Michael Jorgensen (born August 16, 1948) 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 currently works in the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

' front office. The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

drafted him in the fourth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft. In a 17-year

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 ...

(MLB) playing career spanning from

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, he played primarily with the Mets and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

and had brief stints with the Cardinals,

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 ...

, Texas Rangers and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. He also has served as a manager for the Cardinals. Jorgensen is the only major league baseball player to have been born the day

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

died.

Playing career

Jorgensen was raised in Bayside, Queens, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

."Mets Sign Dyer and Two Rookies: Matlack and Jorgensen Lift Total Under Contract to 18". ''The New York Times''. February 1, 1970. p. S2. He attended

Francis Lewis High School Francis Lewis High School (FLHS) is a selective public high school located in Fresh Meadows, in the New York City borough of Queens. It is one of the most-applied-to public high schools in New York City with 9,468 applicants in 2016. Operated b ...

. The New York Mets signed a contract with him in 1966. Jorgensen made his major league debut with the

as a September call-up in . He played the entire season in the minors. On April 5, , he was traded with Tim Foli and

Ken Singleton Kenneth Wayne Singleton (born June 10, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter from to , most prominently as a member ...

to the

for

Rusty Staub Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub (April 1, 1944 – March 29, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and television color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball for 23 seasons as a right fielder, designated hitter, and first base ...

. It was in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

where Jorgensen enjoyed his greatest success. In , he earned his only

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 ...

as a

, the only time between

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

that a Los Angeles Dodger first baseman did not win the Gold Glove Award: Jorgensen broke

Wes Parker Maurice Wesley Parker III (born November 13, 1939) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to . He also played one season in Japan for the Nankai Hawks in . As of 2009, Parker ha ...

's six-year run from 1967- 72 (after which season Parker retired from Major League Baseball), and preceded

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional Major League Baseball player who played first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey began his major league career wit ...

, who won the award from

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

-77. In , he broke the Expos' single season record for

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 ...

with .444, on the way to setting career highs 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 ...

(.310),

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 ...

(.488) and adjusted OPS (156). The next year, he set more career highs with the bat—clubbing 18

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 ...

, and driving in 67 runs. Jorgensen became expendable when the Expos acquired first baseman Tony Pérez and was traded to the

at the start of the 1977 season. Following one season with the A's, he signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.

Beanball incident

On May 28, , Jorgensen was hit in the head by a pitch from

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

pitcher Andy Hassler. Dave Roberts entered the game to pinch run for Jorgensen, and Pat Putnam took over as the Rangers' regular first baseman for the next month. Excluding one pinch-hitting appearance on May 31, he did not play again until July 1. After suffering headaches, it was discovered he had a small blood clot inside his head, which apparently caused a seizure, and could have resulted in death. Following the season, he was traded back to the Mets to complete a mid-season deal in which the Mets had sent Willie Montañez to the Rangers for two players to be named later (the other player the Mets received was pitcher Ed Lynch). On July 4, , Montreal Expos rookie Bill Gullickson sailed a pitch over Jorgensen's head in the second game of a doubleheader. Jorgensen motioned towards Gullickson in disapproval. Mets

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 ...

John Stearns then charged out of the dugout and slammed Gullickson to the ground.

Post-season appearance

Jorgensen's second go-around with the Mets lasted until June 15, . The Mets sold him to the

the day they acquired first baseman Keith Hernández from the

for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. A year to the day later, the Braves traded him with

Ken Dayley Kenneth Grant Dayley (born February 25, 1959) is a former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Dayley played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1982 and 1993. Career Braves After pitching at the U ...

to the Cardinals for Ken Oberkfell. With the Cardinals, he reached his first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

in his final season. Coincidentally, Hassler was also a member of this team.

Career statistics

Cardinals manager

Following

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

's firing as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the Cardinals in 1995, Jorgensen finished the season as their interim manager. He led St. Louis to a 42–54 win–loss record before

Tony La Russa Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager (baseball), manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis C ...

was hired to be the permanent manager for

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Front-office work

In 2001, Jorgensen began working as a senior special assistant to St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, scouting the American League. He had served for the previous 10 years as the Cardinals' director of player development (farm director) and prior to that was the team's minor league hitting instructor/coordinator in 1990 and 1991.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Mike 1948 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Passaic, New Jersey Francis Lewis High School alumni Gold Glove Award winners Louisville Redbirds managers Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Marion Mets players Memphis Blues players Montreal Expos players New York Mets players Oakland Athletics players Raleigh-Durham Mets players Baseball players from Queens, New York St. Louis Cardinals executives St. Louis Cardinals managers St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals scouts Texas Rangers players Tidewater Tides players Winter Haven Mets players Florida Instructional League Mets players