Randy Winn

Randy Winn

Winn with the San Francisco Giants
Outfielder
Born: (1974-06-09) June 9, 1974
Los Angeles, California
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 11, 1998, for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2010, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average .284
Home runs 110
Runs batted in 662
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Dwight Randolph Winn (born June 9, 1974) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of thirteen seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder. Winn was a switch hitter, and threw right-handed. He made his major league debut in 1998 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, then went on to play for the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. He played in the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He currently works as an analyst for CSN Bay Area.

Early life

Winn was born in Los Angeles[1] and attended San Ramon Valley High School. He attended college at Santa Clara University, and played baseball and basketball (where he played guard alongside former roommate and future NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash).[2]

Professional career

Winn was selected in the third round (65th overall) of the 1995 MLB amateur draft by the Florida Marlins. He was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 MLB expansion draft.

Major leagues

Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–2002)

Winn made his major league debut on May 11, 1998 as a pinch runner for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. On October 3, 1999, he hit an inside-the-park grand slam against the New York Yankees. Winn represented Tampa Bay in the 2002 All-Star Game.

On 29 October 2002, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners as compensation for Lou Piniella being hired to manage the Devil Rays. Five days later, Winn married his college sweetheart, Blessings Robertson.[3]

Seattle Mariners (2003–05)

Winn recorded 462 hits, 40 home runs, 56 stolen bases, 96 doubles, 17 triples, and a .299 batting average over a 2½ year period.

San Francisco Giants (2005–09)

Prior to the trading deadline on July 31, 2005, Seattle traded Winn to the Giants for catcher Yorvit Torrealba and minor league pitcher Jesse Foppert. Despite a late-season rally, the 2005 Giants finished third in the NL West, with a 75-87 record. In his 231 at bats as a Giant, Winn had a .359 batting average, a .680 slugging percentage, 26 RBI, and hit 14 home runs. By comparison, in his 386 at bats with the Mariners that year, Winn was batting .275, slugging .391, had 37 RBIs, and hit 6 home runs.

In his two months with the Giants, Winn equaled his career best for home runs in a season. For his performance in the month of September, Winn was named National League Player of the Month; he recorded 51 hits and had a batting average of .447. Winn's 51 hits were the most in one month by a Giant in over 30 years. Winn had a career-high hitting streak of 20 games. He signed a three-year, $23.25M contract extension with the Giants the following offseason.[4]

In 2006 Winn played in 149 games making 635 plate appearances and saw his average, OBP and slugging drop to .262/.324/.396.

In 2007 Winn played in 155 games making 653 plate appearances and saw his average, OBP and slugging rebound closer to his career averages .300/.353/.455.

In 2008, Winn repeated his 155 games and made 667 plate appearances. His average, OBP and slugging were .306/.363/.426.

In 149 games in 2009, Winn made 597 plate appearances while averaging .262, getting on base .318 and slugging .353. He hit just two home runs and his slugging declined for three straight years. He did record his 200th stolen base and 500th walk during that year. Winn became a free agent following the season[5]

New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals (2010)

On February 8, 2010, Winn signed a one-year deal with the New York Yankees.[6] On May 28, he was designated for assignment as Curtis Granderson was activated from the disabled list.[7] On May 28, 2010, he was officially released by the Yankees. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on June 5, and finished the season with them, becoming a free agent at the end of the season.

Baltimore Orioles (2011)

Winn signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles on February 3, 2011.[8] Four days after his request for an unconditional release was granted on March 28,[9] he announced his retirement as an active player on April 1.[10]

He appeared on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 2016 election and earned zero votes.[11]

See also

References

  1. "Randy Winn". Major League Baseball. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  2. Peters, Nick (August 26, 2005). "Nash Helped Push Winn Into Baseball Career". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on September 17, 2005.
  3. "Winn rides in on a whirlwind as new M's left fielder" The Seattle Times December 3, 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2010
  4. "Cot's Baseball Contracts". Mlbcontracts.blogspot.com. 1976-04-26. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  5. "Giants advise Randy Winn to seek employment elsewhere | Extra Baggs". Blogs.mercurynews.com. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  6. "Yankees sign outfielder Randy Winn". Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  7. "Winn designated | The Lohud Yankees Blog". Yankees.lhblogs.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  8. "Orioles invite 16 to Spring Training", Baltimore Orioles press release, Thursday, February 3, 2011
  9. "Orioles trim spring roster by eight", Baltimore Orioles press release, Monday, March 28, 2011
  10. Fordin, Spencer. "Winn calls it a career after 13 seasons", MLB.com, Friday, April 1, 2011
  11. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2605588-2016-bbwaa-hall-of-fame-election-results-announced
Awards
Preceded by
Andruw Jones
National League Player of the Month
September 2005
Succeeded by
Albert Pujols
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