From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patrick Lance Borders (born May 14, 1963 in Columbus, Ohio) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who is best remembered for being the Most Valuable Player in the 1992 World Series. Borders also won an Olympic Games gold medal with the United States' baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He bats and throws right-handed.
Borders was brought up in the Toronto Blue Jays system and made his major league debut in 1988, playing in 56 games. Over the next few seasons he earned the full-time position behind the plate, and he was a cornerpiece of the 1992 and 1993 World Series champion teams. In the 1992 Series, he hit .450 with one home run en route to winning the World Series MVP award.
Borders left the Jays as a free agent after the 1994 season, but never found a permanent home like Toronto had been for him in his seven years there. Over the following decade he played for the Kansas City Royals (1995), Houston Astros (1995), St. Louis Cardinals (1996), California Angels (1996), Chicago White Sox (1996), Cleveland Indians (1997-1999), returned to Toronto in 1999, Seattle Mariners (2001-2004), Minnesota Twins (2004), and Seattle Mariners (2005), never playing in more than 55 games for any one team during a season.
Borders was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers to a minor league contract after the 2004 season. On May 19, 2005, he was acquired by Seattle from the Brewers for cash considerations and was assigned to Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League (AAA). With Seattle's primary catcher Miguel Olivo struggling, and losing backup catcher Dan Wilson to an injury, Borders became Seattle's primary catcher for most of the first half of the 2005 season. Seattle designated him for assignment shortly after the All-Star Break to make room for some younger prospects.
On January 25, 2006, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Borders to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training. On May 27, he announced his retirement [1].
Over his career, Borders had a .253 batting average with 69 home runs and 346 RBI in 1099 games played.
[edit] High School Years
Pat Borders attended Lake Wales High School in Lake Wales, Florida and was a standout in both football and baseball. He batted .440 as a junior, and as a senior he batted .510 with a school single season record 10 home runs and 36 runs batted in. Although he was offered a football/baseball scholarship to Mississippi State University, he turned it down to sign with the Blue Jays, who had signed in him the sixth round of the 1982 draft.
[edit] Trivia
- Pat Borders is one of only three Americans to have won both a World Series championship and an Olympic Gold Medal. The others are Doug Mientkiewicz and Borders' former teammate Ed Sprague.
- During his time in Triple-A Tacoma for the Seattle Mariners, Borders famously opined that he would rather remain in Triple-A, because he was closer to his family, enjoyed the lifestyle, and had enough money.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
