Mike Rivera (baseball)
| Mike Rivera | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rivera with the Milwaukee Brewers
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| Catcher | |||
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Born: September 8, 1976 Río Piedras, Puerto Rico |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 18, 2001, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| May 20, 2011, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .239 | ||
| Home runs | 13 | ||
| Runs batted in | 69 | ||
| Teams | |||
Michael Rene Rivera (born September 8, 1976) is a former professional baseball catcher. He played for the Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, and Florida Marlins during a nine-season Major League Baseball (MLB) career.
Rivera attended Troy State University (where he was a Mid-Continent Conference Eastern Division All-Star) and was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1997. He began play that season with the Rookie League Gulf Coast League Tigers, batting .286 in 47 games. He played for the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps in 1998. In 1999, he played the majority of the season with the Class A-Advanced Lakeland Tigers, but also played a few games for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. He returned to both Lakeland and Jacksonville in 2000 in addition to playing with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. Rivera played the entire 2001 season with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves before being called up to the majors in September. He was a Gulf Coast League All-Star in 1997, a Florida State League All-Star in 1999, and an Eastern League All-Star in 2001.
He made his major league debut on September 18, 2001, for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins as a late inning defensive replacement. His first start was on September 22 against the Boston Red Sox, he was hitless in four at-bats. He recorded his first major league hit on September 27 against the Kansas City Royals, a single to left field off Mike MacDougal. He appeared in a total of four games for the Tigers that season and another 39 in 2002. He hit his first career home run on April 4 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He spent half of the 2002 season with Triple-A Toledo.
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