James Michael Eisenreich ( ; born April 18, 1959) is an American former

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 ...

player with a 15-year career from 1982 to 1984 and 1987 to 1998. He played for 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 ...

and

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 ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, and 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 ...

Florida 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 (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

and

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

of 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 ...

. He played

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 ...

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

and

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 ...

Major league career

In 1993, his first year with the Phillies, Eisenreich put together one of his best seasons, batting .318 and helping the Phillies win the National League pennant. As the Phillies began their slide the next season, Eisenreich was one of the team's few bright spots, batting .361 for the last-place Phillies in 1996. After signing with the

for the 1997 season, Eisenreich played a pivotal role in the

1997 World Series The 1997 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1997 season. The 93rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National ...

, helping the Marlins win a championship in their fifth year. Eisenreich was the runner on second base when Edgar Renteria hit his walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7. Eisenreich was part of a "blockbuster" baseball trade on May 14, 1998. He was traded from the Marlins, with Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, and

Manuel Barrios Manuel Antonio Barrios (born September 21, 1974) is a Panamanian former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. ...

, to the

for

Todd Zeile Todd Edward Zeile (; born September 9, 1965) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, catcher, and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played 16 seasons, from 1989 to 2004, for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, ...

and

Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007, and is a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He intended ...

. Eisenreich was noted in Los Angeles for his longtime success against Dodger pitching staffs, despite those staffs being among the best. His .405 batting average and .620 slugging percentage greatly exceed his other career numbers and rank among the most successful of any one player against any team. In 1,422 games over 15 seasons, Eisenreich posted a .290

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1,160-for-3,995) with 492 runs, 221 doubles, 39

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 52

home runs 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 ...

, 477 RBI, 105

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, 324

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, .341

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .404

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. He finished his career with a .988

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

playing at all three outfield positions and first base. In 20 postseason games, he hit .231 (12-for-52) with 4 runs, 2 home runs, 11 RBI and 7 walks.

Personal life

Eisenreich has

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinkin ...

,Jim Eisenreich Foundation.
Retrieved on 2006-02-18. which caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while undergoing treatment. He was replaced on the Twins roster by

Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett was instrumental in helping the Twins t ...

. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle. Eisenreich was inducted into the

Baseball Reliquary The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit educational organization "dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibiliti ...

's Shrine of the Eternals in 2009."Shrine of the Eternals – Inductees"
. Baseball Reliquary. Retrieved 2019-08-14. Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area and runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome, whose goal is to help children with TS achieve personal success.

References

External links

Jim Eisenreich
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenreich, Jim 1959 births Living people Baseball players from Minnesota Elizabethton Twins players Florida Marlins players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Memphis Chicks players Minnesota Twins players Omaha Royals players People with Tourette syndrome Philadelphia Phillies players St. Cloud State Huskies baseball players Sportspeople from St. Cloud, Minnesota Wisconsin Rapids Twins players 20th-century American sportsmen