Otis Bernard Gilkey (born September 24, 1966) 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 ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. 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

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 ...

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 ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. 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 ...

, and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. He is currently a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Rog ...

Career

Gilkey played basketball at

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

's University City High School and signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...

to play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

. However, fearing that he was not tall enough to be a great basketball player, he chose to sign with the

as an undrafted free agent after graduating from high school in 1984. In 1989, Gilkey led the league with 53 stolen bases and 109 runs while playing for the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeeded ...

. In 1990, he led the league with 75 walks while playing with Triple-A

Louisville Redbirds Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and eventually reached the MLB team. In 1991, he was the first rookie to start for the Cardinals on opening day in left field since Hall of Famer

Red Schoendienst Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wi ...

in 1945. In 1992, Gilkey hit .302 in 131 games with the Cardinals. Gilkey batted over .300 twice more during his career. In January 1996, Gilkey was traded by the Cardinals to the

. Gilkey arguably had his strongest season in 1996. His .317 average was eighth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, while his 44 doubles ranked fourth (and also set a Mets single-season record). Gilkey finished fourteenth in National League MVP voting that year. Gilkey and center fielder

Lance Johnson Kenneth Lance Johnson (born July 6, 1963) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. Career Johnson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating from Princeton High School, he completed his education at the University of Sou ...

formed a formidable offensive one-two punch as outfielders in their first year with the Mets. Gilkey led the league with 18 outfield assists from that year—one of six double-digit assist years in his career, with his career-high being 19 outfield assists in 1993, which tied for the league lead. Gilkey's statistics dropped off substantially the next year, as his batting average fell to .249. In 1998, Gilkey was traded to the

. Gilkey's offensive numbers were less impressive in the latter years of his career and his playing time declined, although he did rebound to hit .294 in 1999. He was released by the Diamondbacks in the middle of the 2000 season and signed with the

as a free agent. Gilkey made the playoffs as a Diamondback in 1999 and in 2001 with the

. Gilkey's career ended after the 2001 season.

Career statistics

In 1239 games over 12 seasons, Gilkey posted a .275

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1115-for-4061) with 606 runs, 244 doubles, 24 triples, 118 home runs, 546 RBI, 115 stolen bases, 466 walks, 352 on-base percentage and .434 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded an overall .983 fielding percentage.

Personal life

As of 2014, Gilkey was living in St. Louis with his wife, Patrice. They had two sons, Jaelen and Caeven. Jaelen played baseball in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Miles College Miles College is a private historically black college in Fairfield, Alabama. Founded in 1898, it is associated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME Church) and a member of the United Negro College Fund. History Miles College bega ...

and Caeven played at

High Point University High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

. Gilkey had a small role in the 1997 film ''

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesse ...

''. The climax of the film took place in

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushi ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

near

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, home of the Mets. Gilkey appeared in his real-life role as a Mets outfielder. Gilkey was distracted by a massive spacecraft above Shea Stadium (actually one of the two circular observation towers from the

1964 World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

) and was hit on the head by a fly ball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkey, Bernard 1966 births Living people Erie Cardinals players Savannah Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Arkansas Travelers players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders St. Louis Cardinals players New York Mets players Arizona Diamondbacks players Boston Red Sox players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from St. Louis African-American baseball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople