Jim Eisenreich

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James Michael Eisenreich (pronounced /ˈaɪ̪zɨnˌɹaɪ̪k/; born April 18, 1959 St. Cloud, Minnesota) is a former major league baseball player utility player with a 15-year career from 1982–1984 and 1987–1998. He played for the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals of the American League, and the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League. He played first base, outfield and designated hitter.

[edit] Major League career

In 1993, his first year with the Phillies, Eisenreich put together one of his best years, batting .318 and helping the Phillies to win the National League pennant. As the Phillies began their slide the next year (1994), Eisenreich was one of the team's few bright spots, batting .361 for the last place Phillies in 1996.

Eisenreich is notable as being part of arguably one of the biggest baseball trades in the 90s. On May 14, 1998, Eisenreich was traded from the Florida Marlins, with Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, and Manuel Barrios, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Todd Zeile and catcher Mike Piazza.

Eisenreich was infamous in Los Angeles for his long time domination of Dodger pitching staffs, despite those staffs being among the best in baseball throughout his career.^{[citation needed]} His .405 batting average and .620 slugging percentage absolutely dwarf his other career numbers and rank among the most successful of any one player against any one team.^[1]

In voting for the Hall of Fame in 2004, three voters named Eisenreich; this was insufficient for election, and he was eliminated from the ballot.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Personal life

Eisenreich has Tourette syndrome (TS);^[2] his condition caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while he was undergoing treatment. Eisenreich was replaced on the Twins roster by Kirby Puckett, who became one of baseball's superstars in the late 1980s to mid-1990s. In 1990, he was the first player to receive the then-newly instituted Tony Conigliaro Award, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle (in Eisenreich's case, Tourettes) in his lifetime. Eisenreich now dedicates his time to helping improve the lives of children with TS.

Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area with his wife Leann and four children. They run the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome which they founded in 1996. It helps children with TS to achieve personal success.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jim Eisenreich at:
  • Baseball Reference

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