Casey Michael McGehee (born October 12, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He played in NPB for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shoppin ...

and

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

, and also played in

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(MLB) for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

, McGehee graduated from

Soquel High School Soquel High School is a high school in Soquel, California, located on Old San Jose Road. It has 1,200 students and was established in 1962. The school is operated by the Santa Cruz City High School District. The school mascot is the Knights. Ac ...

Soquel, California Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. Geography Soquel is located a ...

, where he competed in baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In baseball, McGehee was a four-year letter winner and was named County Player of the Year for his junior and senior seasons. However, he finished 2nd in the league in batting average to Harbor High star, Mike Urbani, brother of former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher

Tom Urbani Thomas James Urbani (January 21, 1968 – September 28, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for four seasons. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1993 through the 1996 midseason, before ...

. His senior season he hit .489 with 10 home runs and did not strikeout once during the season. McGehee holds the SCCAL all-time hits record and was an AAU All-American for his junior and senior seasons. McGehee then attended

California State University Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. At Fresno, McGehee played

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

his freshman season before transitioning to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

as a sophomore. During his freshman season, McGehee was a Baseball America honorable mention freshman All-American. During his sophomore season, McGehee was co-MVP of the team, and after another excellent junior season, McGehee decided to leave Fresno to play in the MLB.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

McGehee was drafted by the

in the tenth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft out of

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. McGehee was a September call-up for the Cubs in 2008, making his major league debut on September 2. He went 0 for 1 in his first game. Casey McGehee 2009

Milwaukee Brewers

Following the season, he was claimed off of waivers by the

, and added to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

2009

On March 31, 2009, it was announced that he would be a reserve infielder for the Brewers in 2009. When

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and fi ...

got injured, third baseman Bill Hall played at Braun's position in left field, while McGehee started at third base. When Rickie Weeks got injured, he made his first start at second base. With Bill Hall struggling at the plate, and Mat Gamel struggling on defense, he saw a lot of time at third base. He hit his first home run on June 14, 2009 off of Mark Buehrle of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

; it was one of his two

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in the game. On June 29, 2009, he hit his first career

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

off of

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

pitcher

Brian Stokes Brian Alexander Stokes (born September 7, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. Early life Stokes was born ...

, which came after he committed an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

that led to two unearned runs. On July 4, McGehee had career highs of four hits and five RBIs against the Chicago Cubs. Although he came up short on the

NL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

balloting for 2009, his solid season cemented him a starting job at third base for the Brewers in 2010.

2010

McGehee batted .285 with 23 home runs and a team-leading 104 RBIs in 157 games. On August 12, McGehee sets a team record with nine consecutive hits in going 4 for 4 in the Brewers' 8-4 win over the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. McGehee hit a home run, a double, and two singles, driving in four and scoring three runs to lead Milwaukee. He grounded out in his first at-bat the next day to end his streak. McGehee was voted the Brewers' Most Valuable Player. He edged out second baseman Rickie Weeks and outfielder Corey Hart for the award.

2011

In 2011, he batted .223 with 13 home runs, three of which came in the same game on August 3. All three were off of

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Edwin Jackson. He led all NL third basemen in errors, with 20.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 12, 2011, hours after the Brewers agreed to a contract with

Aramis Ramírez Aramis Nin Ramírez (; born June 25, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman, who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers. He was named an All-Star t ...

, McGehee was traded to the

for

José Veras José Enger Veras Romero (born October 20, 1980) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization in 1998. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the New Y ...

New York Yankees

On July 31, 2012, McGehee was traded to the

for RHP Chad Qualls. The Yankees traded for 1B/3B McGehee after injuries to

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

and

Mark Teixeira Mark Charles Teixeira ( ; born April 11, 1980), nicknamed "Tex", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels of Anahei ...

. On August 28, 2012, McGehee was optioned to Class-A Charleston to make room on the 25-man roster for a recently acquired Steve Pearce. He was recalled when rosters expanded in September.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Casey McGehee 20130317 MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima

He signed a $1.5 million contract to play in Japan for the

on December 21, 2012. McGehee led the Golden Eagles to their 1st

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

title. Also leading the way were

MVP

Manabu Mima Manabu Mima (, born September 19, 1986) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball(NPB). He played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Career Mima attended Fujishiro High S ...

, current Yankees star

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be ...

, and fellow former MLB outfielder

Andruw Jones Andruw Rudolf Jones (; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. Jones also played for the Los Angeles Dodg ...

. In 144 games, mostly at third base, McGehee hit .292 with 28 home runs and 93 RBI.

Miami Marlins

McGehee's period in Japan paid off, and on December 18, 2013, McGehee signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the

to start at third base. McGehee hit his first Marlins home run on May 10, despite hitting .309 with 23 RBI in 36 games before. It was in Miami that Casey earned his nickname "Hits McGehee." In 160 games of 2014, McGehee grounded into an MLB-leading 31 double plays while batting .287 with 4 home runs and 76 RBI, winning the

Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award The Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award is presented by Major League Baseball (MLB) to the player who is judged to have "re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season." The award was developed in 2005, as part of a s ...

for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

San Francisco Giants

On December 19, 2014, McGehee was traded to the

in exchange for minor league pitchers Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo. He began the 2015 season as the Giants starting third baseman but struggled and was designated for assignment on May 24, despite hitting a grand slam. On May 26, McGehee accepted an assignment to the Giants AAA team, the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ye ...

, but was recalled by the Giants on June 5 after batting .357 (15-for-42) with two homers and three doubles. After appearing in a total of 49 games for the Giants and batting .213 he was designated for assignment again on June 30.

Return to Miami Marlins

On July 10, 2015, the Miami Marlins signed McGehee to a one-year contract. In 60 games for the Marlins, McGehee slashed .182/.250/.245 with 9 RBI. On November 2, 2015, he elected free agency.

Detroit Tigers

On February 23, 2016, the

signed McGehee to a minor league contract. On March 28, 2016, McGehee was released by the Tigers. On March 30, the Tigers re-signed McGehee to a minor league contract. On June 18, 2016, the Tigers purchased McGehee's contract from the Toledo Mud Hens. In early August 2016, McGehee was called up to the major leagues by the Tigers following an injury to

Nick Castellanos Nicholas Alexander Castellanos (; born March 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds ...

. In 30 games for Detroit, McGehee batted .228/.260/.239 with 1 RBI.

Yomiuri Giants

On December 3, 2016, McGehee signed a one-year contract with the

that includes a club option for the 2018 season. McGehee played in 139 games for Yomiuri in 2017, slashing .315/.382/.514 with 18 home runs and 77 RBI. In 2018, McGehee posted a batting line of .285/.336/.467 with 21 home runs and 84 RBI in 132 games for the Giants. He became a free agent after the season.

Personal life

McGehee is married to wife, Sarah, and has two children. One child has

Cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

. They met in Jackson, Tennessee where Sarah lived and McGehee played for the minor league West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.

References

External links

NPB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGehee, Casey 1982 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from California Charleston RiverDogs players Chicago Cubs players Daytona Cubs players Detroit Tigers players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Iowa Cubs players Lansing Lugnuts players Major League Baseball third basemen Miami Marlins players Milwaukee Brewers players New York Yankees players Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen People from Soquel, California Pittsburgh Pirates players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Santa Cruz, California Tennessee Smokies players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Yomiuri Giants players Toledo Mud Hens players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venados de Mazatlán players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Anchorage Bucs players St. Cloud River Bats players