Steven Rance Mulliniks (born January 15, 1956) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player.

Playing career

Originally drafted as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, Mulliniks made his major league debut in for the California Angels,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.269 in 78 games. He saw limited playing time over the following years with the California Angels until and with the Kansas City Royals in and . He had been traded along with Willie Aikens from the Angels to the Royals for Al Cowens and

Todd Cruz Todd Ruben Cruz (November 23, 1955 – September 2, 2008), was an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Cal ...

at the

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on December 6, 1979, with Craig Eaton being sent to California to complete the transaction four months later on April 1, 1980. Mulliniks' luck changed when he was traded to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, just before the start of the season. He was converted 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 ...

and appeared in over 100 games each year through the season. He batted over .300 three times (, and ) and demonstrated great patience at the plate, regularly posting on-base percentages near .400. In 1984 ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' named him to their "Dream Team" as a utility infielder. In 1992, Mulliniks' Blue Jays would go on to win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. However, Mulliniks would play just three regular season games for the Blue Jays as he struggled with injuries, and would play no postseason games. In his career, Mulliniks accrued a .272 batting average over 3569 at bats in 1325 games, with 445 runs, 972 hits, 226 doubles, 17 triples, 73 home runs, 435 RBIs, 15 stolen bases and 460 walks. Personal records from this time period: Highest batting average: .324 ('84); Most games: 129 ('83, '85); Most at bats: 366 ('85); Most runs: 55 ('85); Most hits: 111 ('84); Most doubles: 34 ('83); Most triples: 5 ('84); Most home runs: 12 ('88); Most RBIs: 57 ('85); Most stolen bases: 3 ('82), Most walks: 57 ('83).

Retirement and broadcasting career

Mulliniks retired after the season having compiled a .272 career batting average, 73

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 435 RBI, and 445 runs. He holds the Blue Jays franchise single season fielding percentage record for third basemen (.975) and the franchise record for most pinch hits (59). Mulliniks has been a colour commentator for Blue Jays coverage on

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

, and alongside Jim Hughson and Jesse Barfield on CBC Sports in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, Mulliniks filled in for

Jerry Remy Gerald Peter Remy (November 8, 1952 – October 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and sports broadcaster. Remy played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for ten seasons—three with the California Angels (1 ...

for

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

coverage on

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, for the Red Sox May 29–31 road trip to Toronto. Mulliniks is now a real estate agent in Visalia, CA. He coached at College of the Sequoias and operated Mulliniks Baseball School.

References

External links

* Rance Mulliniks' career statistics a
Baseball-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulliniks, Rance 1956 births Living people People from Tulare, California California Angels players Canadian television sportscasters Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball infielders Baseball players from California Major League Baseball third basemen Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Blue Jays players American expatriate baseball players in Canada