Jeromy Burnitz

Jeromy Burnitz
Right fielder
Born: April 15, 1969 (1969-04-15) (age 42) Westminster, California
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 21, 1993 for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 2006 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Batting average	.253
Home runs	315
Runs batted in	981
Teams
New York Mets (1993–1994) Cleveland Indians (1995–1996) Milwaukee Brewers (1996–2001) New York Mets (2002–2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2003) Colorado Rockies (2004) Chicago Cubs (2005) Pittsburgh Pirates (2006)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (1999)

Jeromy Neal Burnitz (born April 15, 1969 in Westminster, California) is a former baseball player who was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Mets (1993–94, 2002–03), Cleveland Indians (1995–96), Milwaukee Brewers (1996–2001), Los Angeles Dodgers (2003), Colorado Rockies (2004), Chicago Cubs (2005), and Pittsburgh Pirates (2006).

Burnitz played his collegiate ball at Oklahoma State University and played minor league ball with the Welsh Waves and the Buffalo Bisons. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He first came up with the New York Mets and exhibited both power and speed, but was traded by them to the Cleveland Indians, Burnitz never really cracked the Cleveland lineup and it was only after his trade to Milwaukee in 1996 that he emerged as an everyday player.

In his 14-year career, Burnitz was a .253 hitter with 315 home runs and 981 RBI in 1694 games. He hit at least 31 home runs from 1998-2004 with a career high 38 in 1998, a year in which he also had 125 RBI, another career mark. He played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1999 and 2001. In 1999 he started the game, replacing the injured Tony Gwynn and became the first Brewer since Paul Molitor to start in the All Star Game. Burnitz was a constant crowd favorite in Milwaukee, providing many of the only thrills during an otherwise low point in Brewers' history in the first years of their National League history. After signing a contract extension with the Brewers in 2000, he was briefly the franchise's highest paid player of all time. In 2002, he returned to the Mets, but did not perform as well with his original team as both he and Mets fans hoped. He was traded to Los Angeles in the Mets' 2003 purge of high-salaried players, and signed the following year with the Colorado Rockies.

In 150 games, he led the Rockies with 37 home runs, hit a career high .283, and was second on the team with 110 RBI. He continued to hit well at Wrigley Field with a .258 average, 24 homers and 87 RBI in 160 games with the Cubs. On February 2, 2005, the Cubs signed Burnitz to a one year contract, the same day Sammy Sosa's trade to the Baltimore Orioles was finalized.

Burnitz was known as a good clubhouse man and a friendly, laid-back guy. During a slump in May 2006, he held an interview in order to apologize for failing to run out a grounder, then joked about the challenges that his team would face during the rest of the season, saying, "I'm your Highest-Paid Free Agent. That, in and of itself, should tell you the big picture that the team's in." ^[1]

The Pirates opted not to renew his contract on November 1, 2006. On March 11, 2007, Burnitz announced his retirement after 14 seasons.

Jeromy currently resides in his home in the San Diego suburb of Poway, Ca, with his wife Kristyn and his three children Chloe, Grace and Jake.

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

References

1. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06133/689880-63.stm

Sources

• The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3

External links

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

Preceded by Sammy Sosa

National League Player of the Month June, 1999

Succeeded by Mark McGwire

Persondata
Name	Burnitz, Jeromy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 15, 1969
Place of birth	Westminster, California
Date of death
Place of death