Mitchell David Lively (born September 7, 1985) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for

El Águila de Veracruz El Águila de Veracruz (English: ''The Veracruz Eagle'') is a professional baseball team that plays in the Mexican League. Based in Veracruz, Mexico, they play their home games at the Estadio Universitario Beto Ávila. History Baseball was intro ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He previously played for the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) and the

CTBC Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Leagu ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL).

Early career

Lively was born in

Susanville, California Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) is a town in and the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States. Susanville is located on the Susan River in the southern part of the county, at an elevation of . Its population is 16,728 a ...

and attended Lassen High School. Lively attended

California State University Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

, where he played baseball and football, where he was the punter. He averaged 40.83 yards per punt, the second-best career average in school history among punters with at least 50 attempts. In baseball, Lively had a 4.95 ERA in 14 games in 2004 and, after not playing in 2005, was 0–6 with a 7.42 ERA in 2006. During his final college season, 2007, he was 1–3 with eight saves and an 8.07 ERA. He led the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

in saves.

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

Despite his lackluster numbers, the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

drafted him in the 16th round of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

, two picks ahead of pitcher

Steve Edlefsen Steven Bradley Edlefsen (born June 27, 1985) is a former professional baseball relief pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball between 2011 and 2012. Prior to playing professionally, Edlefsen attended Jefferson Hi ...

. He was signed by scout Gary Wilson. He was 1–0 with two runs (one earned) in 6 2/3 innings pitched for the

Casper Rockies Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * Dav ...

that year and was released following the season.

San Francisco Giants

He signed with the independent

San Angelo Colts The San Angelo Colts were a professional baseball team based in San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. The Colts were most recently a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which was not affiliated with Major Leagu ...

of the

United Baseball League United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American Leagu ...

for 2008, pitching 11 games and earning four saves, posting a 2.13 ERA and striking out 18 batters in 12 2/3 innings before signing a contract 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 Yor ...

partway through the year. To finish the year, he pitched for the

AZL Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

, allowing no runs in 2 2/3 innings, and

Augusta Greenjackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

, going 1–0 with a 1.42 ERA in 10 games. Overall, he had a 1.61 mark in 23 games. 2009 was split between Augusta, with whom he allowed 9 runs in 17 2/3 frames, the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

(5.23 ERA in 16 games) and the

Connecticut Defenders The Connecticut Defenders were a Minor League Baseball team based in Norwich, Connecticut. The team, which played in the Eastern League, was the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major-league club from 2003 until following the 2009 ...

, with whom he had a 0.70 ERA in 14 games. Overall, he had a 3.23 mark in 43 games. He spent 2010 with Augusta (going 4–2 with a save and a 4.89 ERA in 24 games) and the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

(going 2–4 with three saves and a 3.90 ERA in 23 games). He had a 4.41 ERA in 47 games overall. In 2011, he had a 2.14 ERA with nine saves in 56 appearances between San Jose and Richmond and in 2012, his first year at Triple-A

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, he was 8–4 with a 2.99 ERA in 47 relief appearances. He converted to starting pitching for 2013, going 7–5 with a 4.72 ERA in 30 games (20 starts) for Fresno. With the

Navegantes del Magallanes The Navegantes del Magallanes (Magellan Navigators), commonly known as Magallanes, are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in Valencia, Magallanes has won 13 LVBP championships and two (2) Caribbean Series. It wa ...

during the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, he went 6–1 with a 1.46 ERA and won Pitcher of the Year. In late 2013, he adopted a windmill windup—rare in modern baseball, but reminiscent of players like

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

and

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

—which he used through 2014. He began the 2014 campaign in the Giants system, but after posting a 5.08 ERA in 22 games (15 starts) for Fresno, he was released.

Washington Nationals

In late July, the Nationals signed Lively and assigned him to the Triple-A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. He was 5–2 with a 3.86 ERA in 9 games (7 starts) for them and 11–6 with a 4.72 ERA in 31 games overall. He also averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. After being granted free agency in November, the Nationals re-signed him to a minor league contract on December 16.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters

Lively was released by the Nationals at the end of the 2015 season, when he went to play for the

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...

of the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

in Japan. He made 16 appearances for the Fighters (all in relief), pitched 18 2/3 innings, didn't have a decision, had an ERA of 5.30, struck out 22.

Mexican Baseball (2016–present)

Vaqueros Laguna

On April 1, 2016, Lively signed with the

Vaqueros Laguna The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...

of the

Mexican Baseball League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He was released on April 28, 2016.

Broncos de Reynosa

On May 2, 2016, Lively signed with the

Broncos de Reynosa The Reynosa Broncos (''los Broncos de Reynosa'') were a Mexican team that played in the Adolfo Lopez Mateos stadium in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Broncos de Reynosa played in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol and it was part of the Zona Nort ...

of the

Bravos de León

On March 7, 2017, Lively announced that he would return to the

with the

Bravos de León The Bravos de León (English: León Braves) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. History Cachorros de León (1979–80) Mexican League baseball in León began in 1979 when the Alijador ...

. He had a record of 7–2, and led the team in ERA (2.41). He tied for the team lead with 60 strikeouts, despite missing part of the season with an injury. He became a fan favourite in León, and acquired the nickname "The Boss".

Venados de Mazatlán

He remained in Mexico to play for the

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán ( en, Mazatlán Deer) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. In 2016, the team won the Mexican Pacific League Championship and went on to win their second Caribbean Series ...

of the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

for the 2017–2018 season. He had a 9–2 record, and the nine wins led the league. He had eight straight wins at one point in the season. His 2.50 ERA was second-lowest in the league, and his 63 strikeouts were second-best in the league. He was named Pitcher of the Year by the Mexican Pacific League. Following the conclusion of the 2018 CPBL season, Lively returned to Mexico to pitch for the

of the

for the 2018-19 winter season. He had a record of 3–1, 0.77 ERA, 44 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched. On August 19, 2021, Lively signed a contract to return to the Venados de Mazatlán for the 2021 season.

Bravos de León (second stint)

On December 18, 2021, Lively signed with the

of the

. In 8 starts, Lively posted a 2–1 record with a 8.42 ERA and 14 strikeouts over 36.1 innings. He was waived on June 17, 2022.

Diablos Rojos del México

On June 28, 2022, Lively signed with the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their hom ...

of the

. In 3 starts, Lively registered a 2–1 record with a 10.64 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 11.0 innings. He was released on July 14, 2022.

El Águila de Veracruz

On August 1, 2022, Lively signed with

of the

Chinatrust / CTBC Brothers

Lively signed with the

Chinatrust Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Leagu ...

of Taiwan's

for the 2018 season. His record was 7–8, 4.05 ERA, and 119 strikeouts. In December 2018, he re-signed with the Brothers for the 2019 season. In 2019, Lively posted a 10–11 record with a 3.23 ERA and 140 strikeouts over 167 innings. He re-signed with the team, now named the CTBC Brothers, for the 2020 season. Lively pitched to a 6–1 record with a 3.94 ERA and 36 strikeouts before a shoulder injury ended his season prematurely in July. Lively again re-signed with the club for the 2021 season. However, he struggled to an 8.35 ERA and 1.88 WHIP over 36 innings, and was released by the team on July 22, 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lively, Mitch 1985 births Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Arizona League Giants players Augusta GreenJackets players Baseball players from California Bravos de León players Bravos de Margarita players Broncos de Reynosa players Casper Rockies players CTBC Brothers players Connecticut Defenders players Diablos Rojos del México players Fresno Grizzlies players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Living people Mexican League baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento State Hornets baseball players San Angelo Colts players San Jose Giants players Syracuse Chiefs players Toros de Tijuana players Vaqueros Laguna players Venados de Mazatlán players Sacramento State Hornets football players