Christopher Jon Widger (born May 21, 1971) is an American 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), ...

(MLB)

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and current minor league manager. He played for the

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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(-, ),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(-2000),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(-), and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(2006). In January 2020, after a few seasons as a minor league bench coach, he was named the manager of the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

, then promoted to similar positions with the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, o ...

in 2021 and the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, whic ...

in 2022.

Early life

A native of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, Widger graduated from

Pennsville Memorial High School Pennsville Memorial High School is comprehensive community public high school in Pennsville Township, Salem County, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Pennsville ...

in Pennsville Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and George Mason University, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

. In 1991, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Career

A third round pick of the Seattle Mariners in the

1992 Major League Baseball Draft The 1992 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 1, 1992, through a conference call involving all 28 MLB teams of the time. Phil Nevin of Cal State Fullerton was the first overall selection, chosen by the Houston Astros. Derek Jeter, sel ...

, Widger made his major league debut in June 1995. In his first start for Seattle, he was the catcher for a combined

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

Tim Belcher Timothy Wayne Belcher (born October 19, 1961) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987 to 2000 for seven different teams. He was named ''The Sporting News'' Rookie Pitcher of the Year ...

and

Bobby Ayala Robert Joseph Ayala (born July 8, 1969) is an American former professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos. Career Ayala went to high school at Rio Mesa in Oxnard, California. He was bro ...

. Widger established himself as an everyday player during his tenure with the Expos, who acquired him from Seattle, along with

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series '' Mage'' and '' Grendel''. Career Matt Wagner's first published comic book work was '' Comico Primer'' #2 (1982), which w ...

and

Trey Moore Warren Neal “Trey” Moore III (born October 2, 1972), is a former American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), between and , for the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves. He also play ...

in a trade for

Jeff Fassero Jeffrey Joseph Fassero (born January 5, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Professional career Montreal Expos Fassero was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the amateur draft, but he bounced around in the min ...

and Alex Pacheco. He had his best major league seasons with the Expos in 1998 and 1999, playing in 125 and 124 games, respectively, and hitting double-digit home runs in both seasons. In August 2000, he was traded back to Seattle for players to be named later. Widger missed the 2001 season due to shoulder surgery. His sister died that year from an interaction of her prescription medications. Widger and his wife built a new house so that Widger's brother-in-law and five nieces could move into Widger's old home. Widger signed with the Yankees in 2002, then with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003. After playing the 2004 season with the independent Camden Riversharks, Widger made it back to MLB with the Chicago White Sox as a backup where he won a World Series in 2005. He played catcher, but also played at first base,

third base 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 ...

, and once in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. On July 23, 2006, he was placed on waivers by the White Sox, who had acquired

Sandy Alomar Jr. Santos "Sandy" Alomar Velázquez Jr. (, ; born June 18, 1966) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher between 1988 and 2007, most notably as a member of the Cleve ...

to replace him as their backup catcher. On August 4, 2006, Widger was signed by the Orioles to a contract for the rest of the 2006 season. He served as the Camden Riversharks pitching coach from 2012 to 2014, before being named the team's manager on December 5, 2014. In 2016, he became the Bench Coach for the

, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals."Chris Widger Adds to the Mason-to-Royals Pipeline." Chris Widger Adds to the Mason-to-Royals Pipeline - George Mason University Athletics. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. He was named Wilmington's manager in January 2020. In 2021, he was named the manager of the Quad Cities River Bandits (the new High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals). The River Bandits won the High-A Central League championship, and Widger was named the High-A Central Manager of the Year.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widger, Chris 1971 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Delaware Baseball players from Wilmington, Delaware Bellingham Mariners players Camden Riversharks players Chicago White Sox players Columbus Clippers players Cotuit Kettleers players Everett AquaSox players George Mason Patriots baseball players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Redbirds players Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players Pennsville Memorial High School alumni People from Pennsville Township, New Jersey Riverside Pilots players Seattle Mariners players St. Louis Cardinals players Tacoma Rainiers players