Michael Wilson Ivie (August 8, 1952 – July 21, 2023) was an American 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

first baseman 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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

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 ...

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

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

during his career from 1971 to 1983. The Padres chose Ivie with the first overall selection of the 1970 MLB draft.

Baseball career

Ivie was born August 8, 1952, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and attended Walker High School in Atlanta. Playing for the school's baseball team, he at one point hit 21

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 in 21 games. The

selected Ivie with the first overall pick in the 1970 Major League Baseball draft 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 ...

. He signed with the Padres, receiving a $100,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, and began his career in the Padres' minor league system. During his first minor league season, Ivie developed the yips, having trouble throwing the ball back to the

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He insisted that he was finished with catching. He made his major league debut as an 18-year-old in September 1971. Ivie developed a problem with his blood circulation in his left hand, which cemented his decision to stop catching. Ivie returned to the major leagues with the Padres in 1974 as a

. During the 1978 offseason, the Padres traded Ivie to the

in exchange for Derrel Thomas. Going into the 1980 season, Ivie was considered the Giants' successor at first base to

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of ...

upon his retirement, but after an off-season accident with a hunting knife in which he sliced part of his fifth finger from his hand, he was unable to perform and became a bench player. He walked away from the team in June, but received counseling and returned in July. He played out the 1980 season, hitting four home runs. In 1981, Ivie lost the starting first base job to free agent Enos Cabell, acquired during the offseason. The Giants traded Ivie to the

for

Dave Bergman David Bruce Bergman (June 6, 1953 – February 2, 2015) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman, designated hitter and left fielder who played between 1975 and 1992. Early life Born in Evanston, Illinois, Bergman was an alumnus of M ...

and Jeffrey Leonard on April 20, 1981. He asked for his release from the Astros during the 1982 season, which was granted. Ivie then called on Sparky Anderson, manager of the

, and he was signed to play first base and designated hitter. During the 1982 season, he hit 14 home runs. Ivie began the 1983 season as Detroit's starting first baseman, but was released by the Tigers in May. Ivie sought to make a comeback and attended a tryout in September 1984 with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

; they offered him a non-roster invitation to spring training with the team in 1985. After the Braves would not guarantee him a roster spot, he opted not to attend.

Personal life

After his release from the Tigers, Ivie opened a

pro shop A pro shop is a sporting-goods retail outlet found at a sports facility, most commonly a golf course, where it is typically located in the country club building. Pro shops can also be found at bowling alleys, pool and snooker halls, tennis and ...

for hunting and fishing in

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. Its population was 20,573 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and ...

. Ivie and his first wife had two sons. They divorced and Ivie remarried. Ivie died in

North Augusta, South Carolina North Augusta is a city in Aiken and Edgefield counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, on the north bank of the Savannah River. It lies directly across the river, and state border, from Augusta, Georgia. The population was 24,379 at the ...

, on July 21, 2023, at age 70. Ivie's death marked the first death of a first-overall MLB draft pick.

References

External links

Mike Ivie
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

Bio Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivie, Mike 1952 births 2023 deaths Alexandria Aces players Baseball players from Atlanta Detroit Tigers players Hawaii Islanders players Houston Astros players Lodi Padres players Major League Baseball first basemen San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Tri-City Padres players