| Quinton McCracken | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) McCracken with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1970-08-16)August 16, 1970 (age 55) Southport, North Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 17, 1995, for the Colorado Rockies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 5, 2006, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .274 |
| Home runs | 21 |
| Runs batted in | 244 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Quinton Antoine McCracken (born August 16, 1970) is an American former professionalbaseballoutfielder. He played all or parts of 12 seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB), and was theTampa Bay Devil Rays franchise's firstcenter fielder and batter on March 31, 1998.
McCracken attendedSouth Brunswick High School and was the startingrunning back, thefree safety infootball, the startingpoint guard inbasketball, and being abaseball star and atrack standout. As a senior in 1988 he led his baseball team to a 29–0 record and the state Championship.USA Today rated the team the fifth-best in the nation that year.[1]
After graduating fromDuke University. McCracken was selected by theColorado Rockies intheir inaugural draft in 1992 in the 25th round. He made his major league debut as a September call up on September 17, 1995; in three games, hestruck out in his onlyat bat. In 1996, he played mostly center field,batting .290 in 283 at-bats. In 1997, hestole a career-high 28 bases and increased his batting average to .292.
McCracken was drafted by theexpansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays on November 18, 1997, as their 2nd pick in the1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft, to be their starting center fielder for 1998. Playing in a career-high 155 games, McCracken had his best-ever season, batting .292 with 7home runs, 59RBI, and was named the Devil Rays first-ever most valuable player.[2] After playing only 40 games in 1999, because of a tornACL,[2] he spent most of 2000 in the minors with Triple-ADurham. The Devil Rays released him on November 27, 2000, and he signed with theSt. Louis Cardinals on December 22, he was released inspring training. On April 13, 2001, McCracken signed with theMinnesota Twins. He again spent most of the year in Triple-A, where he batted .338 forEdmonton.
He became afree agent after the season and on January 9, 2002, signed with theArizona Diamondbacks. He spent the entire season with the major league club, hitting .309 as the Diamondbacks won theNL West. McCracken batted .364 in 11 at-bats against the St. Louis Cardinals in theNLDS, but the D-Backs were swept out of the playoffs by the Cardinals. His batting average dropped nearly 100 points in 2003 to .227. On December 15, 2003, he was traded to theSeattle Mariners forfirst basemanGreg Colbrunn. However, McCracken did not get much playing time with Seattle, and on June 9 he was released. Two days later, he re-signed with the D-Backs and batted .288 in 55 games. He became a free agent after the season and re-signed with Arizona. McCracken struggled with a .237 batting average in 2005, becoming a free agent after the season.
On February 14, 2006, he signed with theCincinnati Reds, but was released on July 6. The Minnesota Twins, after signing him to a minor league contract on July 21, announced at the end of the 2006 season that they would not re-sign McCracken after he had played for their Triple-A affiliate, theRochester Red Wings.[3] He was not picked up by another team, and signed on to play with the independentBridgeport Bluefish of theAtlantic League.[4][5] After one season in independent ball, McCracken played for theDominican Winter Baseball League in late 2007[6] and retired.[2]
He joined the front office of the Diamondbacks in 2010,[7] and moved to theHouston Astros in 2012.[8][9] McCracken joined theMiami Marlins staff as an outfield/baserunning coordinator in 2018.[10] In January 2019, he joined theDurham Bulls as a third-base coach in a return to the city where he attended college.[11] On March 19, 2024, McCracken was named manager of theMahoning Valley Scrappers of theMLB Draft League for the upcoming season.[12] McCracken returned to coach the Scrappers for the 2025 season.[13]
· Baseball Almanac
