| Kevin Mitchell | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Mitchell in 2016 | |
| Left fielder | |
| Born: (1962-01-13)January 13, 1962 (age 63) San Diego, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: September 4, 1984, for the New York Mets | |
| NPB: April 1, 1995, for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | |
| Last appearance | |
| NPB: August 8, 1995, for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | |
| MLB: August 3, 1998, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .284 |
| Home runs | 234 |
| Runs batted in | 760 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .300 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 28 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Kevin Darnell Mitchell (born January 13, 1962) is an American professionalbaseballleft fielder who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) andNippon Professional Baseball from 1984 to 1998. Mitchell was a two-timeMLB All-Star and won theNational League Most Valuable Player Award andSilver Slugger Award in 1989, when he led the league inhome runs andruns batted in.
Mitchell was born and raised inSan Diego to Alma Mitchell, who worked as an electrician with theUS Navy.[1][2] Alma separated from Mitchell's father, Earl, when Mitchell was two years old.[3][4] He was raised by his mother and paternal grandmother, Josie Whitfield, who encouraged his participation in sports.[3][5] Because Mitchell struggled academically, he attended several high schools in San Diego includingLincoln High School,Clairemont High School andCrawford High School, where he claimed to have playedwater polo. Although he has been credited with graduating from Clairemont and has claimed to have been a high schoolfootball star there, Mitchell only attended the school for two months in 1978. He was reportedly involved in street gangs as a youth, but has claimed he was never himself a member;[4] he also claimed to have been shot three times in his youth.[5][6] His stepbrother, Donald, was killed in a gang fight.[7]
Mitchell reportedly did not play high school baseball. He was signed by theNew York Mets as an undrafted free agent following an open tryout atGrossmont College. He was given a $1,500 signing bonus plus $600 monthly in salary.[8]
InAmazin',Peter Golenbock's oral history of the New York Mets, Hall of Fame catcherGary Carter said he gave Mitchell the nickname "World" for his ability to play in the infield and outfield. Carter spoke fondly of Mitchell's talents.[9] Mitchell made his major league debut on September 4, 1984, against theSt. Louis Cardinals, appearing as a pinch hitter and flying out in his only plate appearance.[10] He batted .214 with anRBI in seven games to finish the1984 season.[11]
After spending the 1985 season in the minor leagues, Mitchell returned to the Mets in1986, batting .277 with 12home runs and 43 RBI in 108 games.[11] In the tenth inning of Game 6 of the1986 World Series, with the Mets trailing and two outs,Gary Carter singled to keep the game alive. Mitchell was then sent in topinch hit forRick Aguilera and also singled, extending the rally. He would eventually score the tying run onBob Stanley's wild pitch toMookie Wilson.[12] The Mets went on to win the game and series, giving Mitchell his only World Series ring.[13][14]
In a July 2007 radio interview with San Francisco sports talk radio stationKNBR, Mitchell disputed that he was out of uniform at the time, and stated that he never wore a cup, even when playing infield. When asked why he never wore a cup, Mitchell responded, "I couldn’t find one big enough for my junk." The interviewer then commented that maybe the increased mobility helped Mitchell to make the famous 1989 barehanded catch ofOzzie Smith's fly ball.[12]
On December 11, 1986, the Mets traded Mitchell,Shawn Abner,Stan Jefferson, Kevin Armstrong, and Kevin Brown to theSan Diego Padres forKevin McReynolds,Gene Walter, and Adam Ging.[15] Mitchell played for the Padres for the first half of1987, batting .245 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 62 games.[11][16]
On July 4, 1987, Mitchell was traded to theSan Francisco Giants as part of a multi-player trade that also sent pitchersDave Dravecky andCraig Lefferts to San Francisco in exchange for third basemanChris Brown and pitchersKeith Comstock,Mark Davis, andMark Grant.[17] While Dravecky was initially considered to be the key to the trade for the Giants, it was Mitchell who emerged as a star player. He hit .306 with 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 69 games with the Giants following the trade.[11] In 1988, Mitchell hit .251 with 19 home runs and 80 RBI in 148 games.[11]
After two seasons playing primarily at third base, Mitchell had his best season with the Giants in1989 upon being moved to the outfield. In that season, hebatted .291 with a league-best 47 home runs and 125 RBI in 154 games, leading the team to the playoffs and winning theNational League'sMost Valuable Player award, the first by a Giant sinceWillie McCovey in1969.[11][18] Mitchell was named to his firstAll-Star team, and also led the majors inslugging percentage (.635),on-base plus slugging (1.023),total bases (345), andintentional walks (32).[11]
In the 1989 postseason, Mitchell posted a .353 average, two home runs and 7 RBI in theNLCS, helping the Giants to their firstWorld Series appearance since1962.[19][20] Mitchell hit safely in every game of the1989 World Series, batting .294 with a home run, two runs scored, and 2 RBI in theOakland Athletics' four-game sweep.[11][20]
Mitchell set the tone for his charmed 1989 season early in the year with a unique defensive play on April 26. Sprinting toward the left field foul line inSt. Louis'sBusch Stadium, for a ball off the bat ofOzzie Smith, Mitchell realized he had overrun the ball, but was able to reach back and snare the ball with his bare hand.[21][22]
Mitchell made another All-Star team in1990, and finished the season batting .290 with 35 home runs and 93 RBI in 140 games.[11] He ranked among the National League leaders in home runs (third), slugging percentage (.544, third), on-base plus slugging (.904, sixth), total bases (285, eighth), andextra-base hits (61, ninth).[11][23] In1991, Mitchell hit .256 with 27 home runs and 69 RBI in 113 games.[11]
On December 11, 1991, Mitchell and pitcherMike Remlinger were traded to theSeattle Mariners in exchange for pitchersBill Swift,Mike Jackson andDave Burba.[24] Mitchell arrived atspring training 30 pounds (14 kg) overweight, and struggled to begin the season, batting just .222 with two home runs and 20 RBI through the end of May.[25] Starting on June 1, Mitchell rebounded and batted .337 the rest of the way along with seven home runs and 47 RBI in his last 54 games.[25] Overall, he batted .286 with nine home runs and 67 RBI in 99 games with the Mariners.[11]
On November 17, 1992, Mitchell was traded to theCincinnati Reds for pitcherNorm Charlton.[26] He had a resurgence in two seasons with the Reds, batting .341 with 19 home runs and 64 RBI in just 323 at-bats in 1993 and .323 with 30 home runs and 77 RBI in thestrike-shortened 1994 season.[11] However, his weight problems kept him from being more productive. Because of thebaseball strike, he opted to play for theFukuoka Daiei Hawks inJapan the following year,[27] where he became the highest-paid player in Japanese history.[28] In Japan, he incurred the displeasure of team management when he chose to travel to the U.S. in mid-season for treatment of knee problems against the team's wishes. He spent only two months with the team.[29] It was discovered later that he did indeed need surgery on his knee.
On March 8, 1996, Mitchell signed with theBoston Red Sox as a free agent.[30] He hit .304 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 27 games with Boston before being traded back to the Reds in exchange for infielderRoberto Mejía and pitcher Brad Tweedlie on July 30.[11][31] Mitchell batted .325 with six home runs and 26 RBI in 37 games for the Reds to close the season.[11]
On December 13, 1996, Mitchell signed with the Cleveland Indians.[32] In May, after teammateChad Curtis objected to lyrics of arap song Mitchell was playing in the clubhouse, and shut off the clubhouse stereo, Curtis exchanged punches with Mitchell, who threw Curtis over a ping pong table.[33][34] Curtis sustained a bruised right thumb in the fight, and was placed on the 15-daydisabled list.[35] Mitchell was designated for assignment on May 24.[36] At the time, he was batting just .153 with four home and 11 RBI in 20 games.[11] Mitchell was released on June 3.[36]
Mitchell signed a minor league contract with theOakland Athletics on March 9, 1998.[11] After a strong spring training, he made the team's Opening Day roster.[37] On August 4, Mitchell was released by Oakland following their game that night.[38] He batted .228 with two home runs and 21 RBI in 51 games with the Athletics.[11] Mitchell played the following two seasons in independent ball before officially retiring.[39]
Since his retirement, Mitchell lives inSan Diego,[16] and plays in the San Diego Adult Baseball League for the championship team, the San Diego Black Sox.
Mitchell was the subject of a rape investigation inChula Vista, California, in December 1991.[40][41] No charges were filed.[16][42]
After being released from Major League Baseball for the last time, he was arrested in 1999 for assaulting his father during an argument.[43] In theindependent leagues as manager of theSonoma County Crushers in2000, he was suspended for nine games after punching the opposing team's owner in the mouth during a brawl.[44] In 2010, Mitchell was arrested for alleged misdemeanor battery at the Bonita Golf Club inBonita, California.[44] He was ordered to perform community service and attend anger management classes.[16]
In his 13-season career with eight teams, Mitchell batted .284 with 234 home runs, 760 runs batted in, 630runs scored, 1,173hits, 224doubles, 25triples and 491bases on balls in 1,223 games.[11]
Mitchell's cousin,Keith Mitchell, also played in the major leagues for four teams across four seasons (between 1991 and1998), ending his career with a .260 batting average and eight home runs.[45]
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