Mike Fontenot

Mike Fontenot
San Francisco Giants — No. 14
Second baseman/Third baseman/Shortstop
Born: June 9, 1980 (1980-06-09) (age 31) Slidell, Louisiana
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 13, 2005 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics (through September 25, 2011)
Batting average	.262
Home runs	26
Runs batted in	155
Teams
Chicago Cubs (2005, 2007-2010) San Francisco Giants (2010-present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2010)

Michael Eugene "Mike" Fontenot (born June 9, 1980 in Slidell, Louisiana) is a Major League Baseball infielder for the San Francisco Giants.

High school career

Mike Fontenot was a standout for Salmen High School in Slidell, Louisiana. After his senior year, he was drafted in the 21st round (625th overall) of the 1999 MLB Amateur Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but chose to attend Louisiana State University on a baseball scholarship instead of going professional.

College career

At Louisiana State Fontenot received National Freshman of the Year recognition as LSU's starting second baseman, batting .353 (103-for-292) with 13 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, 64 RBI, 93 runs, and eight steals. He became the third LSU player to win National Freshman of the Year award, following second baseman Todd Walker (1992) and pitcher Brett Laxton (1993). Fontenot's 17 home runs set an LSU freshman record, surpassing the previous mark of 15 established by Blair Barbier in 1997.

In 2000, he was named to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with two doubles, one home run, five RBI, and five runs scored. He was named to the College World Series all-tournament team as he hit a team-best .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles, one home run, two RBI, and six runs scored. He, along with former Chicago Cubs teammate Ryan Theriot, was a member of the LSU Tigers baseball team that won the 2000 College World Series. The second baseman was LSU's leading hitter in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, batting .432 (16-for-37) in nine games with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBI.

College awards and honors

2000

• Summer League First-Team All-American 2B
• Freshman First Team All-America 2B
• NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team
• College World Series All-Tournament Team 2B
• The Sporting News National Freshman of the Year
• Collegiate Baseball National Co-Freshman of the Year
• Baseball America First-Team Freshman All-American
• Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year

2001

• Pre-Season Southeastern Conference All-Star 2B^[1]

Professional career

Fontenot playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2010.

After his time at LSU, Fontenot was chosen in the first round (19th overall) of the 2001 MLB Amateur Entry Draft by the Baltimore Orioles.^[2] Fontenot signed with the Orioles, garnering a $1,300,000.00 signing bonus as part of the deal.^{[citation needed]} As part of the Orioles' farm system, Fontenot played for the Frederick Keys of the High-A Carolina League (2002), the Bowie Baysox of the AA Eastern League (2003), and the Ottawa Lynx of the AAA International League (2004).

On February 3, 2005, Fontenot was traded to the Chicago Cubs along with 2B/OF Jerry Hairston, Jr. and RHP Dave Crouthers for slugger Sammy Sosa. Until his trade to the San Francisco Giants on August 11, 2010, Fontenot was the only remaining player from that trade still with the Cubs.^[3] As part of the Cubs' farm system, Fontenot played for the Iowa Cubs of the AAA Pacific Coast League (2005–2007).

Fontenot made his Major League debut with the Cubs on April 13, 2005. In seven games with the team, he went 0-for-2 with 2 walks and 4 runs scored. He did not return to the Cubs until May 15, 2007, when he was promoted from AAA to replace relief pitcher Rocky Cherry. He wore Mark Grace's old number, 17. After a fast start, including finishing second in the National League Rookie of the Month voting for June 2007, he became the Cubs' starting second baseman in 2009. After batting .231 into mid-August, Fontenot lost his position as the Cubs everyday second baseman, splitting time with Jeff Baker.

On May 7, 2010, Fontenot hit his first career grand slam against the Cincinnati Reds. It was Fontenot's first home run of the 2010 season, coming in the eighth inning off the first pitch from Carlos Fisher, with the Cubs up 10–4.

On August 11, 2010, Fontenot was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Evan Crawford. On October 23, the Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to advance to the World Series. Fontenot got a hit in his only at-bat in the NLCS clinching game. He was part of the 25-man World Series roster and has the unusual distinction of being credited with appearing in the World Series with neither a plate appearance nor play in the field.^[4] In the eighth inning of Game 2, the left-handed-hitting Fontenot was announced as a pinch-hitter with the Giants leading the Rangers, 6–0. The Rangers replaced their right-handed pitcher with a left-hander, prompting the Giants to replace Fontenot with the right-handed Aaron Rowand. Rowand tripled. Fontenot did not appear in another game in the World Series which the Giants won in five games.^[5]

Professional awards and honors

2003

• Baltimore Orioles Minor League Player of the Year
• Eastern League All-Star 2B

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ "Giants announce 25-man roster for 2010 World Series". MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. 2010-10-27. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20101027&content_id=15860318&vkey=pr_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
5. ^ Tyler Kepner (2011-02-25). "How to Appear in the World Series (Without Actually Playing)". New York Times. http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/how-to-appear-in-the-world-series-without-actually-playing/?smid=tw-nytimesbats&seid=auto. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
• Iowa Cubs Official Website - Mike Fontenot

Persondata
Name	Fontenot, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 9, 1980
Place of birth	Slidell, Louisiana
Date of death
Place of death