Kirt Dean Manwaring (born July 15, 1965) 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 ...

player. He played as a

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 ...

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 ...

from through , most prominently as a member of 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 ...

, with whom he played for the majority of his career. Although he didn't produce large offensive statistics, Manwaring excelled as a defensive player, winning the National League

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

in . He also played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

and the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

Baseball career

Manwaring was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 12th round of the 1983 free-agent draft but, did not sign. He was then selected by the

in the second round of the 1986 draft out of

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

at the age of 21. A little over a year later, he made his major league debut with the Giants. He played in the 1989 World Series between the Giants and the Oakland A’s that was rocked by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. Manwaring earned a Gold Glove Award in 1993. He finished the season with the National League's second-highest percentage of throwing out base stealers (45 percent). He spent a decade with the Giants, until he was traded in July 1996 to the Houston Astros for Rick Wilkins and cash. He then became a free agent and chose to sign with the Colorado Rockies. He finished his last season in 1999. He is currently a catching instructor for the Giants. Manwaring was a standout baseball player at Horseheads High School in

Horseheads, New York Horseheads is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 19,412 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from the number of bleached horses' skulls once found there. Horseheads is north of the city of Elmi ...

Awards

A very good defensive catcher, he recorded a .998 fielding percentage and won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

award with the San Francisco Giants in 1993. He won the 1993 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership. In 1993, he was tied for 4th in intentional walks, with 13, all while batting 8th in front of the pitcher's spot.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manwaring, Kirt San Francisco Giants players Houston Astros players Colorado Rockies players Gold Glove Award winners Horseheads High School alumni Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Elmira, New York 1965 births Living people Coastal Carolina Chanticleers baseball players Clinton Giants players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Phoenix Firebirds players San Jose Giants players Shreveport Captains players 20th-century American sportsmen