Dmitri Young

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**Dmitri Young**
Image:Tigers DYoung 2006.jpg
Free Agent — No. 25
Designated hitter
Bats: Both	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
August 29, 1996 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Selected MLB statistics (through September 3, 2006)
Batting Average	.289
Home Runs	154
Runs Batted In	599
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1996-1997) Cincinnati Reds (1998-2001) Detroit Tigers (2002 - 2006)

Dmitri Dell Young (b. October 11, 1973, Vicksburg, Mississippi) is a Major League Baseball player who most recently played for the Detroit Tigers.

1 High school career
2 Major league career
3 Off the field
- 3.1 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] High school career

Dmitri Young attended Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, California. As a senior, he batted .425 with 11 home runs, 31 runs batted in, 37 runs, and 8 doubles, and won USA Today High School All-American honors.

[edit] Major league career

Young was recently being used primarily as a designated hitter, but he has also played substantially as a left fielder and first baseman since reaching the majors in 1996. He also occasionally played third base and was formerly a catcher. Young is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed.

On April 4, 2005, Young joined George Bell and Tuffy Rhodes as the only players to hit three home runs on Opening Day in Detroit's 11-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. The three-homer game took place in statistically one of the more difficult home-run stadiums, Comerica Park. He was the Tigers' lone representative at the 2003 MLB All-Star Game, although he didn't make an appearance on the field or in the batter's box. He was also known as "DaMeatHook" and "The Big D" to Tigers fans, as well as for his friendly, exuberant personality. Young was released from the Tigers on September 6, 2006 in a move that surprised both teammates and fans alike.

[edit] Off the field

On May 17, 2006, the Detroit Free Press reported that Young faces a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, stemming from a heated argument with his girlfriend of two years (who was not named). "It’s a bum deal,” Young told the Free Press. “Unfortunately it’s public knowledge. I don’t see this person any more." [1] Since the Free Press article, Young spent 30 days in the rehabilitation facility, Promises Malibu, and three weeks working out with minor league teams.

On June 13, 2006, Young failed to appear for a pretrial hearing on this matter and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.[2] On June 23, Young appeared before the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills, and pled no contest to a charge of domestic violence that came out of the May 17 report.

On June 30, 2006, Young revealed that he has been battling alcoholism [3], which has limited his physical fitness and kept him from appearing in all but a small fraction of Tigers games during the season. He made a statement to the press in which he asserts that he has been making progress overcoming it with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, whose logo has been tattooed on his wrist as a gesture of thanks.

He returned to action on July 21, 2006 versus the Oakland Athletics, starting at designated hitter and ending the game with 2 hits and 2 RBI in the Tigers 7-4 win. Before the game started, FSN Detroit aired a video of Young apologizing to the fans and saying how he will continue to struggle against alcohol and drugs for the rest of his life.

On September 6, 2006 the Tigers gave Young his unconditional release.

[edit] Trivia

Dmitri's younger brother Delmon Young, a former number one draft pick, currently plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Young appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s 2005 Survivor Series in an interview segment with Edge and Lita. Edge made fun of the Detroit Tigers, saying that they suck, while Young cracked jokes at Edge concerning his failures on capturing a World Title. The irony is that Edge would later win the WWE Championship twice within the next year and the Tigers would go on to lose the 2006 World Series.