Rickie Darnell Weeks Jr. (born September 13, 1982) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

second baseman. He has played in

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), ...

(MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers,

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

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 ...

and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. He was named an

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

in 2011. Weeks bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. Until the 2009 season, Weeks had a distinctive batting stance similar to that of

Gary Sheffield Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. He is a sports agent. For most of his career, Sheffield played right ...

, waggling his bat heavily before swinging. The waggle is still present, but noticeably less aggressive. Weeks pointed to this change when asked about his improved presence at the plate in 2009. While primarily a second baseman throughout his career, Weeks transitioned to

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 ...

in 2015 and played first base in his final season.

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Altamonte Springs, Florida Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...

, Weeks attended

Lake Brantley High School Lake Brantley High School (LBHS) is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, a suburban community approximately 13 miles (20 km) north of Orlando. It is a public high school serving grade levels 9–12 in Seminole County, FL, operated by Se ...

. At Lake Brantley, Weeks played baseball, but also played football as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and wide receiver for a season. Weeks then attended Southern University in Baton Rouge,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. As a sophomore in 2002, he batted .495 with 20 home runs, winning the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I batting title. The next year, he batted .479 with 16 home runs, winning a second straight batting title and finishing his career with a .465 batting average (254 of 546), highest in NCAA history. In 2003, he also was named Baseball America College Player of the Year and the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

, given annually to the top amateur player. The Milwaukee Brewers selected him second overall in the 2003 MLB Draft.

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

2003–2009

Weeks signed a contract with a $3.6 million signing bonus. He made his major league debut on September 15, 2003. Weeks did not become a full-time player for the Brewers until June 2005, when he was recalled from the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, despite playing much of the 2005 season with a thumb injury. In his first full MLB season in 2005, Weeks had a batting average of .239 to go with 13 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 96 games. These HR/SB number are consistent with his minor league totals (playing in 209 games) of 21 home runs and 24 stolen bases. In 2006, Weeks hit .279 with 8 home runs, 34 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 95 games. Weeks returned to the Nashville Sounds on July 31, 2007, since he was batting below .200 after returning from a wrist injury. Rickie_Weeks

In 2008, he had the lowest fielding percentage (.975) and the most errors (15) of all NL second basemen. On offense, however, Weeks scored 46.6% of the time he reached base, second-best in the NL. In Game 1 of the 2008 NL Division Series, Weeks made a key error in the third inning that led to three unearned runs scored by the Phillies in Philadelphia's 3–1 victory. In Game 3, Weeks injured his knee while trying to beat out a throw at first base. He underwent surgery the next day to remove torn cartilage from his left knee. On February 3, 2009, Weeks and the Brewers reached a one-year deal worth $2.45 million, thereby avoiding salary arbitration. Weeks could have earned an additional $100,000 in performance bonuses based on plate appearances from 575 to 650. In early 2009, sabermetrician Bill James wrote in John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible Volume II," that Weeks should be moved to a position other than second base, as he had 44 defensive misplays that season. Dewan ranked Weeks the worst starting second baseman in the majors. Advanced metrics in 2008 however saw him as being only slightly below average. Back atop the lineup to begin the 2009 season, Weeks had a .281/.333/.486 start with five home runs in April. On May 18, 2009, Weeks was diagnosed with a torn muscle in his left wrist, and missed the remainder of the 2009 season. At the time of his injury, Weeks was tied with Prince Fielder for the team lead in home runs.

2010–2014

Playing in 160 games, Weeks recorded his finest season as a pro, and perhaps the best all-around season a Brewer second baseman has ever had. On June 12, 2010, Weeks tallied his 500th hit at Miller Park and received a standing ovation. Weeks finished with a career-high 29 home runs and 83 RBIs, a .269 average, and a strong .366 on-base percentage. His WAR of 6.0 rated 2nd among all regular second basemen, behind only Robinson Cano. He led the NL in at bats (651), plate appearances (754), and hit by pitch (25), and was second in runs scored (112). On February 16, 2011, Weeks signed a contract extension for 4 years at $38 million. The deal includes an option for a 5th year provided Weeks is an everyday player in 2013 and 2014, and could raise the total value of the contract to $50 million. Weeks was voted by the fans to be the starting second baseman for the National League in the 2011 All-Star Game. Weeks sustained a severe ankle sprain while legging out an infield single in July. Weeks was placed on the DL until early September, and his offensive production was significantly hampered down the stretch. On September 27, in the second to last game of the regular season, Weeks hit one of the longest home runs ever hit at Miller Park, off the stadium club windows in left field. It was his first home run since his return from the DL, and his 20th of the season. He ended his regular season at .269 with 20 home runs. Advanced defensive metrics pegged him as a league-average defender at the keystone, and his WAR of 3.3 was good for 3rd in the National League. Despite a slow start in April and May 2012, Weeks rebounded beginning in June and posted typical power numbers, albeit with a dip in his on-base totals, which had been a hallmark of his value to that point. Weeks had a poor 2013 season, posting career lows in nearly all major offensive categories. A torn hamstring ended his season in August, and

Scooter Gennett Ryan Joseph "Scooter" Gennett (born May 1, 1990) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. On June 6, 2017, he became the 17th player ...

replaced him at second base. In the 2014 season, his contract year with Milwaukee, Weeks has assumed the right-handed part of Milwaukee's productive second base

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

, starting versus all left-handed starting pitchers. Although over only 286 plate appearances, he returned to pre-2012 form hitting .274/.357/.452. With Gennett, Brewers second basemen ranked fourth in the National League in Wins Above Replacement, and 11th league-wide. After the 2014 season, the Brewers declined his contract option ending his ten-year tenure with the Brewers.Rickie Weeks approaches the end of his time with the Brewers
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Seattle Mariners

2015

Weeks signed with the

on a one-year, $2 million contract on February 13, 2015. Weeks received sporadic playing time, and had a .167 batting average with three extra base hits in 95 plate appearances through early June. He was designated for assignment on June 13, and released on June 21.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On February 27, 2016, he signed a minor league contract with the

. On April 2, 2016, it was announced that Weeks made Arizona's 2016 opening day roster.

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 3, 2017, Weeks signed a minor league contract with the

that included an invitation to spring training. On April 2, 2017 the Tampa Bay Rays announced Weeks had made the opening day roster and would platoon at first base with

Logan Morrison Justis Logan Morrison (born August 25, 1987), nicknamed "LoMo", is an American professional baseball first baseman and left fielder for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Basebal ...

. Weeks went on the DL on June 9 for a shoulder injury and was released on July 24. For the season, Weeks had a slash line of .216/.321/.340/ hitting 2 homeruns in 37 games (112 plate appearances) striking out 49 times. For the season, he had the highest strikeout percentage against left-handed pitchers (42.9%).

Post-playing career

On February 4, 2022, Weeks was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers as an assistant to the player development staff.

Personal life

Weeks married Tiphany Easterling on January 18, 2014, in Miami, Florida. Weeks is the son of Richard and Valeria Weeks. Weeks's father Richard played college baseball for

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

and

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

. His grandfather was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

during the 1940s, and his sister Kaisha was an

Regional Finalist at Southern University in track. Weeks's brother

Jemile Weeks Jemile Nykiwa Weeks ( ; born January 26, 1987) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego P ...

was drafted by the Brewers in 2005 out of high school, but never signed with them, choosing to attend the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

instead. The Oakland Athletics drafted Jemile in the first round of the

2008 MLB Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

twelfth overall. In 2005, Weeks signed a sponsorship contract with

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...

company 3N2, which designed a shoe for him. In 2009, Weeks was voted "Sexiest Baseball Player" by Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Awards

* Baseball America College Player of the Year – 2003 *

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the a ...

– 2003 *

– 2003 * Rotary Smith Award – 2003 * Southwestern Athletic Conference's Most Outstanding Hitter – 2003 * Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year – 2003 * National League starter at second base,

2011 MLB All-Star Game The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 82nd in-season exhibition game between the All-Stars of the National League, National League (NL) and the American League, American League (AL); the leagues composing Major League Baseball. T ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weeks, Rickie 1982 births Living people National League All-Stars Major League Baseball second basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Seattle Mariners players Arizona Diamondbacks players Tampa Bay Rays players Baseball players from Florida African-American baseball players Golden Spikes Award winners Arizona League Brewers players Beloit Snappers players Huntsville Stars players Nashville Sounds players Peoria Saguaros players Scottsdale Scorpions players People from Altamonte Springs, Florida Southern Jaguars baseball players Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida Lake Brantley High School alumni All-American college baseball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people