Chuck Knoblauch

Second baseman

Born: July 7, 1968 (age 48)
Houston, Texas

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

April 9, 1991, for the Minnesota Twins

Last MLB appearance

September 27, 2002, for the Kansas City Royals

MLB statistics

.289

615

407

Teams

Career highlights and awards

Edward Charles "Chuck" Knoblauch (/ˈnɒblɔːk/; born July 7, 1968) is a retired Major League Baseball player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in the majors, from 1991 until 2002, for the Minnesota Twins (1991–97), New York Yankees (1998–2001) and Kansas City Royals (2002). He played mostly as a second baseman before moving to left field for his last two seasons.

Born in Houston, Texas, Knoblauch came from a baseball family, as his uncle Eddie Knoblauch and father Ray Knoblauch played and managed in the minor leagues between the late 1930s and mid-1950s. He was drafted in the 18th round of the 1986 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, but did not sign. Then, Knoblauch went on to play college baseball for Texas A&M University in College Station, where he was a second team All-American. He later played on the 1989 team that finished the season with 58 wins, which is the highest total in school history.

Knoblauch was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round of the 1989 MLB draft. Knoblauch won the American League Rookie of the Year award and a World Series ring as a member of the 1991 Minnesota Twins. In Game 7 of the World Series, Knoblauch attempted to deceive Lonnie Smith by appearing to start a double play on a Terry Pendleton double (causing Smith to get only to 3rd base when he might have scored for the Atlanta Braves). Smith claimed that he lost track of the ball, and that Knoblauch's decoy with shortstop Greg Gagne had little to do with his base-running.