| Mike Mordecai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Infielder /Coach | |
| Born: (1967-12-13)December 13, 1967 (age 58) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 8, 1994, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 21, 2005, for the Florida Marlins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .244 |
| Home runs | 24 |
| Runs batted in | 132 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Michael Howard Mordecai (born December 13, 1967) is an American former professionalbaseballinfielder, who played for theAtlanta Braves,Montreal Expos, andFlorida Marlins ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). Since 2010, he has worked in theToronto Blue Jays organization, including serving as the Blue Jays' quality control coach in 2018. He is currently the new head baseball coach at Houston Academy in Dothan, AL.
Mordecai graduated in 1986 from Hewitt-Trussville High School, inTrussville, Alabama, where he played baseball,basketball andfootball. During his time in college at theUniversity of South Alabama, he was a two-timeAll-American and named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team each year. In 1987, he helped the Jaguars to the conference title. Mordecaimajored incriminal justice and minored insociology. In 1988, he playedcollegiate summer baseball in theCape Cod Baseball League for theYarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.[1]
With their sixth round selection of the1989 Major League Baseball draft, theAtlanta Braves drafted Mordecai. He began hisminor league career at Class ABurlington and eventually worked his way up toGreenville. In 1992, he made his way to Triple-ARichmond on June 19. In 1993, he was selected as Richmond's Most Competitive Player. He played every defensive position with the exception ofcenter field andpitcher that season.
In 1994, Mordecai made it to the majors but only for fourat bats. His first tour was from May 3–20 for the Atlanta Braves, when he replacedJeff Blauser on the roster. Mordecai's firsthit was a three-runhome run in the ninthinning against thePhiladelphia Phillies. Mordecai continued to torment the Phillies throughout his career. He received the John M. Zwack III Memorial Award for being the most community-minded player.
Mordecai played on the1995 World Series team as a bench player. He made his first start atsecond on July 16 atSan Diego. In theNLDS he went 2-for-3 with adouble and 2RBI. Hispinch-hitsingle in the ninth inning of Game 2 gave the Braves the go-aheadrun.[2] In the World Series, he went 1-for-3.
Unfortunately for Mordecai, the Braves hadMark Lemke at second base,Chipper Jones atthird andFred McGriff atfirst preventing him from getting more than a reserve role with the team. Mordecai was the Braves' starting third baseman on opening day 1996, though only because Chipper Jones was on the DL with an injury. On August 30, he collected the first three-hit game of his career atChicago.
Mordecai's inability to stay consistent while a member of the Braves frustrated the front office and, in 1998, he joined theMontreal Expos. Mordecai made 53 starts the next year. He then enjoyed his best seasons there in 2000 and 2001. On April 2, 2001, Mordecai demonstrated his versatility by playingcatcher in the tenth inning of a game against the Cubs after Montreal's first catcher,Michael Barrett, was ejected and their second catcher,Sandy Martínez, was injured.
In the midst of the 2002 trade deadline he was traded to theFlorida Marlins. His statistics for the season drastically improved after the trade. The following season, he was again a key part in helping the inexperienced Marlins win the2003 World Series. In Game 6 of theNLCS, the Marlins were five outs away from being eliminated when Cubs fan,Steve Bartman, prevented a foul ball from being potentially caught by extending his arms overMoisés Alou while Alou attempted to field the pop-up. Mordecai's subsequent three-run double blew the game open, highlighting the Cubs' historic collapse in what is sometimes referred to as simply "The Inning". Mordecai would go on to win his second World Series, as the Marlins handily defeated the Yankees in the World Series.
On June 1, 2004, Mordecai again filled the role as emergency catcher, this time for eight innings afterRamón Castro was injured.On September 29 2004 Mordecai while playing third base caught the final out of theMontreal Expos final home game preserving a 9-1 Marlins win over the Expos
Mordecai took a job asmanager with the Marlins minor league affiliateJamestown Jammers in December 2004. A few days later, the team announced that they would give him a chance to join the team in September so he could reach ten years of Major League service. Mordecai played two games in 2005 before retiring for good. Mordecai also worked as a batting coach for MLB before turning to coaching for a private High School in Dothan, Alabama. The school in Dothan is Houston Academy. His last high school game was against the Leroy Bears on the road in the first round of the Alabama State High School Playoffs in 2009.[citation needed]
In 2010, Mordecai was hired by theToronto Blue Jays as a minor league infield coordinator. In 2015, he was promoted to coordinator of instruction, and on January 10, 2018, Mordecai was promoted to the quality control coach position.[3] In 2019, Mordecai was once again reassigned within the Blue Jays organization, to his position as manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.[4] Mordecai currently works at Northside Methodist Academy, where he is the athletic director, coaches baseball, and teaches history.
Mordecai was married on February 5, 2000, to his second wife, Jennifer. Later that year, she gave birth to the first of their three sons. He also has a daughter, Taylor, born in 1995 from a first marriage.[citation needed]
