Michael Eugene LaValliere (born August 18, 1960) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He 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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

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 ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and

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 ...

Amateur career

LaValliere played baseball for the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

and graduated in 1982. He is a 1996 inductee to the school's athletics hall of fame. In 1981, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Professional career

Signed by the

as an amateur

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 ...

in 1981, LaValliere started out as a third baseman but was converted to catcher in 1982. He was sent to the

during the 1984 season as part of a conditional deal. Signing with the Cards as a free agent in 1985, LaValliere spent two years with the club, which included a trip to the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Excellent at throwing out potential base stealers, he won 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 ...

award in 1987. For his career, he threw out 36.8% of potential base stealers. Mike LaValliere 1995

In spring training of the 1987 season, LaValliere was traded to the

alongside

Andy Van Slyke Andrew James Van Slyke (born December 21, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Career Van Slyke earned All-American honors in baseball as a senior at New Hartford Central High school in New Hartford, New York. ...

and Mike Dunne in exchange for fellow catcher

Tony Peña Antonio Francisco Peña Padilla (; born June 4, 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Pirates, Cardinals, Red Sox, Indians, White Sox, and Astros. ...

. LaValliere and Van Slyke later became stalwarts on the hugely successful Pirates teams of the early 1990s, when Pittsburgh went to three consecutive

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...

from 1990 to 1992. Unfortunately for the Pirates, they lost in all three of their NLCS appearances, in 1990 to the eventual World champion

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and in 1991 and 1992 to the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. In the 1992 NLCS, LaValliere was involved in the famous final play of Game 7, as Atlanta first baseman (and former Pirate)

Sid Bream Sidney Eugene Bream (born August 3, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. From 1983 through 1994, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1983–85), Pittsburgh Pirates (1985–90), Atlanta ...

slid and just barely beat LaValliere's tag to score the Series-winning run for the Braves. LaValliere contends that he tagged Bream out, claiming that Bream's foot popped up over home and he tagged his back leg. During the 1993 season, LaValliere was released by Pittsburgh, and signed a contract with the

. The White Sox won the American League West division title, but lost in the

ALCS The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

to the eventual World champion

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 ...

. LaValliere spent two more seasons in Chicago before retiring. He is now a junior varsity coach and teaches catching and hitting at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

in Bradenton, Florida. In 879 games over 12 seasons, LaValliere posted a .268

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 ...

(663-for-2473) with 185 runs, 18

home runs 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 ...

, 294 RBI and 321

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .992

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

as a catcher. In 11 postseason games, he hit .200 (5-for-25) with 2 runs, 1 RBI and 6 walks.

References

External links

Mike LaValliere
at Baseball Almanac
Mike LaValliere
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavalliere, Mike 1960 births Living people Baseball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox players Gold Glove Award winners Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball catchers Peninsula Pilots players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Reading Phillies players Sarasota White Sox players South Bend Silver Hawks players Spartanburg Phillies players Baseball players from Chicago St. Louis Cardinals players UMass Lowell River Hawks baseball players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players