A photo of Michael Young.
Michael Brian Young (born October 19, 1976, in Covina, California) is a Major League Baseball All Star third baseman for the Texas Rangers.
Young was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 25th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft but did not sign. Young attended the University of California at Santa Barbara. He did sign three years later, when the Toronto Blue Jays signed him in the fifth round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft. He was traded in 2000 with pitcher Darwin Cubillan to the Rangers for Esteban Loaiza. On March 2, 2007, Young agreed to a $80,000,000 contract extension that would keep him with the Rangers until 2013.
Major league career[]
In 2002, Young placed 2nd in fielding with a .988 fielding percentage.
In 2003, Young was 3rd in the league in hits with 204, and led all second baseman with a batting average of .306. Young narrowly missed his first gold glove with a fielding percentage of .987. At the end of the 2003 season, Young moved to shortstop after the Alex Rodriguez trade, to make room for Alfonso Soriano.
In 2004, Young was second in the American League in hits with 216 and at bats with 690, 4th in runs with 114, and 9th in batting with an average of .313. Young finished second among shortstops in RBIs, with 99.
Young won the AL batting title in 2005 with an average of .331, and was first in MLB in hits with 221. He was 2nd in AL in at bats with 668, and his 114 runs were 5th-best in the AL. His 40 doubles were the 8th-best in the AL. Young also established a career-high in home runs with 24. Young's 91 RBIs placed him second among all shortstops in the AL.
Young was elected as a member of 2006 World Baseball Classic roster.
In the 2006 MLB All-Star Game held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Young was rewarded with the Ted Williams Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award after hitting a game-winning two-run triple in the 9th inning.
During the 2006 season, Young was 13th in the AL in batting with an average of .314. He was second in the majors in hits, with 217, doubles, at 52, and at bats, with 691. Young set a career high and led all shortstops in RBIs with 103. Young was 1st in the AL in fielding percentage at shortstop with .981. Young also played all 162 games of the 2006 season. Young became the 29th player to accumulate 200 hits, 50 doubles, and 100 RBIs in a season. Young became just the 5th player in Major League history to collect 215 hits in three consecutive seasons.
Young finished the 2007 season with a batting average of .315, which led the Rangers and was 11th-highest in the AL. Young also led the Rangers with 94 RBIs and was second among all shortstops in the AL. Young was second on the team and tied a career high in stolen bases with 13. Young's 201 hits were 4th in the AL, and marked the 5th consecutive 200-hit season, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Wade Boggs as the only players to do so since 1940 and just the second middle infielder, along with Charlie Gehringer, to have accomplished that feat.
Young played in the longest All-Star game in history. He drove in the game-winning RBI at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game after four hours and 40 minutes of playing time. Also, in 2008 Young won the Gold Glove at shortstop for the American League.
In January 2009, the Rangers told Young they would be moving him to third base to make room for prospect Elvis Andrus.
Young was voted a reserve on the AL 2009 All Star team by the players, and was joined by teammates Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz (Young wore No. 5 wristbands in the game as a tribute to Ian Kinsler, who just missed making the team as well).[1] When Tampa Bay Rays' Evan Longoria had problems with an infected finger, Young replaced him in the starting lineup at third base in the 2009 MLB All Star Game, going 1-for-3 with a single.[2]
Personal life[]
Young's mother is of Mexican American descent. Young met his wife while in high school; the couple married in 2000. They have a son named Mateo. Young's cousin is former WBO Light Welterweight boxing champion Zack Padilla.[3][4][5][6]
Rangers single season records[]
- 1. Hits- 221 (2005)
- 1. Doubles- 52 (2006)
- 1. At Bats- 691 (2006)
Rangers career records[]
- 2. Triples- 42
- 3. Hits- 1,600
- 4. Runs- 793
- 4. Doubles- 303
- 6. Runs Batted In- 690
- 8. Batting Average- .301
See also[]
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball Hit Records
References[]
- ↑ Rangers’ Andro, Anthony, "Michael Young has special day from the start", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/14/09, accessed 7/16/09
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ http://jockbio.com/Bios/MYoung/MYoung_bio.html
- ↑ http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/071606dnspoyounglede.1636ff3.html
- ↑ http://archive.is/20120709211326/findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_1_66/ai_n27101465
- ↑ http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=276545
External links[]
| Search Wikimedia Commons | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Young |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Ichiro Suzuki |
American League Batting Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by: Joe Mauer |
| Preceded by: Miguel Tejada |
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 2006 |
Succeeded by: Ichiro Suzuki |