Kevin Ford Mench (born January 7, 1978) 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 ...
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 catch ...
who played eight years in
Major League Baseball (MLB) with the
Texas Rangers (2002–2006),
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 ...
(2006–2007),
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
(2008) and
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
(2010). He also spent a season in
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the
Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...
in 2009. He is most noted for having had the largest
cap size (8 1/4) in the majors when he was an active player, a feature that earned him the
nickname
A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
Shrek
''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
.
High school and college career
Mench attended The Independence School and
St. Mark's High School in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
. Following high school, Mench attended the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...
where he led the Blue Hens to the NCAA tournament in and . In 1998, Mench led the NCAA with 33
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s and knocked in 72
runs to earn Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year and consensus All-America Honors. In the America East, he was named
Rookie of the Year in 1997 and
Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999. In 1998, 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 ...
for the
Chatham A's
The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...
of 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 ...
. On June 2, 1999, the
Texas Rangers drafted Mench in the
fourth round
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama
...
with the 118th overall pick. For his accomplishments, Mench was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame in 2005.
Professional career
In his rookie year, , Mench hit 15 home runs, tied for third among rookies, and
drove in 60 runs. He finished seventh in 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 ...
Rookie of the Year balloting.
After an injury-plagued , Mench responded in by setting career bests in
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 ...
(.279), home runs (26), RBI (71) and
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 ...
(.539).
He followed that up by posting similar numbers in , finishing with a .264 average, 25 home runs and a career-high 73 RBI in 150 games.
On June 30, 2005, Mench hit three home runs in a single game against the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
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 ...
.
On April 26, , Mench became the 19th player in major league history to hit a home run in at least six straight games. The streak started, oddly, not too long after Mench discovered that a recurring toe injury was due to a shoe problem – he had been wearing size 12 shoes since his teenage years, but discovered his actual shoe size was 12½. On the same date, Mench set an American League record with seven consecutive multi-RBI games, a record which still stands .
On April 28, Mench extended his home run streak to seven straight games, shattering his own franchise record with the Texas Rangers, and setting an all-time record for right-handed batters.
The current record for most consecutive games with a home run is eight, held by
Dale Long
Richard Dale Long (February 6, 1926 – January 27, 1991) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates, History of the St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees ...
,
Don Mattingly, and
Ken Griffey Jr.
On July 26, 2006, Mench hit a two-run
double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
against the
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 ...
, the 50,000th
hit in Rangers franchise history; two days later, he was traded to the
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 ...
along with
Francisco Cordero,
Laynce Nix
Laynce Michael Nix (born October 30, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. Nix played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Philli ...
, and
Julian Cordero
Julian may refer to:
People
* Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363
* Julian, of the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots
* Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints
* Julian (given name), people ...
, for
Carlos Lee and
Nelson Cruz
Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez (born July 1, 1980), nicknamed "Boomstick", is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Ranger ...
.
Mench got his first
hit with the Brewers on July 29, 2006, against the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
, where he also collected an RBI.
During the subsequent offseason, Mench had been repeatedly criticized by Brewers fans on radio programs for his lackluster 2006 performance with the Brewers. Mench hit only .230 with a home run and 18 RBI in 40 games for the Brewers.
Mench also stated he did not want to platoon in
left field, taken by many fans as an excessive demand considering his performance for the Brewers so far.
On January 16, , Mench and the Brewers agreed on a one-year contract for the 2007 season that would pay him $3.4 million. He was not offered a new contract by the Brewers and became a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
on December 12, 2007. On February 12, , Mench signed a minor league deal to return to the Rangers.
On May 9, , Mench was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations. On August 25, 2008, Mench was optioned to Triple-A
Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
by the Blue Jays, but was recalled in early September.
On December 24, 2008, Mench signed a one-year deal to with the
Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...
of Japan's
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 ...
.
On February 2, 2010, Mench signed a minor league deal with the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
.
On February 18, 2012, Mench confirmed on his Twitter account his retirement from Major League Baseball.
Honors
In 1998, Mench led the NCAA with 33
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s and knocked in 72
runs to earn Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year and consensus All-America Honors. In the America East, he was named
Rookie of the Year in 1997 and
Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
Mench was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame in 2005.
He was inducted into the
Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Personal life
Mench is married to former
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 ...
outfielder
Scott Podsednik's sister, Shana. They have three children, twins (boy and girl) and a younger girl.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mench, Kevin
1978 births
Living people
All-American college baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Baseball players from Wilmington, Delaware
Charlotte Rangers players
Chatham Anglers players
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens baseball players
Frisco RoughRiders players
Hanshin Tigers players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Milwaukee Brewers players
Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders
Oklahoma RedHawks players
Pulaski Rangers players
Savannah Sand Gnats players
Syracuse Chiefs players
Texas Rangers players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Tulsa Drillers players
Washington Nationals players
21st-century American sportsmen