Phillip Alan Plantier (born January 27, 1969) 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 ...

player who 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) primarily as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

from 1990 to 1997. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. After his playing career, he spent three seasons as a hitting coach with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Playing career

Plantier was an 11th round draft pick of 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 ...

in the

1987 Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional con ...

. He developed a knack for hitting

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 in the minor leagues and skipped the Double-A level altogether. Plantier first entered the major leagues in after a midseason call-up from the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

and primarily served as a pinch hitter, but did not play enough for it to be considered his rookie year. In he was first called up to Boston in June, and played in 11 games, but was sent back down to Pawtucket two weeks later. He was finally called back up to Boston on August 10 and went on a very impressive run over 42 games. In 53 total games and 148 at-bats, he hit 11

s and 35

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) while hitting .331, for an average of a home run hit every 13.38 at-bats. As a result, Plantier finished 8th in Rookie of the Year voting. Plantier was unable to repeat his rookie performance in , and was traded to the

during the following offseason. He enjoyed his best full season in wherein he hit 34 home runs with 100 RBI, both career highs. After an injury plagued 1994 season, Plantier was part of an eleven player offseason trade between the Padres and the Houston Astros that brought

Ken Caminiti Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 – October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman who spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1987–1994, 1999–2000), San Diego Padres (1995–1998), Texas Rangers ( ...

and

Steve Finley Steven Allen Finley (born March 12, 1965) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for eight teams between 1989 and 2007, most notably the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks; he is one of only two play ...

to San Diego while sending Derek Bell to Houston, among others. He was later traded back to the Padres in July 1995 after roughly half a season with the Astros. Prior to the 1996 season, Plantier signed with the Detroit Tigers, however, during spring training he was traded to the Oakland Athletics for infielder

Fausto Cruz Fausto Santiago Cruz (born May 1, 1972) is a former Dominican 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 tot ...

and pitcher Ramon Fermin, spending the 1996 season as a reserve outfielder and designated hitter for the A's. Plantier signed with the

for the 1997 season, his third stint with the team, and later was traded mid-season to the

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 ha ...

, where he again spent time as a reserve outfielder and finished out his major league career. Plantier signed as a free agent with

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 ...

in 1998, but did not appear in any major league games with the club.

Coaching career

In 2007, Plantier was named the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the

Macon Music The Macon Music were a short-lived minor league baseball team, based in Macon, Georgia. The club played its home games at Luther Williams Field, under manager Phil Plantier. A member of the South Coast League, Macon won the league's second half ...

of the

South Coast League The South Coast League of Professional Baseball (SCL), based in Conyers, Georgia, was a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Southeastern United States. It operated in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseba ...

, an independent baseball league that only lasted for that year. In 2008, Plantier was the hitting coach for the Double-A

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx 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 ...

in 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 ...

organization. On January 13, 2009, he was named the manager of the Diamond Jaxx. In 2010, Plantier was the Minor League Hitting Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners. In 2011, Plantier was named hitting coach, then assigned manager during mid-season for the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

, a Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Plantier was named hitting coach of the San Diego Padres on October 31, 2011. He held that position for three seasons; in December 2014, he was replaced by Mark Kotsay. In 2018, Plantier became the hitting coach of the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...

, where he spent two seasons. In August 2019, Plantier was a coach for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

at the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

tournament. The team finished in fourth place, missing an opportunity to qualify for the 2020 Olympics via that event. As of 2021, Plantier is hitting coach for the

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

, the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plantier, Phil 1969 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from New Hampshire Baseball players from New Hampshire Boston Red Sox players Edmonton Trappers players Elmira Pioneers players Houston Astros players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Louisville Redbirds players Lynchburg Red Sox players Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Minor league baseball managers Norfolk Tides players Oakland Athletics players Pawtucket Red Sox players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players San Diego Padres coaches San Diego Padres players Sportspeople from Manchester, New Hampshire St. Louis Cardinals players Tucson Toros players Winter Haven Red Sox players Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions coaches