Mike Figga

Mike Figga
Catcher
Born: July 31, 1970 (1970-07-31) (age 41) Tampa, Florida
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 16, 1997 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1999 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Batting average	.213
Hits	20
RBI	5
Teams
New York Yankees (1997-1999) Baltimore Orioles (1999)

Michael Anthony Figga (born July 31, 1970) is a retired catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. In a 3-year career, Figga hit .213 with 1 home run.

Early life and education

Born in Tampa, Florida, Figga attended A.P. Leto High School in Tampa, graduating in 1988. Figga then enjoyed a short but standout career at Central Florida Community College. Figga was drafted in 1989 by the New York Yankees. He played in the Australian Baseball League with the Canberra Bushrangers in the 1994 and 1995 seasons.^[1]

Major league career

After a long career in the minor leagues, Figga made his major-league debut on September 16, 1997, with the Yankees. Figga appeared in five games for the Yankees between 1997 and 1999. His lone major-league appearance in 1998 was on September 23, 1998, when he went one-for-four and scored a run against the Cleveland Indians.^[2] For that appearance, Figga earned a World Series ring when the Yankees won the World Series the following month.

In 1999, Figga started the season as one of three catchers on the Yankees' roster, after owner George Steinbrenner reportedly wanted him on the team. Figga was the with the Yankees for two months but played just two innings and was designated for assignment by the Yankees in May 1999. In June 1999, Figga was picked up on waivers by the Baltimore Orioles, and played 41 games for the Orioles.^[3]

After baseball

From 2000 until 2004, Figga played both in the minor leagues and for the Nashua Pride in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He subsequently retired from baseball with an early case of the dreaded disease of catchers: bad knees.^{[citation needed]} Today, Figga now works and lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and coaches Little League.

References

1. ^ Flintoff and Dunn Alamanac
2. ^ September 23, 1998 Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
3. ^ "BASEBALL; Orioles Claim Yankee Catcher". The New York Times. June 4, 1999. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EEDC1639F937A35755C0A96F958260. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube

Persondata
Name	Figga, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 31, 1970
Place of birth	Tampa, Florida
Date of death
Place of death