Douglas Howell Bernier (born June 24, 1980) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

infielder. He is an alumnus of Oral Roberts University. He has played in

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) for the Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins.

Career

Amateur career

Bernier attended St. Joseph High School in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish for "St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately northwest of Santa Barbara and northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 202 ...

where he was primarily a pitcher. He did not receive any scholarship offers from any four-year schools and chose to begin his

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 ...

career at

Cuesta College Cuesta College is a public community college in San Luis Obispo County, California. History The first community college in the San Luis Obispo area was founded in 1916 as a San Luis Obispo High School division. It lasted until 1919 with the Uni ...

. At Cuesta, Bernier started every game at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and set school records in walks in a single season and in a career. Bernier continued his college career at

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...

where he had a .332 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and was named to the Mid-Continent Conference First Team as a senior.

Colorado Rockies

Bernier was selected as a non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Colorado Rockies in . He would make his

debut with the Colorado Rockies on June 17, , as a defensive replacement. At the time, the Rockies needed an extra bat due to an injury to

Troy Tulowitzki Troy Trevor Tulowitzki (born October 10, 1984), nicknamed "Tulo", is an American retired professional baseball shortstop, who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Colorado Rockies. He also played for the Toronto B ...

and the suspension of

Yorvit Torrealba Yorvit Adolfo Torrealba (; born July 19, 1978) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Tor ...

after a brawl. On June 19, 2008, Bernier would earn his first major league start. Although hitless in his first two appearances, Bernier would go errorless in the field while showing impressive defensive skills. Bernier was one of many second basemen to appear for the Rockies in 2008. With the departure of starter

Kazuo Matsui is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese i ...

prior to the season, the Rockies struggled to find a replacement. Bernier competed for the role with teammates Jayson Nix, Jeff Baker, and Omar Quintanilla before the position was awarded to former starting shortstop Clint Barmes. On June 20, 2008, Bernier was optioned back to Triple-A

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

to open a roster spot for returning

. On June 26, he was removed from the 40-man roster and became a free agent at the end of the season.

New York Yankees

In December 2008, Bernier signed a minor-league contract with the

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 ...

, and attended spring training as a non-roster invitee. Although compiling a solid spring performance in an attempt to land a roster spot as starter

Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Die ...

's backup, Bernier was reassigned to the Triple A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...

at the beginning of the 2009 season.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On February 5, 2010, Bernier signed a minor-league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates with an invitation to spring training.

Second Stint with Yankees

Bernier signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Yankees for the 2011 season and was assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the season. Bernier remained with Triple-A the entire 2011 season. For the 2012 season, Bernier re-signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Yankees. After batting .361 in spring training with the New York Yankees, Doug was assigned to the Triple-A Empire State Yankees to start the season.

Minnesota Twins

Bernier signed with the Minnesota Twins before the 2013 season. Bernier began the season with Triple-A

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. In the first half with Rochester, he hit .295/.370/.407 with 3 HR, 41 RBI and 47 runs as the team's shortstop. Before the second half, he was called up by the Twins, replacing Eduardo Escobar. His first major-league hit came in his first start with the Twins, an RBI double off

Joe Blanton Joseph Matthew Blanton (born December 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, Pi ...

. Used mostly as a late-inning replacement, in 33 games, he hit .226/.339/.283 with 5 RBI. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster on October 4, 2013, and elected free agency On October 12, Bernier signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training to stay with the Twins.

Texas Rangers

On February 6, 2016, Bernier signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He won the PCL Player of the Week Award on July, 31st 2016. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Retirement

Bernier announced his retirement as a baseball player in May 2018. After his playing career ended, he took a job as a scout for the Colorado Rockies and founded a baseball instruction website calle
Pro Baseball Insider
His website includes baseball instruction tips, videos and articles from many different Major League and Minor League players and coaches, most of which is free to the public. In addition to his website, Bernier has also continued his career in pro ball. For the 2018 and 2019 baseball season, Bernier was a pro scout for the Colorado Rockies. In 2020, Bernier took on a Major League staff role, as the Colorado Rockies Data and Game Planning Coordinator. For the 2022 season, Doug Bernier is the Colorado Rockies' Minor League Defensive Coordinator.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernier, Doug 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Maria, California Baseball players from Santa Barbara County, California Major League Baseball second basemen Colorado Rockies players Minnesota Twins players Tri-City Dust Devils players Visalia Oaks players Tulsa Drillers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Oral Roberts Golden Eagles baseball players Rochester Red Wings players Round Rock Express players Arizona League Rangers players Colorado Rockies scouts Anchorage Glacier Pilots players