Kevin Young (baseball)

Kevin Stacey Young (born June 16, 1969) is a former professional baseball player. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–95, 1997–2003) and Kansas City Royals (1996), primarily as a first baseman. He batted and threw right-handed. As a union rep Young helped end the most recent baseball players strike in MLB along with resolving labor negotiations in the late 90's representing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Young was also the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award in Pittsburgh. This award is given annually to the MLB player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team.

Amateur career

When Young was 17 years old, he played on a Kansas City Kansas American Legion team that finished 24th in the nation out of 5,000 teams. Attended Kansas City Kansas Community College where he was an All-American and the recipient of the Rawlings Big Stick Award while leading the 5 state region with a .477 batting average. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he was an All-American and led the Golden Eagles to its first Regional tournament in 1990.

Professional career

Young was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft. He quickly moved his way through their minor league system, debuting in the major leagues a little over two years later. In a 12-season career, Young posted a .258 batting average with 144 home runs and 606 RBI in 1205 games played.

In 1999 Young became only the third first basemen in the history of the game to have more than 25 home runs, 40 doubles, 20 stolen bases, 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in a single season. At the time of his retirement in 2003, 11 seasons into their streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons which lasted from 1993-2012, he was the last remaining player to leave the Pittsburgh Pirates who had played on a winning team with the club (their last winning season before the streak was in 1992, which was his rookie year).

Personal life

Two children Kaleb and Kaden. Married to Teresa Young. 3 stepchildren Tressa, Jaxon and Mason. Kevin is known for his smile, kid-friendly humor and desire to educate kids about the game of baseball. He now lives in Arizona, where he lends his support to the Scottsdale Cal Ripken Baseball and the founder of Protégé Baseball.

In December, 2007, Kevin was linked to performance-enhancing drug usage in the Mitchell Report.

References

• The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Protégé Sports