Brent Robert Gates (born March 14, 1970) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He played for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

between 1993 and 1999.

Playing career

Amateur

Gates attended Grandville High School in

Grandville, Michigan Grandville is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,378 at the 2010 census. Grandville is just southwest of the city of Grand Rapids and is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. It was first settled i ...

, and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he played for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball : ''For information on all University of Minnesota sports, see Minnesota Golden Gophers'' The Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United S ...

team. In 1991, Gates was named the

Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year The Big Ten Conference Player of the Year is a baseball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982 season, with both pitchers and position players eligible. After the 1994 season, ...

, and was a member of the

College Baseball All-America Team College Baseball All-America teams are selected each year by various organizations and consist of players who compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and National Junior ...

. After the 1991 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Hyannis Mets The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

Professional

Drafted by the

in the first round of the

1991 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental first round selections Compensation picks Other notable players *Kevin Stocker, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Philade ...

, Gates made his major league debut with Oakland on May 5, 1993, and appeared in his final game on October 3, 1999.

Coaching and scouting career

Gates was head coach of the

Grand Rapids Christian High School Grand Rapids Christian High School (GRCHS) is a private Christian secondary school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1920, "Christian High" is a member of Grand Rapids Christian Schools and Christian Schools International. The school was fir ...

baseball team, leading them to two State Championship

and was a coach (baseball), coach for the Class-A

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpark. ...

during the 2001 season. He was the varsity baseball coach at Byron Center High School in

Byron Center, Michigan Byron Center is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census, which is a significant increase from a population of 5,822 at the 2010 cen ...

through the 2018 season. Gates is based in Grand Rapids and is a professional scout for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

References

External links

1970 births Living people All-American college baseball players Baseball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan Huntsville Stars players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Madison Muskies players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players Minnesota Twins players Modesto A's players Oakland Athletics players Seattle Mariners players Southern Oregon A's players Tacoma Rainiers players Tacoma Tigers players Tampa Bay Rays scouts People from Grandville, Michigan {{US-baseball-second-baseman-stub