James Michael Maler (born August 16, 1958 in

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) is a former

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who 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 ...

from to . He was tall and he weighed 230 pounds.

The draft and minor league career

Jim Maler was the "Miami Herald Athlete Of The Year" in 1976 while playing baseball, football and basketball at Coral Gables High School. He was the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

"Athlete Of The Year" in 1977 while playing baseball and football at UM. His freshman

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record lasted 30 years until it was broken in 2007. Maler was taken in the first round, fifth overall, in the January Regular Phase draft by the Mariners out of

Miami-Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida Colle ...

(University of Miami). Maler suffered a severe knee injury his first year in the minor leagues with Seattle, which slowed his career. A power hitter in the minors, he hit as high as .310, hit as many as 24 home runs and drove in as many as 100 runs. Maler hit 97 home runs, 170 doubles, 27 triples and over 500 RBIs in his minor league career.

Major league career

On September 3, , at the age of 22, Maler made his big league debut, collecting 2 hits in 4 at-bats against the

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, with his first at-bat turning into a double off the "Green Monster" at

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against pitcher Tom Burgmeier. His debut game was a 19-inning contest, with the Mariners beating the Red Sox 8–7, that set the Fenway Park longest game record for innings played. He played 12 games in the majors in 1981, hitting .348 in 23 at-bats. In , he appeared in 64 games, batting .226 in 221 at-bats. One of the highlights of his 1982 season was a

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he hit on May 22 off of

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of the Milwaukee Brewers. Perhaps the best game of his career came on April 6 - his first game of the year. Maler went 3 for 4 with a home run and five RBI in an 11–7 win over the Minnesota Twins. Maler had the first single ever hit in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. In 1983 in 66 at-bats, he hit .182. In January 1984, he was traded to the

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for minor leaguer John Semprini. It seems that, just as quickly as Maler's promising young career began, it was over. He played his final big league game on July 24, . His big league career was over before his 25th birthday as he suffered another devastating knee injury in 1984 that ended his Major League career.

Career statistics

Maler hit .226 in 102 major league games. In 310 at-bats, he collected 70 hits (including five home runs), drove in 31 runs, scored 24 runs, walked 19 times and struck out 47 times. He posted a solid .994 career fielding percentage.

Other information

* Maler wore number 11 (1981) and 33 (1982 and 1983) *Maler is one of two first basemen to hold the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

record for most assists in an inning, with three. Dick Stuart is the other AL first baseman.

External links

Baseball AlmanacVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maler, Jim 1958 births Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Living people Major League Baseball first basemen Miami Dade Sharks baseball players Miami Hurricanes baseball players Oklahoma City 89ers players Portland Beavers players Salt Lake City Gulls players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from New York City Spokane Indians players Stockton Mariners players Tidewater Tides players Miami Hurricanes football players Coral Gables Senior High School alumni