Glenallen Hill

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Glenallen Hill
Colorado Rockies
Outfielder
Born: (1965-03-22) March 22, 1965
Santa Cruz, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 31, 1989 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
May 31, 2001 for the Anaheim Angels
Career statistics
Batting average .271
Home runs 186
Runs batted in 586
Teams

Career highlights and awards

Glenallen Hill (born March 22, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Hill played with the Toronto Blue Jays (1989–91), Cleveland Indians (1991–93), Chicago Cubs (1993–94, 1998–2000) San Francisco Giants (1995–97), Seattle Mariners (1998), New York Yankees (2000), and Anaheim Angels (2001) during his thirteen-year career. Hill batted and threw right-handed. Hill was also infamous for his defensive escapades, which were once described by then-Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price as "akin to watching a gaffed haddock surface for air." He has also been referred to as The Juggler because he would struggle to hold onto a ball when he caught one.

Early life

Hill graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1983, and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1983 amateur draft, in the ninth round and 219th overall.

Career

Toronto Blue Jays (1989–1991)

Hill made his major league debut on July 31, 1989, with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 19 games that year, he collected 15 hits including his first career home run and seven runs batted in. His play that season allowed him to remain with the team for the 1990 season, where he hit .231 over 84 games including 12 home runs and 32 runs batted in. In 1991, he played in 35 games for the Blue Jays compiling a .253 average. On June 27, 1991 Hill was traded to the Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland Indians (1991–1993)

Hill played in 37 games for the Indians in 1991 collected 32 hits while driving in 14 runs. In his first and only full season in Cleveland in 1992, Hill played in 102 games collecting 18 home runs and 49 runs batted in (then career-highs). Hill played in 66 games for the Indians in 1993 and hit only .224 before being traded to the Cubs on August 19. While a member of the Cleveland Indians, he committed a "phantom steal" of second. This occurred during a game against the Detroit Tigers which was interrupted by a prolonged disturbance in the outfield. When play resumed, no one noticed that Hill had moved from first to second, thus giving him a stolen base.

Chicago Cubs (1993–1994)

Hill played in 31 games for the Cubs in his first season hitting .345 while driving in 22 runs. In 1994, Hill played in 89 games and clubbed 10 home runs while collecting 38 runs batted in before the 1994 Major League Baseball strike cancelled the remainder of the season. On April 7, 1995 he was granted free agency.

San Francisco Giants (1995–1997)

Hill signed with the Giants on April 9, 1995 where he hit .264 with 24 home runs and 86 runs batted in along with a career-high 25 stolen bases. The following year, he played in 98 games hitting .280 with 19 homers and 67 runs batted in. In 1997, he hit .261 with 11 home runs and 64 runs batted in. Hill was the first National League player to serve as a designated hitter in regular season play, doing so on June 12, 1997 in the first-ever game in interleague play as his San Francisco Giants faced the Texas Rangers at The Ballpark at Arlington. That year, he played in his first postseason game against the Marlins. He went 0 for 7 with two walks.[1] Following the Giants defeat, Hill was granted free agency on October 29.

As Hill grew up near San Francisco, during his stint with the San Francisco Giants he often reached out to the community in which he grew up, making numerous public appearances and autograph signings.

Seattle Mariners (1998)

Hill signed with the Mariners on January 8, 1998 and hit .290 with 12 homers and 33 runs batted in before being placed on waivers and claimed by the Cubs.

Return to Chicago (1998–2000)

Hill was selected off waivers by the Cubs on July 6, 1998. In 48 games Hill hit .351 with 8 homers and 23 runs batted in. Hill also played in one game during the 1998 National League Division Series where he was one for three with a run batted in and a stolen base.[2] He was granted free agency on October 23, but re-signed with the Cubs on December 7. Hill hit .300 with 20 home runs and 55 runs batted in during the 1999 season. He played in 64 games in 2000 and hit .262 with 11 home runs. On May 11, 2000, Hill became the first, and thus far only player to hit a home run on the five-story residential building across the street from Wrigley Field at 1032 W. Waveland Ave.[3] He was traded to the Yankees on July 23.

New York Yankees (2000)

Hill played in 40 games for the Yankees, mostly as a designated hitter. He hit 16 home runs in a rotating designated hitter role and was added to the postseason roster. He played in four games in the 2000 American League Division Series against the Oakland A's and was 1 for 12 with 2 runs batted in. In the 2000 American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners, Hill played in two games and went 0 for 2, striking out in both of his plate appearances.[4] In the 2000 World Series against the New York Mets, Hill played in three games going 0 for 3.[5] He earned a World Series ring when the Yankees defeated the Mets in five games.

Anaheim Angels (2001)

On March 28, 2001, Hill was traded to the Angels for minor-leaguer Darren Blakely. He appeared in only sixteen games that year, hitting .136 before being released on June 1. He retired after the season.

In a 13-year major league career, Hill compiled a lifetime batting average of .271, hitting 186 home runs and driving in 586 RBIs in 1,162 games. As a pinch hitter Hill had a .287 lifetime average with 13 home runs.

Coaching career

In 2003, he began coaching in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before being named first base coach following the 2006 season.[6]

In 2007, Hill started wearing a helmet while coaching first base following the death of Tulsa Drillers (a Rockies minor-league affiliate) first base coach and former major leaguer Mike Coolbaugh from injuries sustained when hit in the head by a batted ball.[7] Hill and Oakland's Rene Lachemann were the only coaches at the major league level to do so that year. Hill quickly became an advocate for all first base coaches to wear helmets.[8] In 2007, Joe Garagiola, Jr. (then Vice President of Baseball Operations), adopted a rule requiring all professional baseball base coaches to wear helmets beginning in 2008.[9] He is currently the manager for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox the Colorado Rockies (AAA) affiliate.

Steroid Allegations

Mitchell Report

In December 2007, Hill was included in the Mitchell Report in which it was alleged that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. In the report, Kirk Radomski alleges that he met Hill at a social function in 2000 during which they discussed Hill's dissatisfaction with the results from his use of Human Growth Hormone(HGH). Radomski claims he sent Hill a complementary bottle of HGH, which Hill tried and then expressed his satisfaction with the results. Radomski stated Hill purchased two kits of HGH from him and provided a photocopy of a cancelled check from Hill for $3,200. Hill's phone number and address were also included in Radomski's address book. As an employee of Major League Baseball, Hill was required to submit to an interview by the Mitchell investigators. During the interview, Hill denied using the HGH provided by Radomski citing that he was suffering from marital stresses at the time. He stated that this was a one-time purchase, and that he never used performance enhancing substances. He admitted that the drugs stayed in his possession until 2007 when he discovered them when unpacking from a move. Hill claimed he couldn't remember other players who he may have discussed steroid use with, and noted that his lawyer had warned him that naming players would hurt his career.[10]

On December 20, 2007 Hill was also named in Jason Grimsley's unsealed affidavit as a user of steroids.[11] Hill and Grimsley were teammates on the 2000 New York Yankees.

Personal life

Hill suffers from an intense condition of arachnophobia. On one occasion, Hill sustained cuts and scrapes on his feet, knees and arm during a violent nightmare about spiders. Hill jumped out of bed, bumped into a glass table and plunged down a staircase, all occurring when he was asleep. Hill ended up being placed on the 15-day disabled list. This led to him being nicknamed "Spiderman."[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillgl01.shtml
  2. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillgl01.shtml
  3. ↑ http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25549985&c_id=mlb
  4. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillgl01.shtml
  5. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillgl01.shtml
  6. ↑ http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061107&content_id=1735748&vkey=pr_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=col
  7. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2948098
  8. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3100278
  9. ↑ "MLB GMs: Base coaches must wear helmets in 2008". USA Today. November 8, 2007. 
  10. ↑ "Mitchell Report pp. 183-85" (PDF). 
  11. ↑ http://thesteroidera.blogspot.com/2007/12/jason-grimsley-affidavit-unsealed-no.html
  12. ↑ Gormley, Chuck. "East Dish: Cole might want to kick this habit". Retrieved 2007-11-01. 

External links

Preceded by
Johnny Damon		 American League Player of the Month
August 2000 		Succeeded by
Jason Giambi
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