Doug Mirabelli

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Doug Mirabelli bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Doug Mirabelli : biography

October 18, 1970 –

Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970 in Kingman, Arizona) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001–2005), and San Diego Padres (2006) before returning to the Red Sox (2006–2007) to end his eleven-year career. He batted and threw right-handed.

Mirabelli was a career .231 hitter with 58 home runs and 206 RBI in 566 games. While with the Red Sox, he was well known as the personal catcher for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He was part of the Red Sox’ World Series championship teams in 2004 and 2007.

San Diego Padres: 2006

For the first time in his major league career, Mirabelli was going to be given a chance to be a starting catcher. However, in early February, General Manager Kevin Towers decided to sign veteran catcher Mike Piazza and installed him as the starter instead. Mirabelli made just a handful of starts, hitting .182 with no RBI through April. Upset over Piazza’s arrival and his subsequent lack of playing time, Mirabelli asked Towers to work out a deal that would send him back to Boston.. Accessed September 19, 2006.

Minor leagues

Mirabelli began his minor league career in 1992 with the San Jose Giants in the California League. Over the next four seasons, he also spent time with the Giants’ AA club; the Shreveport Captains and their AAA team; the Phoenix Firebirds.

In 1996, Mirabelli started the year in AA, putting together an impressive season hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 70 RBI, earning a promotion to AAA. He bounced back to the AA level before earning a promotion to the major leagues in August of that year. Mirabelli made his major league debut on August 23, 1996 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

San Francisco Giants: 1996-2000

In the late 1990s, the Giants teams often utilized a platoon at the catcher position, relying on different veterans to split time for most of the season. When Mirabelli reached the majors, he saw limited time and spent most of his season in AAA with Phoenix. In 1999, he finally made the promotion to the majors permanent when he split time with veterans Brent Mayne and Scott Servais.

The following season, Mirabelli platooned with Bobby Estalella, but neither catcher hit above .230 or played well enough to earn the starting job.

High school and college

After leading Valley High School in his hometown of Las Vegas to two state baseball titles, Mirabelli was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 6th Round (159th overall) of the 1989 Major League Baseball amateur draft, but did not sign.http://www.viewnews.com/2002/VIEW-Aug-14-Wed-2002/SEast/19357243.html Instead, Mirabelli chose to attend Wichita State University, and was part of the 1989 College World Series championship team which included future major leaguers Eric Wedge, Mike Lansing, and Pat Meares.http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&KEY=&ATCLID=622945&SPID=2844&SPSID=61174

In 1992, Mirabelli was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 5th round (131st overall) of the Major League Baseball amateur draft again. He signed a contract on June 24, 1992.

Return to Boston: 2006-2007

Mirabelli on-deck during 2007 spring training. Mirabelli was reacquired by the Red Sox on May 1, 2006, in exchange for catcher Josh Bard, setup man Cla Meredith, and $100,000 cash. This reacquisition occurred because Bard had trouble catching Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball, committing 10 passed balls in just 7 games. The day the trade occurred, the Red Sox were to play their first game of the year against their rivals, the New York Yankees, at Fenway Park, and Wakefield was scheduled to start. It took a private jet and a Massachusetts State Police escort to get Mirabelli to the field in time. His plane from San Diego touched down at Logan Airport at 6:48 pm, he arrived at Fenway Park at 7:00 pm, and took his place behind the plate just in time for Wakefield’s opening pitch at 7:13 pm. In an effort to conserve every second possible, the Red Sox sent a uniform along with the police escort for Mirabelli to change into while en route to Fenway Park from the airport. A special glove (which is actually a woman’s softball catcher’s mitt) which Mirabelli had used in previous years to catch Wakefield had been left in Boston by Josh Bard for Mirabelli. Soon after, the Yankees admitted they had tried to acquire Mirabelli from the Padres in an attempt to keep him from the Red Sox .