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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

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

, 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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He also played in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(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 shopping ...

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 h ...

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

, McGehee graduated from Soquel High School in

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. History ''Osocalis'' was th ...

, 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 (appro ...

. 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. 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. 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 syst ...

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 The 2003 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 3 and 4. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. ''Source:MLB.com 2003 Draft Tracker' First round selections Supplemental first r ...

out of

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

. 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 fielder, right ...

got injured, third baseman Bill Hall played at Braun's position in left field, while McGehee started at third base. When

Rickie Weeks Rickie Darnell Weeks Jr. (born September 13, 1982) is an American former professional baseball second baseman who is the associate manager for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2003 and 2017, he played in MLB for the B ...

got injured, he made his first start at second base. With Bill Hall struggling at the plate, and

Mat Gamel Mathew Lawrence Gamel (born July 26, 1985) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers across the 2008 through 2012 seasons. Once considered among the best prospect (spor ...

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 Mark Alan Buehrle (; born March 23, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Chicago White Sox, playing twelve seasons for the team and winning the World ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

; it was one of his two

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

in the game. On June 29, 2009, he hit his first career grand slam off of

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

pitcher Brian Stokes, which came after he committed an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

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 are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. 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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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, McGehee was traded to the

for José Veras.

New York Yankees

On July 31, 2012, McGehee was traded to the

for RHP

Chad Qualls Chad Michael Qualls (born August 17, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, New Yo ...

. 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, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

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 Anahe ...

. 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, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

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 Scho ...

, current Yankees star

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. From ...

, and fellow former MLB outfielder

Andruw Jones Andruw Rudolf Jones (; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. Jones also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tex ...

. 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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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' Triple–A affiliate, 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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...

, but was recalled by the Giants on June 5 after batting .357 (15-for-42) with two home runs 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.

Miami Marlins (second stint)

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 nine RBI. On November 2, 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 Triple–A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

. 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 and third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs a ...

. 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.

Coaching career

McGehee was named head coach of the

Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...

baseball team on June 30, 2022.

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, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

. 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 Santa Cruz, 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 Tennessee Smokies players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players 21st-century American sportsmen 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