American baseball player (born 1972)
Baseball player
Kevin Leonard Orie
(born September 1, 1972) is an American former professional baseball
third baseman
. He is an alumnus of
Indiana University
, where he was a standout for the
Hoosiers
baseball team.
Career
[
edit
]
Chicago Cubs
[
edit
]
The Chicago Cubs selected Orie with the 29th pick in the first round of the
1993 Major League Baseball draft
.
[1]
Orie made his Major League Baseball debut on April 1,
1997
, as a member of the
Chicago Cubs
. It was in his rookie year of 1997 that Orie would put up his best career statistics. In 114 games played, Orie compiled a .275
batting average
with 8
home runs
and 44
RBI
. Orie was a finalist in the 1997
MLB Rookie of the Year Award
balloting, losing out to the eventual winner,
Scott Rolen
.
Orie had a role in
Kerry Wood
's near perfect game on May 6, 1998, where he threw a one-hit, no walk, 20-strikeout shutout against the Houston Astros, tying Roger Clemens' record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game and breaking Bill Gullickson's single-game rookie record of 18 strikeouts in 1980. Wood allowed only two baserunners: an infield single by Ricky Gutierrez, and he hit Craig Biggio. The single went off third baseman Orie's glove.
Florida Marlins
[
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]
Through the first 64 games of the
1998
season, Orie got off to a dismal start, compiling only a .181 batting average in over 200
at-bats
. Subsequently, on the last day before the July 31 trading deadline, the Cubs sent Orie and minor leaguer Todd Noel to the
Florida Marlins
for
Felix Heredia
and minor leaguer Steve Hoff.
After concluding the 1998 season with the Marlins, Orie would remain with Florida for the entire
1999
season, tallying a .254 batting average with 6 home runs and 29 RBI while appearing in 77 games.
Free agency
[
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]
After the 1999 season, the Marlins needed to make room for their future third baseman,
Mike Lowell
, making Orie expendable. On November 12, 1999, the Marlins sent Orie to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
as part of a conditional deal.
[2]
Although Orie put together an impressive
spring training
with the Dodgers prior to the
2000
season, the club already had two established third basemen on their roster:
Adrian Beltre
&
Dave Hansen
. Thus, the Dodgers released Orie on March 29, 2000, days before the season would begin.
Two months later, on June 15, 2000, Orie signed a free agent contract with the
Kansas City Royals
, only to be released two months later. The next suitor for Orie turned out to be the
New York Yankees
, who signed Orie two days after his Royals release. He would remain in the Yankees minor league system the entire 2000 season, without making a single appearance at the major league level.
After the 2000 season, Orie would once again be released. He would sign another free agent contract prior to the
2001
season with the
Philadelphia Phillies
, and once again spend the length of the season in the minor leagues. He would then be released.
On November 19, 2001, Orie would be signed by one of his old teams, the Chicago Cubs. He would appear in 13 games with the Cubs in
2002
, serving as a backup to starting third baseman
Bill Mueller
. On March 12,
2003
, Orie's second stint with the Cubs would end.
Over the next three years, Orie would be signed by three more teams: the
Cleveland Indians
,
Houston Astros
, and
Milwaukee Brewers
. He would not appear in the majors with any of the teams.
2006
[
edit
]
Spring training in preparation for the 2006 season would find Orie once again in camp with the Houston Astros. Although Orie had played in only 13 major league games since the 1999 season concluded, he compiled impressive numbers every year in the minor leagues. Many thought that Orie still had the potential to stick in the major leagues and serve as a valuable backup third baseman for a number of teams. Orie didn't make the Astros and was assigned to the Triple-A
Round Rock Express
. Orie retired after the first game of the season.
Post-retirement
[
edit
]
Orie is an associate specializing in retail with real estate management firm Grubb Ellis in Pittsburgh and later served as the pregame and postgame announcer for
93.7 The Fan
in Pittsburgh.
Personal life
[
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]
Orie was married to Melissa Kratsa Orie, whom he had three daughters with. Melissa died on February 24, 2013.
[3]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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- 1965
:
James
- 1966
: Burk
- 1967
:
Hughes
- 1968
: Rickey
- 1969
:
Metzger
- 1970
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Hiser
- 1971
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- 1972
: Vernoy
- 1973
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Tabb
- 1974
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Thompson
- 1975
: Rosinski
- 1976
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Segelke
- 1977
:
Martz
- 1978
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Hayes
- 1979
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Perlman
- 1980
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Schulze
- 1981
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Carter
,
Lovelace
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Dunston
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- 1983
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Hall
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Palmeiro
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May
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Harkey
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Griffin
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Dickson
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Glanville
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Wallace
- 1993
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Kieschnick
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Ratliff
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Orie
- 1994
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- 1995
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Wood
- 1996
: Noel
- 1997
:
Garland
- 1998
:
Patterson
- 1999
: Christensen
- 2000
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Montanez
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Prior
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- 2003
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Pawelek
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Colvin
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Donaldson
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Cashner
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Flaherty
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Jackson
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Baez
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Johnson
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Blackburn
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Bryant
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Schwarber
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Happ
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Little
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Lange
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Hoerner
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Jensen
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Howard
- 2021
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Wicks
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Horton
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Shaw
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