Christopher Wan Turner (born March 23, 1969) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He previously 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

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, and

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 ...

between 1993 and 2000. While serving primarily as a backup catcher, he also played some

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

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 ...

, and saw time as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. He was a member of the Yankees'

2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, the two-time defending World Series champions an ...

championship team.

Amateur career

A native of

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

, Turner attended

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

. In 1989 and 1990, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Professional career

California Angels/Anaheim Angels (1993–1997)

Drafted by the

in the 7th round of the 1991 MLB amateur draft, Turner would make his MLB debut with them on August 27, 1993. He played in 25 games that year as a backup catcher and hit .280 with one home run and 13 runs batted in, his best season. In 1994, he played in a career-high 58 games and hit .242 with one home run and 12 runs batted in before the MLB strike cancelled the remainder of the season in August. In 1995 he played in just five games, going 1-for-10 with an RBI.Chris Turner Stats , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> The next season, he played in four games, going 1 for 5 with an RBI and a walk. In 1997, he played in 13 games, going 6-for-23 with a homer and two runs batted in. On October 10, 1997, he was granted free agency. He signed with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

on December 5, 1997, but was released on April 20, 1998.

Kansas City Royals (1998)

Turner signed with the

on April 20, 1998, only hours after being released by the Twins. He played in four games for the Royals and went 0-for-9 with four strikeouts. He was granted free agency on October 15.

Cleveland Indians (1999)

Turner signed with the

on January 5, 1999. He played in just 12 games, going 4-for-21 with three runs, a steal, and a walk while recording eight strikeouts. On October 4, he was granted free agency.

New York Yankees (2000)

Turner signed with the

on December 17, 1999, and was viewed as a temporary successor to

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, C ...

, who left as a free agent. He played in 37 games, his highest total since 1994 and the second highest of his career. Turner appeared in his final game on October 1, 2000, with the Yankees and received a

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

when they defeated the

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 ...

in the

Subway Series A Subway Series in Major League Baseball (MLB) is one played between teams based in New York City, currently the New York Yankees and New York Mets, and historically the Yankees versus the New York Giants or Brooklyn Dodgers. The venues for g ...

Retirement

Turner was granted free agency on November 21, 2000. On January 4, 2001, he signed with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

but was released before the start of the season and subsequently retired.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Chris 1969 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Kentucky Boise Hawks players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players California Angels players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Kansas City Royals players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball catchers New York Yankees players Omaha Royals players Quad Cities River Bandits players Sportspeople from Bowling Green, Kentucky Vancouver Canadians players Western Kentucky Hilltoppers baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen