Frosty's Hockey World - Mark Sweeney

Mark Sweeney

Mark Sweeney Biography from MLB.com

12-year ML veteran has established himself as valuable role player, while excelling as pinch-hitter...in fact, is tied with Dave Hansen for fifth all-time with 139 career pinch-hits...only players with more pinch-hits in ML history are Lenny Harris (212), Manny Mota (150) Smokey Burgess (145) and Greg Gross (143)...lifetime .265 hitter (139-for-525) off bench leads all active players in pinch hits, pinch-HRs (13) and pinch-RBI (88)...has produced in clutch situations during career, batting .282 (123-for-436) with RISP...originally ninth round pick of California Angels in 1991 draft, has played in 1,014 ML contests with St. Louis (1995-97), San Diego (1997-98, 2002 and 2005), Cincinnati (1999), Milwaukee (2000-01), Colorado (2003-04) and San Francisco (2006)...is one of five players in Padres history to have logged 3 stints with club. Graduated from Holliston (Mass) High School...was finalist for 1991 Golden Spikes Award, given annually to top player in collegiate baseball, as senior at University of Maine...batted .384 with 23 HRs, 80 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 65 games...graduated with business degree...single.

Postseason:
Has compiled impressive postseason resume, batting .357 (5-for-14) with 2B and RBI in 17 career playoff contests...has made trio of trips to October stage, including World Series berth with Padres in 1998...went 2-for-3 against Yankees in Fall Classic...also advanced to postseason with St. Louis in 1996 and again with San Diego in 2005.

A Giant in the Community:
Was community stalwart during first season with Giants, lending much of his time to good causes...was club's nominee for Hutch Award...award, which is named after former ML pitcher and manager Fred Hutchinson, is given annually to Major Leaguer who best exemplifies character, desire and fighting spirit...began year with trip to 2006 KNBR/Giants Winter FanFest, which included trip to visit patients at Shriners Hospital for Kids in Sacramento...served as Giants' spokesman throughout season for Greater Bay Area Make-AWish Foundation, welcoming "wish" kids from Foundation prior to every Tuesday home game at AT&T Park...lent his services to teach baseball skills clinic for children participating in Special Olympics...participated in pre-game ceremony congratulating winners of Gang Resistance Education and Training Program, sponsored by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives...co-chaired annual "Halloween Heroes" event put on by Wender Weis Foundation for Children, event benefiting Junior Giants Program.

2007 Career Highlights:

Veteran pinch-hitter began the season with the Giants, but was acquired by the Dodgers on Aug. 9 in exchange for a player to be named later (Travis Denker)

Batted .316 off the bench (24-for-76) and led the Major Leagues with 24 pinch-hits to give him 163 in his career, the second most in Major League history, behind former Dodger Lenny Harris (212)...surpassed former Dodger and pinch-hit champion Manny Mota during the season

The 24 pinch-hits were the most in a single-season in all of baseball since Harris had 26 in 1999

Joined Smokey Burgess and Harris as the only Major Leaguers in the last 50 years to record two 20-pinch-hit seasons...Sweeney had 22 pinch-hits while splitting time between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres in 1997

Collected his first hit as a Dodger with a pinch-hit single against the Astros on Aug. 13

Hit .260 with two homers and 13 RBI in 106 games combined between the Giants and Dodgers

Hit .273 with three RBI in Los Angeles, including a .296 average (8-for-27) as a pinch-hitter

Batted .400 (6-for-15) in the month of July

At home (Dodger Stadium and AT&T Park), batted .345 (19-for-55) compared to a .191 mark on the road in the National League

Hit .571 (8-for-14) when putting the first pitch in play

Appeared in games at first base, left field and right field during the season and did not commit any errors

His acquisition marked the first time the Dodgers and Giants had orchestrated a trade since Dec. 11, 1985, when Los Angeles sent outfielder Candy Maldonado to San Francisco in exchange for catcher Alex Trevino...it was the first in-season trade between the two teams since April 14, 1972 when the Dodgers acquired Dick Dietz from San Francisco in exchange for cash

Will enter 2008 as the Major Leagues'active leader in pinch-hit home runs (15) and RBI (97)

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Player Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com

Proper Name: Mark Patrick Sweeney

Born: October 26, 1969

Framingham, MA

Height: 6-1

Weight: 215 lbs.

Age: 38

Bats: Left

Throws: Left

Pos: 1B

Experience: 12 years

College: Maine

Mark Sweeney Hitting Statistics from www.baseball-almanac.com

Yr	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GS	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
1995	Cardinals	37	77	5	21	2	0	2	0	13	10	0	15	1	2	0	3	.273	.348	.377
1996	Cardinals	98	170	32	45	9	0	3	0	22	33	2	29	5	0	1	4	.265	.387	.371
1997	Cardinals	44	61	5	13	3	0	0	0	4	9	1	14	1	1	1	2	.213	.319	.262
1997	Padres	71	103	11	33	4	0	2	0	19	11	0	18	0	1	0	1	.320	.383	.417
1998	Padres	122	192	17	45	8	3	2	0	15	26	0	37	0	3	1	5	.234	.324	.339
1999	Reds	37	31	6	11	3	0	2	0	7	4	1	9	0	0	0	2	.355	.429	.645
2000	Brewers	71	73	9	16	6	0	1	0	6	12	1	18	1	0	1	1	.219	.337	.342
2001	Brewers	48	89	9	23	3	1	3	0	11	12	0	23	2	0	0	0	.258	.347	.416
2002	Padres	48	65	3	11	3	0	1	0	4	4	0	19	0	0	0	1	.169	.217	.262
2003	Rockies	67	97	13	25	9	0	2	0	14	9	1	27	0	0	0	2	.258	.321	.412
2004	Rockies	122	177	25	47	12	2	9	1	40	32	2	51	0	4	2	2	.266	.377	.508
2005	Padres	135	221	31	65	12	1	8	0	40	40	3	58	1	5	0	6	.294	.395	.466
2006	Giants	114	259	32	65	15	2	5	0	37	28	3	50	0	1	3	6	.251	.330	.382
2007	Giants	76	90	18	23	8	0	2	0	10	13	0	18	1	0	3	0	.256	.368	.411
2007	Dodgers	30	33	2	9	1	0	0	0	3	1	0	11	0	0	0	0	.273	.294	.303
Career		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GS	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
13 Years		1,120	1,738	218	452	98	9	42	1	245	244	14	397	12	17	12	35	.260	.352	.399

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