Mack Neal "Shooty" Babitt (born March 9, 1959) is an American former second baseman who played for the Oakland Athletics during the 1981

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) season. After retiring as a player, Babitt became a baseball scout, and later worked as a television analyst.

Career

Babitt was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 25th round of the

Major League Baseball Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

. He began his career with a seven-game hitting streak, the second longest such streak in Oakland A's history. For his career, Babitt played in 54 major league games in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, hitting .256 in 156 at bats. Oakland manager

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

later commented, "If you ever see Shooty Babitt play second base for me again, I want you to Shooty me." Babitt was a long-time advance scout for 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 ...

, and since 2008, he has been a scout for the

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 league ...

. Additionally, since 2008, he has worked as a television color analyst on the pre- and post-game shows for Oakland A's home games on NBC Sports California. Beginning in 2014, he has also substituted for game analyst

Ray Fosse Raymond Earl Fosse (April 4, 1947 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as an All-Sta ...

on 20 A's games per season. His son, Zach Babitt was selected by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 10th round of the

2012 Major League Baseball Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the List of first overall Major League Baseball draft picks, first ...

References

External links

1959 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Atlanta Braves scouts New York Mets scouts Oakland Athletics announcers Oakland Athletics players Medicine Hat A's players Modesto A's players Waterbury A's players Ogden A's players West Haven Whitecaps players Tacoma Tigers players Wichita Aeros players Memphis Chicks players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball second basemen Baseball players from Oakland, California Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni African-American baseball players {{US-baseball-second-baseman-stub