Mack Neal "Shooty" Babitt (born March 9, 1959) is an American former second baseman who played for 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 ...

during the 1981 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. After retiring as a player, Babitt became a baseball scout, and later worked as a television analyst.

Career

Babitt was drafted by the

in the 25th round of the Major League Baseball Draft. He began his career with a seven-game hitting streak, the second longest such streak in Oakland A's history. For his career, Babitt played in 54 major league games in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, hitting .256 in 156 at bats. Oakland manager Billy Martin later commented, "If you ever see Shooty Babitt play second base for me again, I want you to Shooty me." Babitt was a long-time advance scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and since 2008, he has been a scout for the New York Mets. Additionally, since 2008, he has worked as a television

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

on the pre- and post-game shows for Oakland A's home games on

NBC Sports California NBC Sports California (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS California) is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regio ...

. Beginning in 2014, he has also substituted for game analyst Ray Fosse on 20 A's games per season. His son, Zach Babitt was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the

2012 Major League Baseball Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

References

External links

1959 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Atlanta Braves scouts New York Mets scouts Oakland Athletics announcers Oakland Athletics players Medicine Hat A's players Modesto A's players Waterbury A's players Ogden A's players West Haven Whitecaps players Tacoma Tigers players Wichita Aeros players Memphis Chicks players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball second basemen Baseball players from Oakland, California Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni African-American baseball players {{US-baseball-second-baseman-stub