griffeys once they discovered their identities. However, this time it worked out perfectly, and the Griffeys became a family of five, with all three children sharing the same initials.52

Ugly rumors plagued Griffey the following offseason, with reports that Reds GM Jim Bowden and manager Bob Boone were conspiring to trade Griffey, considering his acquisition a flop. Griffey, always sensitive to criticism, responded with a combination of the silent treatment and dismissive defiance: “I don’t play for a GM, I don’t play for a manager. I don’t play for an owner. I love playing baseball because I love playing baseball.”53

Griffey’s bad luck continued in 2003; on July 17 he suffered a season-ending injury rounding first base on a double. He underwent surgery to repair a ruptured ankle tendon. It was the latest in a laundry list of injuries that year that included a dislocated shoulder, which would be surgically repaired in August, tears to both hamstrings, and the aggravation of his previously torn patella.54

Griffey returned in 2004, and on Father’s Day, with both his parents in attendance, he hit his 500th home run, against the Cardinals in St. Louis.55 On August 4 Griffey tore his hamstring while making a sliding play in the outfield. He had season-ending surgery on August 16.

Griffey bounced back in 2005, hitting 35 home runs with 92 RBIs. He was ultimately sidelined by an ankle injury in September, but won the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award, voted in by the fans. “This award is one I’ll cherish forever,” he said.56

As the 2007 season commenced, Griffey asked Commissioner Bud Selig for permission to wear Jackie Robinson’s retired number 42, 60 years to the day after Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. He had also sought the approval of Robinson’s widow, Rachel. Ten years earlier, Griffey had worn number 42 with the encouragement of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, to honor Robinson on the day his number was retired by all of baseball. Selig agreed, and extended the opportunity to all other major leaguers as well. “This is a wonderful gesture on Ken’s part and a fitting tribute to the great Jackie Robinson,” said Selig.57 Several other players followed suit, and the practice soon became a tradition for players, coaches, and umpires around the league each April 15, Jackie Robinson Day in baseball. The idea originated with Griffey, who said, “It’s just my way of giving that man his due respect.”58

In June, Griffey returned to Safeco Field for the first time since his trade. He was ambivalent about his return, fearing he might be greeted with a chorus of boos.59 On June 23 the Mariners held a pregame ceremony to welcome back Griffey and his family. A sellout crowd greeted him with a four-minute standing ovation; there wasn’t a boo heard in the house. The normally stoic Griffey let his guard down during his speech, and appeared to choke back tears. “Never could I imagine it would be like this coming back,” he said in his speech. “I met my beautiful wife here. Two out of my three kids were born here. This place will be home. I didn’t realize how much I missed being in Seattle.”60 After a sentimental weekend, the wheels were put in motion for a Seattle return.

Before that, though, Griffey would make a pit stop with the Chicago White Sox. After hitting his 600th home run on June 9, 2008, with the Reds, Griffey was dealt to the White Sox at the July 31 trade deadline with cash for pitcher Nick Masset and infielder Danny Richar. The White Sox made the playoffs that year, partly due to a spectacular defensive play Griffey made during a tie-breaking 163rd game on September 30 against the Minnesota Twins at US Cellular Field. Griffey threw a strike from center to home in the fifth inning and the Twins’ Michael Cuddyer was out at the plate. The White Sox won, 1-0, advancing to the Division Series, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in four games.

A free agent after the 2008 season, Griffey was agonizing over his choice between joining the Braves and the Mariners. Though initially leaning towards Atlanta, which was closer to his Orlando home, ultimately, he chose Seattle. He was reportedly persuaded by Willie Mays, the man who was the reason he wore number 24 with the Mariners. Mays emphasized Griffey’s legacy with the Mariners franchise, as did Griffey’s daughter Taryn, who urged him to go to the Mariners and never have any regrets about how he finished his career.61

Griffey made a strong impact on the Mariners’ clubhouse in 2009, and his lighthearted antics were reminiscent of his younger self. He could be found playing pranks on teammates during road trips or teasing and tickling a normally composed Ichiro Suzuki during batting practice. “His humor and presence is something I feel only he can do,” Ichiro said. “Everybody considers him to be a genius as a player, but he’s a genius in that respect as well.”62

Though his bat was fairly quiet in 2009 – he hit just .214 – the Mariners brought Griffey back in 2010 largely for his clubhouse influence. On May 10 a report surfaced that Griffey had missed an at-bat because he was asleep in the clubhouse.63 Manager Don Wakamatsu had also been limiting Griffey’s playing time due to poor performance. The storybook return began to appear tarnished. On June 2, in the midst of a four-game set at home versus the Twins, Griffey quietly packed up and left in the middle of the night, driving cross-country back to his home in Orlando. He issued a statement through the team, “While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field … I will never allow myself to become a distraction.”64 With that, Griffey had played his last major-league game.

Griffey finished his career with 2,781 hits, including 630 home runs. He was a 13-time All-Star and garnered 10 Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, and one AL MVP Award. He would later be inducted into both the Mariners’ and Reds’ Halls of Fame. While Griffey’s on-field accolades speak for themselves, he considered his proudest accomplishment in life being a good father. He could often be seen at the University of Arizona cheering on his son Trey, a football star, and Taryn, a basketball standout. Griffey is also a pilot and a photography enthusiast. As former teammate Harold Reynolds explained, “I have always believed that Junior’s No. 1 goal in life was to be a dad like his dad. That’s what he wanted to do, more than hitting all the home runs and more than going to the Hall of Fame. Junior loves his kids.”65

Last revised: November 9, 2015

A version of this biography is included in “Nuclear Powered Baseball: Articles Inspired by The Simpsons Episode Homer At the Bat” (SABR, 2016), edited by Emily Hawks and Bill Nowlin. For more information, click here.

Notes