- Dante Bichette
-
Dante Bichette Right fielder / Left fielder Born: November 18, 1963
West Palm Beach, FloridaBatted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut September 5, 1988 for the California Angels Last MLB appearance October 6, 2001 for the Boston Red Sox Career statistics Batting average .299 Home runs 274 Runs batted in 1,141 Teams Career highlights and awards Alphonse Dante Bichette, Sr. ( /ˈdɑːnteɪ bɨˈʃɛt/; born November 18, 1963 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is a former Italian-American Major League Baseball player.
He began his career with the California Angels in 1988, but was a streaky hitter and was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1991. After putting up only average numbers with Milwaukee, he was traded to the new expansion team, the Colorado Rockies. On April 7, 1993 he hit the first home-run in Rockies history, a solo shot off of New York Mets pitcher Bret Saberhagen. It was with the Rockies where he shone as a player. Bichette was part of the "Blake Street Bombers" which also included sluggers Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga, and Vinny Castilla. At least some of his slugging success can be attributed to the home run-friendly ballparks in Denver, Mile High Stadium and Coors Field. During his time in Colorado, his at-bat music was Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
He finished the Rockies' first season with 21 home runs and a .310 batting average, his personal best for both at the time. Bichette also hit his first home run at the newly-constructed Coors Field, a fourteenth-inning smash against the Mets that secured an opening day victory for the Rockies in 1995. Bichette had his best season in 1995, coming very close to the Triple Crown with a .340 batting average, 40 home runs and 128 RBIs and barely lost the MVP voting to the Cincinnati Reds' Barry Larkin.
Bichette began having knee problems in 1996, but was still successful as a hitter, with a .316 average, 31 home runs and 141 RBIs, plus 31 stolen bases. The 1996 season was only the second time ever that two players on the same team hit at least 30 home runs and collected 30 stolen bases, as Ellis Burks accomplished the same feat. Over the next three seasons, Bichette hit 26, 22 and 34 home runs for the Rockies, respectively. He remains in the top ten in many offensive categories for the Rockies.[1] But by the end of the 1999 season, his production was beginning to drop and the Rockies dealt Bichette to the Cincinnati Reds. However, his fielding was suffering tremendously and Bichette was eventually traded to the Boston Red Sox[1] for a season and a half and then the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bichette retired before ever playing a game with the Dodgers on March 22, 2002.
In August 2004, Bichette rejoined professional baseball as a pitcher and first baseman for the Atlantic League's Nashua Pride. It took little time for Bichette to play back into form as he won the Atlantic League's Player of the Month award for August (his first full month back). He completed the month with a .361 average and 13 homers. On August 28, he batted 4-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBIs.
In August 2005, Bichette's son Dante Bichette, Jr. participated in the Little League World Series with his Maitland, Florida team. The Maitland team featured a second son of a former major-leaguer in Tanner Stanley, son of Mike Stanley. In 2011, Bichette Jr., was drafted 51st overall in Comp Round A by the New York Yankees, who are managed by Bichette Sr.'s close friend Joe Girardi.[2]
See also
References
- ^ "Red Sox deal for Bichette". CBS Sports. 31 August 2000. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/08/31/sports/main229701.shtml. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ New York Yankees draft Dante Bichette Jr.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
- Little League World Series 2005 Coach Photograph
Awards and achievements Preceded by
Jeff Conine
Mike Piazza
Jeff BagwellNational League Player of the Month
July 1995
September 1995
June 1996Succeeded by
Mike Piazza
Barry Bonds
Sammy SosaPreceded by
Matt WilliamsNational League Home Run Champion
1995Succeeded by
Andrés GalarragaPreceded by
Jeff BagwellNational League RBI Champion
1995Succeeded by
Andrés GalarragaPreceded by
Jeff BagwellNational League Slugging Percentage Champion
1995Succeeded by
Ellis BurksNational League Home Run Champions 1876: Hall | 1877: Pike | 1878: Hines | 1879: C. Jones | 1880: Stovey & O'Rourke | 1881: Brouthers | 1882: Wood | 1883: Ewing | 1884: Williamson | 1885: Dalrymple | 1886: Brouthers & Richardson | 1887: O'Brien | 1888: Ryan | 1889: Thompson | 1890: Burns, Tiernan & Wilmot | 1891: Tiernan & Stovey | 1892: Holliday | 1893: Delahanty | 1894: Duffy | 1895: Thompson | 1896: Joyce & Delahanty | 1897: Duffy | 1898: J. Collins | 1899: Freeman | 1900: Long | 1901: Crawford | 1902: Leach | 1903: Sheckard | 1904: Lumley | 1905: Odwell | 1906: Jordan | 1907: Brain | 1908: Jordan | 1909: Murray | 1910: Schulte & Beck | 1911: Schulte | 1912: Zimmerman | 1913: Cravath | 1914: Cravath | 1915: Cravath | 1916: C. Williams & Robertson | 1917: Cravath & Robertson | 1918: Cravath | 1919: Cravath | 1920: C. Williams | 1921: Kelly | 1922: Hornsby | 1923: C. Williams | 1924: Fournier | 1925: Hornsby | 1926: Wilson | 1927: C. Williams & Wilson | 1928: Wilson & Bottomley | 1929: Klein | 1930: Wilson | 1931: Klein | 1932: Klein & Ott | 1933: Klein | 1934: Ott & R. Collins | 1935: Berger | 1936: Ott | 1937: Ott & Medwick | 1938: Ott | 1939: Mize | 1940: Mize | 1941: Camilli | 1942: Ott | 1943: Nicholson | 1944: Nicholson | 1945: Holmes | 1946: Kiner | 1947: Kiner & Mize | 1948: Kiner & Mize | 1949: Kiner | 1950: Kiner | 1951: Kiner | 1952: Kiner & Sauer | 1953: Mathews | 1954: Kluszewski | 1955: Mays | 1956: Snider | 1957: Aaron | 1958: Banks | 1959: Mathews | 1960: Banks | 1961: Cepeda | 1962: Mays | 1963: McCovey & Aaron | 1964: Mays | 1965: Mays | 1966: Aaron | 1967: Aaron | 1968: McCovey | 1969: McCovey | 1970: Bench | 1971: Stargell | 1972: Bench | 1973: Stargell | 1974: Schmidt | 1975: Schmidt | 1976: Schmidt | 1977: Foster | 1978: Foster | 1979: Kingman | 1980: Schmidt | 1981: Schmidt | 1982: Kingman | 1983: Schmidt | 1984: Schmidt & Murphy | 1985: Murphy | 1986: Schmidt | 1987: Dawson | 1988: Strawberry | 1989: Mitchell | 1990: Sandberg | 1991: Johnson | 1992: McGriff | 1993: Bonds | 1994: M. Williams | 1995: Bichette | 1996: Galarraga | 1997: Walker | 1998: McGwire | 1999: McGwire | 2000: Sosa | 2001: Bonds | 2002: Sosa | 2003: Thome | 2004: Beltré | 2005: A. Jones | 2006: Howard | 2007: Fielder | 2008: Howard | 2009: Pujols | 2010: Pujols | 2011: Kemp
Categories:- 1963 births
- Living people
- Boston Red Sox players
- California Angels players
- Cincinnati Reds players
- Colorado Rockies players
- Major League Baseball left fielders
- Baseball players from Florida
- Major League Baseball right fielders
- Milwaukee Brewers players
- National League All-Stars
- National League RBI champions
- National League home run champions
- Salem Angels players
- Quad Cities Angels players
- Midland Angels players
- Edmonton Trappers players
- Nashua Pride players
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