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Kevin Mitchell (baseball)

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Kevin Darnell Mitchell (born January 13, 1962 in San Diego, California) is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder and third baseman who played for the New York Mets (1984, 1986), San Diego Padres (1987), San Francisco Giants (1987-91), Seattle Mariners (1992), Cincinnati Reds (1993-94, 1996), Boston Red Sox (1996), Cleveland Indians (1997) and Oakland Athletics (1998). He became widely known not only for his occasional brilliance on the field, but also for his unpredictable and sometimes volatile behavior off the field.

After a tumultuous youth which brought him three gunshot wounds as a member of a street gang, Mitchell was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent in 1980, and played at six positions for their 1986 team which won the World Series; but he was traded to the Padres after the season. The Mets have not won a World Series since, leading to the suggestion of a "Curse of Kevin Mitchell."

On July 4, 1987, Mitchell was traded to the Giants as part of a multi-player trade that also sent pitchers Dave Dravecky and Craig Lefferts to San Francisco in exchange for third baseman Chris Brown and pitchers Keith Comstock, Mark Davis, and Mark Grant. While Dravecky was initially considered to be the key to the trade for the Giants, it was Mitchell who emerged as a superstar.

After two seasons playing primarily at third base, he had his best season with the Giants in 1989 upon being moved to the outfield. In that season, he batted .291 with a league-best 125 RBI and 47 home runs, leading the team to the playoffs and winning the National League's Most Valuable Player award. He set the tone for the season early in the year with an uncharacteristically excellent defensive play, making a running bare-handed catch of a fly ball to deep left field in St. Louis' Busch Stadium off of Ozzie Smith. He added a .353 average and 2 homers in the NLCS to help the team to its first World Series appearance since 1962.

A two-time All-Star with the Giants, later years saw his play decline due to an often indifferent attitude as well as various distractions. Traded to the Mariners after the 1991 season, he arrived in training camp the following year 30 pounds (14 kg) overweight. He had a resurgence in 1994 with the Reds, batting .326 with 30 HRs and 77 RBI in the strike-shortened season; but he opted to play in Japan the following year, where he became the highest-paid player in Japanese history. In Japan, he incurred the displeasure of team management when he chose to travel to the US in mid-season for knee problems against the team's wishes.

In the next two years he played for four major league teams, rarely showing his former ability. After being released for the last time, he was arrested in late 1998 for assaulting his father during an argument. Back in the minor leagues in 2000, he was suspended for nine games after punching the opposing team's owner in the mouth during a brawl.

In his 13-season career with eight teams, Mitchell batted .284, with 234 home runs, 760 runs batted in, 630 runs scored, 1173 hits, 224 doubles, and 25 triples in 1223 games.

In 2004, his first year of eligibility, Mitchell received less than 5% of the vote (he received 2 votes; the threshold was 25) from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, thus becoming ineligible to appear on future BBWAA ballots. However, he may eventually be considered for induction into the Hall by the Veterans Committee once 20 years have passed from his date of retirement (therefore, in the year 2019), in accordance with current Hall of Fame rules (enacted in 2001).

Trivia

An urban legend involving Kevin Mitchell holds that during the Mets' championship run in 1986, during an argument with his then live-in girlfriend, Mitchell decapitated her cat. The story first came to light in Dwight Gooden's autobiography Heat. Gooden claimed that an enraged Mitchell held him hostage during the alleged cat incident. Mitchell responded to Gooden's accusations by accusing Gooden of fabricating the stories in an attempt to divert attention away from Gooden's personal problems.

Mitchell's younger brother, Keith Mitchell, also played in the Major Leagues for four different teams across four seasons (between 1991 and 1998), ending his career with a .260 batting average and eight home runs - 226 fewer than his brother.

See also

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