Ernest Wesley Young (born July 8, 1969) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and current

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

. He played in parts of eight seasons 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 five different teams, primarily 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 ...

. He also played one season in Japan for the

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

, and was a member of the United States' gold medal-winning baseball team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. As a player, Young was listed at and ; he bats and throws right-handed.

Playing career

In his major league career, Young played in 288 games, had 179

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 27

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 90 RBI, 10

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, and a .225

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 ...

. In 2000, he led the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

with 35 home runs (second in the entire

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 hav ...

organization to

Jim Edmonds James Patrick Edmonds (born June 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and a broadcaster for Bally Sports Midwest. He played for the California/Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, ...

' 42) and 98 RBIs (third in the organization behind Troy Farnsworth with 113 and Edmonds with 108). On June 12, 2006, he hit his 300th career minor league home run. As a member of the Oakland Athletics, in a game against the Tigers, Young started a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

with a leaping catch in center field.

Minor league coach/manager

Following his retirement after the 2007 season, Young became the hitting coach on the

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 p ...

' rookie-level team, the

Great Falls Voyagers The Great Falls Voyagers are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Great Falls, Montana, and play their home games at Cente ...

. On November 21, 2008, he was named the manager of the

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...

for the 2009 season. In 2011, Young was tabbed to manage the

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. ...

, the class A affiliate of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, a position he retained for the 2012 season, but not for 2013.

International career

As a player, Young won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the third time an Olympic baseball tournament had been held as a full medal sport, and the ninth time it had been part of the Summer Olympic Games in any capacity. It was held in Sydney, Australia from 17 ...

, held in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. After his playing career ended, Young managed the national team for the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

(fourth-place finish) and

2011 Pan Am Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán ...

(second-place finish). Circa 2013, he served on the board of directors of USA Baseball. In August 2019, Young became a national team coach for the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

tournament. The team finished fourth in the tournament, and failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. In April 2021, Young was again named as a coach for the national team, for the team's final efforts to qualify for

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republ ...

in Tokyo in 2021. The team qualified, with Young serving as hitting coach and

first base coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Pura Pelota (VPBL stats)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Ernie 1969 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball coaches from Illinois Baseball players from Chicago Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charlotte Knights players Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Huntsville Stars players Kansas City Royals players Leones del Caracas players Lewis Flyers baseball players Madison Muskies players Major League Baseball center fielders Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Memphis Redbirds players Modesto A's players Minor league baseball managers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oakland Athletics players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in baseball Omaha Royals players Portland Beavers players Southern Oregon A's players Tacoma Tigers players Team USA players Toledo Mud Hens players Tucson Sidewinders players United States national baseball team managers Yokohama BayStars players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople