Mike Barnett

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This article is about the baseball hitting coach. For other people, see Mike Barnett (disambiguation).

Michael Lee Barnett (b. February 1, 1959 in Columbus, Ohio) is a Major League Baseball hitting coach for the Kansas City Royals. After taking over as Royals hitting coach May 1, 2006, Barnett led the Royals to a .275 (1,339-4,867) average the remainder of the season. The Royals hit a franchise-record 335 doubles in 2006, the 4th-highest total in the Majors.

Barnett previously served as hitting coach of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2002-2005, where he played a key role in the development of such hitters as Vernon Wells and Orlando Hudson. He helped lead the 2003 Blue Jays to a 86-76 record as the team ranked in the top 5 in the American League in numerous offensive categories including batting average (2nd), runs (2nd), hits (2nd) and home runs (5th). He also spent part of 2005 serving as a non-uniformed hitting instructor with the Boston Red Sox. Prior to his major league service, Barnett spent 4 seasons from 1998-2001 as hitting coach for Tucson (AAA) in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He also served as hitting coach at all levels of the Chicago White Sox organization from 1990-1997, as well as two seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Tennessee from 1988-1989. This followed a 6-year stint as an assistant administrator of baseball operations for the New York Yankees from 1982-1987.

Playing Career: Played catcher at Ohio University, but had his baseball career end following a shoulder injury.

Personal: Mike resides in Knoxville, Tenn., with his 2 children. He graduated from Ohio University with a degree in sports administration.

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