Michael Timothy Tonis (born February 9, 1979) is a Greek-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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. 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 Kansas City Royals.

Career

Tonis attended Elk Grove High School and was drafted in the 52nd round of the

draft by the

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 ...

, but did not sign, instead choosing to attend the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

. In 1998, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. The Royals drafted him again in the 2nd round of the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

and he did sign. Tonis's best season was , when he batted .264 with 12

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 and 61 RBI with the Single-A

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

and Double-A

Wichita Wranglers The Wichita Wranglers were a minor league baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team, which played in the Texas League, was the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1994 and the Kansas City Royals ...

. Prior to the 2002 season, Tonis suffered multiple injuries, which sidelined him for most of the season. When he returned, he was hit in the jaw with a pitch while rehabbing, and was forced to have his jaw wired shut. He was called up from Double-A Wichita in to make his major league debut on June 20. He played his last game on June 24 before being sent back down to Double-A. He has not played for an MLB affiliated team since. Tonis joined the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

baseball team for the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Mike played for Greece and used his complete Greek name which is Michael Koutsantonakis. As was the case with many Greek immigrants to America, Mike's grandfather abbreviated his original Greek last name to an easier to pronounce and spell "Americanized" name. After the Athens 2004 Olympics, Mike continued to be an active roster player for the

Greek National Baseball Team The Greece national baseball team represents Greece in international baseball play. The team are a member of the World Baseball Softball Confederation and WBSC Europe. 2004 Olympics The first time that Greece put together a national team that g ...

. He played for Greece in the 2008 European Qualifier Cup in Abrandes,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

; in the 2010 European Seniors Championship in Stuttgart,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

; and in the 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

References

External links

KFFLRemembering Mike Tonis - Royals Review
1979 births Living people American people of Greek descent Baseball players from Sacramento, California Major League Baseball catchers Kansas City Royals players California Golden Bears baseball players Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Greece Greek baseball players Omaha Golden Spikes players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Charleston AlleyCats players Wichita Wranglers players Peoria Javelinas players Gulf Coast Royals players Brewster Whitecaps players {{US-baseball-catcher-1970s-stub