Steven Rance Mulliniks (born January 15, 1956) is an American former

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 ...

player.

Playing career

Drafted as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, Mulliniks made his major league debut in for the

California Angels 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 ...

, batting .269 in 78 games. He saw limited playing time over the following years with the California Angels until and with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

in and . He had been traded along with Willie Aikens from the Angels to the Royals for Al Cowens and Todd Cruz at the Winter Meetings in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on December 6, 1979, with Craig Eaton being sent to California to complete the transaction four months later on April 1, 1980. Mulliniks' luck changed when he was traded to the

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 ...

, just before the start of the season. He was converted to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and platooned at that position as the left handed hitting half with Garth Iorg until Iorg's retirement after the 1987 season. He appeared in over 100 games each year through . He batted over .300 three times (, and ) and demonstrated great patience at the plate, regularly posting

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 ...

s near .400. In 1984, ''

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'' named him to their "Dream Team" as a utility infielder. In 1992, Mulliniks played only three regular season games for the Blue Jays, and none in the Blue Jays' postseason run to their first World Series, as he struggled with injuries. Mulliniks retired after the season having compiled a .272 career batting average, 73

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, 435 RBI, and 445 runs. He holds the Blue Jays franchise single season fielding percentage record for third basemen (.975) and the franchise record for most pinch hits (59).

Post-playing career

Mulliniks has been a colour commentator for Blue Jays coverage on

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, and alongside Jim Hughson and Jesse Barfield on

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in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, Mulliniks filled in for

Jerry Remy Gerald Peter Remy (November 8, 1952 – October 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and sports broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for ten seasons—three with the California Angels (1975� ...

for

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 ...

coverage on

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...

, for the Red Sox May 29–31 road trip to Toronto. Mulliniks is now a real estate agent in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183 ...

. He coached at

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally es ...

and operated Mulliniks Baseball School.

References

External links

* Rance Mulliniks' career statistics a
Baseball-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulliniks, Rance 1956 births Living people Baseball players from Tulare, California California Angels players Canadian television sportscasters Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball third basemen Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Blue Jays players American expatriate baseball players in Canada