Kyle Duerr Seager (born November 3, 1987) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
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 ...
who played his entire career 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 ...
of
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) from 2011 to 2021.
He was selected by the Mariners in the third round of the
2009 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2011. In 2014, Seager was an
All Star and won a
Gold Glove Award.
Early life and amateur career
Seager is the eldest of three sons born to Jeff and Jody Seager. His brother
Corey
Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a caul ...
was selected by the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
in the first round of the
2012 draft, while brother Justin was selected by the Mariners in 2013. He grew up a
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 ...
fan and idolized
Derek Jeter.
Seager attended
Northwest Cabarrus High School in
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...
, where he earned Co-North Carolina Player of the Year honors. He enrolled at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
(UNC), 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 ...
for the
North Carolina Tar Heels. With UNC, he had a career .353
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 ...
with 17
home runs, 66
doubles and 167
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
(RBIs). In 2008, he set a school record for doubles in a season (30), was a semifinalist for the
Golden Spikes Award
The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...
, and was named to the watch list for both the
Dick Howser Trophy
The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the a ...
and the
Brooks Wallace Award
The Brooks Wallace Award is an award given by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF) to the best college baseball shortstop of the year. The award has been given annually since 2004. Until 2008 the award was presented to the nation's most outstandi ...
.
During the summers of 2007 and 2008, Seager played
collegiate summer baseball for the
Chatham A's
The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...
in the
Cape Cod Baseball League.
Professional career
Minor leagues
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 ...
selected Seager in the third round, with the 82nd overall selection, of the
2009 MLB draft. Seager spent the majority of the 2009 season with the Class-A
Clinton LumberKings
The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Leag ...
. He hit .275 with one home run and 22 RBIs. He also played one game with the
AZL Mariners
The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...
and two with the Class-A Advanced
High Desert Mavericks
The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eigh ...
. Seager spent the entire 2010 season with the High Desert Mavericks, batting .345 with 14 home runs and 74 RBIs.
He was ranked by
Baseball America as the ninth best prospect in the Mariners organization for 2011. He split the season between the Double-A
Jackson Generals
The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...
, batting .312 with 4 home runs and 37 RBIs in 66 games, and the Triple-A
Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...
, where he hit .387 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 24 games.
Seattle Mariners
On July 6, 2011, Seager had his contract purchased by the Mariners. He hit his first Major League home run on August 19, 2011, against 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) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...
at Tropicana Field, and finished the year with a .258 batting average, three home runs, and 13 RBIs in 53 games. In 2012, his first full MLB season, Seager hit .259 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs in 155 games.
On June 4, 2013, Seager hit a grand slam against 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 ...
in the 14th inning. It was the first time in MLB history that a player hit a game-tying grand slam in extra innings. He finished 2013 with a .260 batting average, 22 home runs and 69 RBIs in 160 games.
On April 23, 2014, Seager drove in five runs to avoid a sweep against the
Houston Astros. He hit a two-run
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 ...
in the seventh inning to cut the Astros lead to 3–2, and hit a walk-off three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the Mariners to win 5–3. The first walk-off hit of his career, his performance earned him an April Co-Player of the Week Award, shared with
José Abreu of the White Sox. On June 2, Seager went 4–4 with a double, two triples and a three-run home run against 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 ...
. The first Mariner to accomplish the feat, he became the first MLB player with two triples and at least one double and homer in a game since
Hal Breeden for the
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 ...
in 1973. On June 15, he went 4–for-4 with two singles and two doubles and three RBIs. On July 7, he was named to his first
All-Star team as an injury replacement for
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
player
Edwin Encarnación
Edwin Elpidio Encarnación (born January 7, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland ...
. He finished the 2014 season with a .268 batting average, 25 home runs and 96 RBIs in 159 games. On November 4, he was awarded a
Gold Glove
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...
.
On December 2, 2014, the Mariners finalized a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with Seager. In 2015, he hit .266 with 26 home runs and 74 RBIs in 161 games.
On April 25, 2016, he hit his 100th career home run in a game against Houston. He finished 2016 with a.278 batting average, 30 home runs and 99 RBIs in 158 games and he and his brother,
Corey
Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a caul ...
, made history by becoming the first pair of brothers in major league history to each hit 25 or more homers in the same season. On defense, he led the major leagues in fielding errors, with 18.
In 2017, he hit .249 with 27 home runs and 88 RBIs in 154 games, his sixth consecutive season with at least 20 home runs and at least 154 games played. On April 7, 2018, he reached 1,000 career hits against the
Minnesota Twins. Seager continued his streak of seasons with 20 or more home runs and at least 154 games played, hitting 22 home runs with 78 RBIs in 155 games but hit a career-low .221 in the process.
In 2019, during a spring training game, Seager sustained an injury to his left hand while attempting a diving play on a ball. He was later diagnosed with a hand injury and would require hand surgery that would sideline him for 8 to 10 weeks. He missed 53 games before returning to the lineup in late May 2019. On August 13, 2019, in an 11-6 victory over the
Detroit Tigers, Seager became the 11th Mariner to hit 3 home runs in a game and the first since 2010; the third home run was a ricochet off the glove of Goodrum when a teammate collided with him near the wall. In 106 games, Seager hit .239 with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs, extending his streak of consecutive seasons of 20 or more home runs to eight.
On August 5, 2020, in a game against the
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
, Seager hit his 200th career home run. On August 17, Kyle faced his brother, the Dodgers
Corey Seager
Corey Drew Seager (born April 27, 1994), nicknamed "Seags", is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Seager was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the 2012 Ma ...
, for the first time in an MLB game and both homered in the game, becoming the first pair of brothers to homer in the same game since
César and
Felipe Crespo
Felipe Javier Crespo (born March 5, 1973) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball utility player, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three different teams between and . Listed at 5'11, 195 lb., he was a switch-hitter and th ...
did it on June 7, 2001.
In 2020, Seager batted .241/.355/.433 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs and led the AL with 6 sacrifice flies.
In 2021, Seager batted a career-low .212, but set career highs in home runs and RBIs, with 35 and 101, respectively. He also led all third basemen with 43 double plays.
The Mariners declined Seager's option for 2022, and on December 29, 2021, Seager announced his retirement from baseball. Knowing back in
Spring training that the Mariners were likely not going to pick up the option, Seager went into the 2021 season expecting it to be his last one. He felt that the fact that each year it became more onerous to prepare for the coming season, combined with his missing out on time with his growing family, signaled it was time to move on to the next phase of his life.
During the following off-season, the
Texas Rangers inquired if Seager would be interested in coming out of retirement to join up with his brother,
Corey
Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a caul ...
, who had signed with the team a few months earlier. Kyle Seager declined the offer, saying he was happy "doing chores at home".
Personal life
Seager and his wife, Julie, married in 2011. They have two daughters and a son. They reside in
Salisbury, North Carolina.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seager, Kyle
1987 births
Living people
Seattle Mariners players
Major League Baseball third basemen
North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players
Chatham Anglers players
Arizona League Mariners players
Clinton LumberKings players
High Desert Mavericks players
Jackson Generals (Southern League) players
Tacoma Rainiers players
Baseball players from Charlotte, North Carolina
Gold Glove Award winners
American League All-Stars