Quinton McCracken

Infobox MLB retired
name=Quinton McCracken


width=150
position=Outfielder
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1970|8|16
Cincinnati, Ohio
deathdate=
debutdate=September 17
debutyear=by|1995
debutteam=Colorado Rockies
finaldate=July 5
finalyear=by|2006
finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.274
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=21
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=244
teams=
*Colorado Rockies (by|1995–by|1997)
*Tampa Bay Devil Rays (by|1998–by|2000)
*Minnesota Twins (by|2001)
*Arizona Diamondbacks (by|2002–by|2003)
*Seattle Mariners (by|2004)
*Arizona Diamondbacks (by|2004–by|2005)
*Cincinnati Reds (by|2006)
highlights=

Quinton Antoine McCracken (born August 16, 1970 in Wilmington, North Carolina) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise's first center fielder and batter on March 31, mlby|1998. He is a 1992 graduate of Duke University. Quinton married Maggie Moskal on January 29, 2005.

High school years

McCracken attended South Brunswick High School and was the starting quarterback and the free safety in football, the starting point guard in basketball, in addition to being a baseball star and a track standout. In baseball, as a senior, he led his team to a 29-0 record and the state Championship. South Brunswick finished the baseball season that year ranked #5 among national high school baseball teams in 1988.Fact|date=February 2007

Professional career

McCracken was selected by the Colorado Rockies in their inaugural draft in mlby|1992 in the 25th round. He made his major league debut as a September call up on September 17, mlby|1995; in three games, McCracken struck out in his only at-bat. In mlby|1996, he played mostly center field, batting .290 in 283 at-bats. In mlby|1997, McCracken stole a career-high 28 bases and increased his batting average to .292. He was drafted by the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays on November 18, 1997, as their 4th pick, to be their starting center fielder for 1998. Playing in a career-high 155 games, McCracken had his best-ever season, batting .292 with 7 home runs, 59 RBI, and was named the Devil Rays first-ever most valuable player [ [http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080716/COLUMNISTS/807160351/1078 "McCracken, like Rays, looking for better days"] . July 16, 2008, "Starnewsonline.com". Retrieved on August 13, 2008.] . After playing only 40 games in mlby|1999, because of a torn ACL [ [http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080716/COLUMNISTS/807160351/1078 "McCracken, like Rays, looking for better days"] . July 16, 2008, "Starnewsonline.com". Retrieved on August 13, 2008.] , he spent most of mlby|2000 in the minors with Triple-A Durham. The Devil Rays released him on November 27, 2000, and he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on December 22, he was released in spring training. On April 13, mlby|2001, McCracken signed with the Minnesota Twins. He again spent most of the year in Triple-A, where he batted .338 for Edmonton.

He became a free agent after the season and on January 9, mlby|2002, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent the entire season with the major league club, hitting .309 as the Diamondbacks won the NL West. McCracken batted .364 in 11 at-bats against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS, but the D-Backs were swept out off the playoffs by the Cardinals. His batting average dropped nearly 100 points in mlby|2003 to .227. On December 15, 2003, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Greg Colbrunn. McCracken did not get much playing time with Seattle, however, and on June 9 he was released. Two days later, he re-signed with the D-Backs and batted .288 in 55 games. He became a free agent after the season and re-signed with Arizona. McCracken struggled with a .237 batting average in mlby|2005, becoming a free agent after the season.

On February 14, mlby|2006, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, but was released on July 6. The Minnesota Twins, after signing him to a minor league contract on July 21, announced at the end of the 2006 season that they would not re-sign McCracken after he had played for their Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. [ [http://www.democratandchronicle.com/ Democrat & Chronicle] ; "Morneau closing on Jeter in MVP race"; September 21, 2006.] He was not picked up by another team, and signed on to play with the independent Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League. [http://www.independent-baseball.com/atlantic_league_news_000205.html] [ [http://www.connpost.com/sports/ci_5942240 The Connecticut Post Online - McCracken believes he still has game ] ] After one season in independent ball, McCracken played for the Dominican Winter Baseball League in late by|2007 [ [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Quinton%20McCracken&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=118609 Minor League Baseball: Stats: Player ] ] and retired [ [http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080716/COLUMNISTS/807160351/1078 "McCracken, like Rays, looking for better days"] . July 16, 2008, "Starnewsonline.com". Retrieved on August 13, 2008.] .

References

External links

* [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Quinton%20McCracken&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=118609 Player page at Minor League Baseball (milb.com)]
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=118609 Player page at Major League Baseball (mlb.com)]
*
* [http://www.blog4links.com/quintonmccracken.blog/ Quinton McCracken blog]