Michael John Remlinger (born March 23, 1966) is an American former professional baseball

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. Remlinger 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) with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1991),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(1994–95), Cincinnati Reds (1995–98),

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) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

(1999–2002, 2006), Chicago Cubs (2003–2005), and the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(2005). He had an All-Star appearance and his greatest success with the Braves. He bats and throws left-handed.

Amateur career

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

graduate, Remlinger led the nation with a 1.59

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

during his sophomore season. In 1987, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was selected by the

with the 16th pick of the first round in the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

amateur draft.

Professional career

Remlinger was a promising rookie for the

when he was traded on December 11, 1991 along with former National League Most Valuable Player Kevin Mitchell to 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 ...

for pitchers Mike Jackson,

Bill Swift William Charles Swift (born October 27, 1961) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher. Swift played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies. Scholastic career ...

and

Dave Burba David Allen Burba (born July 7, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseba ...

. He played for the Mets and Reds before landing with the

where he became a valuable member of their bullpen and making the National League All-Star team in 2002. He became a very durable relief pitcher later in his career as he pitched in 70 or more games for five straight seasons (1999-2003) and struck out 398 batters in 368 innings during this period. In a 16-season career, Remlinger compiled a 53-54 record with a 3.89 ERA and 20 saves in 634 games. He pitched a three-hit shutout in his first MLB start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Remlinger often pitched better against right-handed hitters, which is unusual for a left-handed pitcher. On May 25, 2005, Mike Remlinger was placed on the 15-day Disabled List by the Chicago Cubs after breaking his left pinkie by getting it caught in a chair. At the time Remlinger was pitching quite poorly and many speculated the injury was a way of clearing roster space without putting Remlinger on waivers. Steve Stone, a baseball analyst and former Cubs broadcaster, often refers to having players "sit in the Remlinger chair" when they are playing badly during a season. Remlinger and cash were then traded to the

for minor league pitcher Olivio Astacio. He was later released by Boston. Remlinger signed a one-year minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves in January 2006 after being released by the Red Sox. The Braves invited him to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, and later he was added to the 25-man roster. The Braves designated Remlinger for assignment and later released him on June 26, 2006. Remlinger posted a 4.03 ERA over 9 different postseason series.

Trivia

Remlinger saved the pieces of a broken bat used by Sammy Sosa in a 2003 game, which was found to have cork embedded within it, in violation of MLB rules. He auctioned off the pieces in 2010.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remlinger, Mike 1966 births Living people All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from New York (state) Boston Red Sox players Calgary Cannons players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Clinton Giants players Dartmouth Big Green baseball players Everett Giants players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players People from Middletown, Orange County, New York Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players Shreveport Captains players Wareham Gatemen players