Kirt Dean Manwaring (born July 15, 1965) 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 ...

player. He played as a

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 ...

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), ...

from through , most prominently as a member of 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 ...

, with whom he played for the majority of his career. Although he didn't produce large offensive statistics, Manwaring excelled as a defensive player, winning the National League

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

in . He also played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

and 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 ...

Baseball career

Manwaring was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 12th round of the 1983 free-agent draft but, did not sign. He was then selected by the

in the second round of the 1986 draft out of

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

at the age of 21. A little over a year later, he made his major league debut with the Giants, then spent the next several years splitting time between the major and

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

. Manwaring earned a Gold Glove Award in 1993. He finished the season with the National League's second-highest percentage of throwing out base stealers (45 percent). He spent a decade with the Giants, until they traded him to the Houston Astros for Rick Wilkins and cash, in July 1996. At the end of the season, he signed with the Colorado Rockies. He finished his last season in 1999. He is currently a catching instructor for the Giants. Manwaring was a standout baseball player at Horseheads High School in Horseheads, New York.

Awards

A very good defensive catcher, he recorded a .998 fielding percentage and won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

award with the San Francisco Giants in 1993. He won the 1993

Willie Mac Award The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey. It has been presented annually since 1980 to the most inspirational player on the San Francisco Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and more recently, Giants ...

honoring his spirit and leadership. In 1993, he was tied for 4th in intentional walks, with 13, all while batting 8th in front of the pitcher's spot.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manwaring, Kirt San Francisco Giants players Houston Astros players Colorado Rockies players Gold Glove Award winners Horseheads High School alumni Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Elmira, New York 1965 births Living people Coastal Carolina Chanticleers baseball players Clinton Giants players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Phoenix Firebirds players San Jose Giants players Shreveport Captains players