American baseball player (born 1959)
Baseball player
James Michael Eisenreich
(
EYE
-zin-ryke
; born April 18, 1959) is an American former
Major League Baseball
player with a 15-year career from 1982 to 1984 and 1987 to 1998. He played for the
Minnesota Twins
and
Kansas City Royals
of the
American League
, and the
Philadelphia Phillies
,
Florida Marlins
and
Los Angeles Dodgers
of the
National League
. He played
first base
,
outfield
and
designated hitter
.
Major league career
[
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]
In 1993, his first year with the Phillies, Eisenreich put together one of his best seasons, batting .318 and helping the Phillies win the National League pennant. As the Phillies began their slide the next season, Eisenreich was one of the team's few bright spots, batting .361 for the last-place Phillies in 1996.
After signing with the
Florida Marlins
for the 1997 season, Eisenreich played a pivotal role in the
1997 World Series
, helping the Marlins win a championship in their fifth year. Eisenreich was the runner on second base when
Edgar Renteria
hit his walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7.
[1]
Eisenreich was part of a "blockbuster" baseball trade
[2]
on May 14, 1998. He was traded from the Marlins, with
Bobby Bonilla
,
Gary Sheffield
,
Charles Johnson
, and
Manuel Barrios
, to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
for
Todd Zeile
and
Mike Piazza
.
Eisenreich was noted in Los Angeles for his longtime success against Dodger pitching staffs, despite those staffs being among the best. His .405 batting average and .620 slugging percentage greatly exceed his other career numbers and rank among the most successful of any one player against any team.
[3]
In 1,422 games over 15 seasons, Eisenreich posted a .290
batting average
(1,160-for-3,995) with 492
runs
, 221
doubles
, 39
triples
, 52
home runs
, 477
RBI
, 105
stolen bases
, 324
bases on balls
, .341
on-base percentage
and .404
slugging percentage
. He finished his career with a .988
fielding percentage
playing at all three outfield positions and first base. In 20 postseason games, he hit .231 (12-for-52) with 4 runs, 2 home runs, 11 RBI and 7 walks.
Personal life
[
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]
Eisenreich has
Tourette syndrome
,
[4]
which caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while undergoing treatment. He was replaced on the Twins roster by
Kirby Puckett
. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the
Tony Conigliaro Award
, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle.
[5]
Eisenreich was inducted into the
Baseball Reliquary
's
Shrine of the Eternals
in 2009.
[6]
Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area and runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome, whose goal is to help children with TS achieve personal success.
[4]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]