Midre Almeric Cummings (born October 14, 1971) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 c ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

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 (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

(-),

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

(1997),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

( and ),

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) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

(-2000),

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

(), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (), and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(). He spent with the

La New Bears LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).

Amateur career

Cummings was born and raised in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an Territories of the United States, uninco ...

. Given that there was no high school baseball in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cummings "played in a lot of open leagues, amateur leagues" sometimes against players as old as 21 when he was only 16. In 1987, he played for the St. Croix team which represented the U.S. Virgin Islands at the

1987 Senior League World Series The 1987 Senior League World Series took place from August 17–22 in Kissimmee, Florida, United States. Athens, Ohio defeated Tampa, Florida twice in the championship game. Teams Results 12 Errors Result In Pennant Loss For Tampa Bay Orlando S ...

. Cummings moved to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

for his senior year of high school so that he could play baseball at Miami Edison Senior High School in the hopes of earning a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

scholarship. Cummings had a .400

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 i ...

in his only season of high school baseball. Prior to the 1990 Major League Baseball draft, one talent evaluator said Cummings "could outrun

Vince Coleman Vince Coleman may refer to: *Vince Coleman (train dispatcher) (1872–1917), Canadian train dispatcher killed in the Halifax Explosion *Vince Coleman (baseball) Vincent Maurice Coleman (born September 22, 1961) is an American former Major League ...

." Another said he was "the best outfielder to ever play in Dade County."

Professional career

Cummings was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (29th overall) of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft. On March 17, , he was traded by the Twins along with Denny Neagle to the Pirates for John Smiley, making his major league debut for the Pirates in 1993. In his fifth season with the Pirates, he was claimed off waivers by the Phillies on July 8. Cummings was released by the Phillies on February 24, 1998, and signed with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

three days later only to be claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

. The Red Sox released him on March 30, 1999, and Cummings signed with the Twins on May 14. On August 31, 2000, he was traded to the Red Sox for minor leaguer Hector De Los Santos. Cummings became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

after the season and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cummings helped the Diamondbacks win the 2001 World Series over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

, scoring the tying run in the ninth inning during Game 7. It would be three years before Cummings played in the majors again, spending time in the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

minor league systems from -. On February 10, 2004, he signed with the Devil Rays and batted .278 in 54

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s that year. He was released after the season and signed with the Baltimore Orioles, but got only two at bats that year and retired after the season. Cummings signed with the

of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2006 season.

References

External links

Midre Cummings
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Midre 1971 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Baltimore Orioles players Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Carolina Mudcats players Durham Bulls players Expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Gulf Coast Twins players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Kenosha Twins players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the United States Virgin Islands Major League Baseball designated hitters Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players Ottawa Lynx players People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Salem Buccaneers players Salt Lake Buzz players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Tucson Sidewinders players United States Virgin Islands expatriate baseball players in Canada La New Bears players