Russell Brent McGinnis (born June 18, 1963) is an American former 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 ...

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 ...

who played for two seasons 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). He played in 14 games for the Texas Rangers during the

1992 Texas Rangers season The 1992 Texas Rangers season saw the Rangers finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses. Offseason * October 28, 1991: Steve Fireovid was signed as a free agent by the Rangers. * December 7, 1991: Gen ...

and three games for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

during the

1995 Kansas City Royals season The 1995 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. During this season, the Royals finished second in the American League Central, with a record of 70 wins and 74 losses. This was the first of 17 losing seasons the Royals woul ...

Amateur career

McGinnis attended Sooner High School in

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Can ...

. He began his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

career with two seasons at

Connors State College Connors State College is a public community college in Warner and Muskogee, Oklahoma. History The college was founded as an agricultural high school in 1908 and was quickly converted to a school of agriculture. When Oklahoma became a state i ...

in Oklahoma. Bob Colon wrote in ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'' in 1982 that Connors was "expected" to be selected in the January phase of the

Major League Baseball draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

but he was not. McGinnis next played for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

. In two seasons, he

slashed ''Slashed'' is a low budget independent horror film, financed and directed by Ash and written by Jed Shepherd.

.356/.439/.595 with 25

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 109

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 bat ...

. He was twice named to the All-

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

Team as a catcher.

Professional career

McGinnis was selected by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in the 14th round of the

1985 Major League Baseball draft First round draft picks The following are the first round picks in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental First Round Selections Background Six of the first eight draft picks from the June regular phase had at least one full ...

and assigned to the

Helena Gold Sox Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

to begin his professional career. After two seasons, McGinnis was unsatisfied with how slowly he was moving through Milwaukee's

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

and requested a trade. He was traded on June 29, 1987, to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

for

Bill Mooneyham William Craig Mooneyham (August 16, 1960) was an American professional baseball pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of the Major League Baseball (MLB). Mooneyham attended Merced College. He was originally drafted in 1980 Major League Baseball draft ...

. During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 1989, McGinnis dislocated his thumb and had to be reassigned to minor league camp. In 1990, he led the Triple-A Tacoma Tigers in walks and

. In December 1990, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

drafted McGinnis from the Brewers. McGinnis was playing for the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

in April 1991 when, during a

bench-clearing brawl A bench-clearing brawl is a form of fighting that occurs in sports, most notably baseball and ice hockey, in which most or all players on both teams leave their dugouts, bullpens, or benches, and charge onto the playing area in order to fight on ...

against the

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, he was handcuffed to a fence at

All Sports Stadium All Sports Stadium was a stadium located at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It had a capacity of 15,000 people and opened in 1961. History While it was primarily used for baseball and was the home of Oklahoma City 89ers, it w ...

by the

Oklahoma City Police Department ) , formedyear = 1889 , formedmonthday = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = 1,382 (2020) , volunteers = , budget = $226 million (2021) , nongovernment = , country ...

. He finished the season leading the team in

s, runs batted in,

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. On June 3, 1992, the Texas Rangers placed Jack Daugherty on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

and promoted McGinnis to the majors for the first time in his career. He made his Major League debut that day against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Arlington Stadium Arlington Stadium was a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It served as the home for the Texas Rangers (MLB) from 1972 until 1993, after which the team moved into The Bal ...

. He started at catcher and recorded a hit (off of

Greg Cadaret Gregory James Cadaret (born February 27, 1962) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987 to 1998 for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals ...

) and a walk (off of

John Habyan John Gabriel Habyan (born January 29, 1964) is a former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, Habyan played all or parts of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball. Baseball career Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 3rd round of ...

) in three

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s. He also

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...

Kevin Maas Kevin Christian Maas (born January 20, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball player. Originally viewed as a top prospect for the New York Yankees he was unable to replicate the success of his rookie year and played for two major league ballclu ...

attempting to steal second base. On June 28, the Rangers activated

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...

from the disabled list and designated McGinnis for assignment. After returning to the minors, McGinnis suffered a broken toe. Nonetheless, McGinnis had a strong remainder of the season in the minors. When the rosters expanded in September 1992, the Rangers declined to call him up. McGinnis was upset enough with the Rangers for not promoting him that he signed with a minor league contract with the

following the season. McGinnis underwent

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...

knee surgery in late May or early June of 1994. On April 25, 1995, the Royals added him to their Major League roster. He went hitless in six plate appearances over three games and was waived on May 15, 1995.

Personal life

McGinnis went by his full first name, Russell, until college, where he was known as "Rusty McGinnis." , McGinnis was married.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGinnis, Russ 1963 births Living people Baseball players from Kansas Beloit Brewers players Helena Gold Sox players Huntsville Stars players Iowa Cubs players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball catchers Modesto A's players Omaha Royals players Oklahoma City 89ers players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players People from Coffeyville, Kansas Rochester Red Wings players Tacoma Tigers players Texas Rangers players