Mike Stanton (left-handed pitcher)

Mike Stanton
Stanton during Spring Training in 2008
Pitcher
Born: June 2, 1967 (1967-06-02) (age 44) Houston, Texas
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
August 24, 1989 for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2007 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics
Games pitched	1,178
Win–loss record	68–63
Earned run average	3.92
Strikeouts	895
Holds	266
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1989–1995) Boston Red Sox (1995–1996) Texas Rangers (1996) New York Yankees (1997–2002) New York Mets (2003–2004) New York Yankees (2005) Washington Nationals (2005) Boston Red Sox (2005) Washington Nationals (2006) San Francisco Giants (2006) Cincinnati Reds (2007)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2001) 3× World Series champion (1998, 1999, 2000)

William Michael Stanton (born June 2, 1967 in Houston, Texas) is a former left-handed specialist relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who enjoyed success over his career, most notably with the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees who has the record for the most holds in MLB history. Currently, he is the head coach of the varsity baseball club at Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Stanton graduated from Midland High School (Midland, Texas), where he played baseball, basketball and football. He did not however, pitch at all in high school. His first pitching appearance came when he pitched at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Stanton also attended Alvin Community College.

Baseball career

Stanton was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and made his major league debut in 1989 with the Braves, where he would spend the first six years of his career. He would eventually make quick stops with the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers before he would pitch for the New York Yankees for 7 seasons. During that span, Stanton was a large part of the Yankees world series teams proving himself in big roles out of the bullpen and was selected to the 2001 All-Star team. He would help the Yankees win the World Series from 1998-2000. His contributions in the postseason during this three-year period helped him post the lowest ERA in World Series history among relief pitchers.

Stanton would later go on to pitch for the New York Mets and eventually made returns to his former teams, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He also spent time with the Washington Nationals and San Francisco before he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 2008.

Despite his high salary due in 2008, the Reds cut Stanton from the team, going instead with veteran lefty Kent Mercker. The Reds would eat $3.5 million in salary to make the cut, including the 2008 salary and the 2009 option.^[2] After being cut by the Reds, Stanton signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Chicago Cubs on January 20, 2009. He did not make the team and was released on March 30.^[3]

In his major league career, Stanton would post a 68-63 record with a 3.92 ERA and 84 saves in 1178 games pitched which ranks him second all-time in appearances behind Jesse Orosco (1252).

Despite being a set-up man, Stanton chose to come out of the bullpen to an entrance song like many Major League closers do. Stanton usually entered to Aldo Nova's "Fantasy". With the New York Mets however, he came in to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" during save situations as a tribute to Mariano Rivera, whom he setup for in his Yankees years.^[4]

Mike Stanton is the all time holds leader, with 266. The hold is similar to the save, though it is not considered an official statistic. Arthur Rhodes is second on the list, though he has over forty fewer holds.

Mitchell Report

Stanton was mentioned in the Mitchell Report for purchasing Human Growth Hormone, although there was no documented evidence included to support the accusation. Stanton has flatly denied any wrongdoing or any connection to any type of performance enhancing drugs in his baseball career.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

References

1. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100604&content_id=10786908&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy&partnerId=rss_nyy
2. ^ Reds say ready to drop veteran LHP Stanton - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
3. ^ Hill, Hoffpauir in; Bako, Stanton out
4. ^ http://forums.nyyfans.com/archive/index.php/t-46522.html

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Wheeler, Lonnie (2007-04-21). "To Reds' relief, Stanton hangs on". The Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company). Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930184751/http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/SPT05/704210389/1027. 
• Denial of HGH use

Persondata
Name	Stanton, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 2, 1967
Place of birth	Houston, Texas
Date of death
Place of death