| Mike Kinkade | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utility player / Coach | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1973-05-06)May 6, 1973 (age 52) Livonia, Michigan, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| Professional debut | |||||||||||||||
| MLB: September 8, 1998, for the New York Mets | |||||||||||||||
| NPB: April 2, 2004, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | |||||||||||||||
| MLB: September 28, 2003, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||||||||||||
| NPB: August 11, 2004, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .256 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 48 | ||||||||||||||
| NPB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .233 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 7 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Michael Arthur Kinkade (born May 6, 1973) is an Americancollege baseball coach and formerMajor League Baseball player. He played for theNew York Mets,Baltimore Orioles, andLos Angeles Dodgers between 1998 and 2003. Later, he was an assistant coach atCalifornia State University, Bakersfield.
After graduating fromTigard High School inTigard, Oregon, Kinkade was a star atWashington State University, where he playedcollege baseball for theCougars from 1992–1995.[1] He was a third-teamAll-American in1994,[2] and became the school's leader in career hits with 304, a mark he held until 2006.[3] After the 1994 season, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theFalmouth Commodores of theCape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star.[4][5]
TheMilwaukee Brewers drafted Kinkade in the 19th round of the1994 draft, but he elected to return to school for his senior year. The Brewers drafted him againthe next year, in the ninth round with the 236th overall pick, and this time he signed with the team.
Kinkade was an immediate success in the minor leagues, splitting time between catching and playing in the outfield. He was aPioneer LeagueAll-Star in his first professional season in1995, compiling a .353batting average with 26stolen bases and morewalks thanstrikeouts. The next season, Kinkade was again an All-Star, this time in theMidwest League. He also set a league record for hit by pitches.[6] He was even more productive in1997, when he was named theMost Valuable Player of theDouble-ATexas League.[7] He batted .385 with a .455on-base percentage, a .588slugging percentage, and 17 stolen bases, though he also committed 60errors in the field.
On July 31,1998, the Brewers traded Kinkade to theNew York Mets forleft-handedpitcherBill Pulsipher. Along with fellow pitching prospectsJason Isringhausen andPaul Wilson, Pulsipher had been promoted by the Mets as a part of "Generation K", a trio ofstarting pitchers who were supposed to carry the team's rotation for the next decade. Isringhausen and Wilson sustained arm injuries, while Pulsipher encountered control problems, and none enjoyed any substantial success with the Mets.
After the trade, Kinkade struggled with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate atNorfolk. He made his major league debut on September 8, 1998, in a 16–4 loss to thePhiladelphia Phillies,[8] but struggled to establish himself in the majors. Kinkade appeared in 31 games with the Mets in 1998 and1999 but was sent all the way down to the class AABinghamton Mets for the2000 season, the same level where he was an MPV three years early.
Kinkade's season in Binghamton marked a resurgence in his career. He was named to theEastern League All-Star team, and on July 28, was traded to theBaltimore Orioles, giving him a fresh start with a new franchise. The Mets sent Kinkade,Melvin Mora,Lesli Brea, and prospect Pat Gorman to the Orioles for All-Star shortstopMike Bordick for a playoff run. Bordick helped the Mets reach theWorld Series that year, but the deal proved costly: Bordick returned to the Orioles as afree agent that off-season, and Mora developed into a star.
Kinkade appeared in three games with the Orioles at the end of 2000, then left forSydney to represent theUnited States at theSummer Olympics. America's baseball team won thegold medal, and Kinkade played a key role, getting on base in the seventh inning of a semifinal game againstSouth Korea and scoring America's second run in a come-from-behind 3–2 win.[9]
Kinkade experienced his first real major league success in2001, batting .275 with a .345 OBP in 160at bats with the Orioles. He signed with theLos Angeles Dodgers as a free agent that off-season, then enjoyed tremendous success as a bench player, batting .380 with seven extra-base hits in only 50 at bats. Kinkade was less successful in a return engagement with theLos Angeles Dodgers in2003, though he did finish fifth in theNational League with 16hit-by-pitches.
He played inJapan with theHanshin Tigers in2004, then spent2005 in theCleveland Indians organization with theBuffalo Bisons,2006 in theFlorida Marlins organization with theAlbuquerque Isotopes.He spent2007 in theChicago Cubs organization with theIowa Cubs and as a third baseman for theTrenton Thunder, theNew York Yankees Double-A affiliate. On February 23,2008, he signed a minor league contract with theSeattle Mariners.
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