Todd Zeile

Todd Zeile
Catcher / Third baseman / First baseman
Born: September 9, 1965 (1965-09-09) Van Nuys, California
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 18, 1989 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2004 for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Batting average	.265
Home runs	253
Runs batted in	1,110
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1989–1995) Chicago Cubs (1995) Philadelphia Phillies (1996) Baltimore Orioles (1996) Los Angeles Dodgers (1997–1998) Florida Marlins (1998) Texas Rangers (1998–1999) New York Mets (2000–2001) Colorado Rockies (2002) New York Yankees (2003) Montreal Expos (2003) New York Mets (2004)

Todd Edward Zeile (born September 9, 1965) is a former catcher, third baseman, and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1989 to 2004. After graduating from UCLA, where he played as a catcher, Zeile played for 11 Major League teams during his career: the St. Louis Cardinals (1989–1995), Chicago Cubs (1995), Philadelphia Phillies (1996), Baltimore Orioles (1996), Los Angeles Dodgers (1997–1998), Florida Marlins (1998), Texas Rangers (1998–1999), New York Mets (2000–2001, 2004), Colorado Rockies (2002), New York Yankees (2003) and Montreal Expos (2003).

Early life and career

Zeile was born in Van Nuys, California. He broke into the majors in 1989 as a catcher and the Cardinals' most anticipated prospect of the year. Cardinals manager Joe Torre wanted to make room for catcher Tom Pagnozzi and believed Zeile would be a more productive hitter and would have a longer career if he moved from behind the plate, so Zeile moved, with some reluctance, initially to first base and then to third base in 1990.

Middle career

Zeile spent most of the 1990s as a third baseman. He was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Florida Marlins along with Mike Piazza in 1998 for five players. He then signed a contract with the New York Mets rejoining Piazza and he finished his career moving to first base for the Mets in 2000, who wanted him to replace John Olerud.

In 1999, Zeile was part of a historic Rangers team. Along with Gregg Zaun and Jeff Zimmerman, he was one of three players on the team whose last names began with "Z". Not since the 1916 Chicago Cubs had this occurred (Heinie Zimmerman, Dutch Zwilling, and Rollie Zeider).

He led all NL third basemen in errors in 2002, with 21, when he had the lowest fielding percentage in the league (.942).

End of career

After a season with Colorado in 2002, Zeile signed with the Yankees in 2003. He was released mid-August and was signed by Montreal 3 days later. Having decided 2004 to be his last season, Zeile signed once again with the New York Mets. He also voiced displeasure with the Yankees, saying that he has "no desire to play again for that organization," and that "I think some of the things that happen over there are different than any other organization in baseball. I have a pretty good track record to judge that."

Zeile retired following the 2004 season. Having planned his retirement in advance (and with the Mets well out of the playoff race), Mets manager Art Howe let Zeile once again start as a catcher, his original position, on September 18, 2004. It was Zeile's first appearance there in 14 years. It was the second-longest span ever between appearances at the position. Gabby Street caught a game in 1931 after last having caught in 1912. Zeile's span is now the third longest, since Craig Biggio started the final game of his career at catcher after a 16 year span.

Zeile got one final start as a catcher two weeks later on October 3, 2004 in the season's final game, as the Mets' regular catcher, Jason Phillips's foot hurt him and he could not play. In the 6th inning, in his final at-bat as a Major Leaguer, Zeile crushed a 3-run home run to left-field off Montreal Expos pitcher Claudio Vargas. In the 8th inning, in his final play as a Major Leaguer, Ryan Church popped up to him, as a catcher, in foul territory. It was also John Franco's last out made as a Mets pitcher. The Mets won the game, 8-1.

Both games Zeile caught in his final season were started by Tom Glavine.

He also pitched an inning with the Mets in 2004 when they didn't have any pitchers left, as he gave up 5 runs in the 8th inning in the Mets' 19-10 loss to Montreal sometime in late July.

Film work

Since retiring from Major League Baseball, Zeile has pursued two other passions: film production, and acting. He founded Green Diamond Entertainment, a film production company in West Hollywood, California, during his stint with the Mets. He appeared in the following:

• Dirty Deeds (movie, 2005 - produced by Green Diamond Entertainment)
• The King of Queens (television series, 2005–2006, two episodes)
• Liquid: Live at Five (video, 2007)
• Liquid: Money Talks (video, 2008)
• Liquid: The Ten, Volume One (video, 2008)
• I AM (movie, 2010)

He was also executive producer of Dirty Deeds and a producer of I AM.

Other work

Zeile hit at least one home run for each of the 11 teams he played for over the course of his career, distinguishing him as the one player in major league history to have hit a home run for over 10 teams. He is also one of 41 players ever to hit a home run in his final at-bat, which he did on October 3, 2004 as a New York Met.

Led all MLB players in errors for the decade of the 1990s.

Zeile's final home run also made him the last person ever to hit a home run off a Montreal Expos pitcher. Following that game, which was the last of the season, the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals.

Personal life

Zeile is married to Olympic champion, Julianne McNamara, the first American gymnast to earn a perfect 10.0 at the Olympics. They have four children.

He attended William S. Hart High School in Newhall, California, where he was an outstanding student and athlete.

Todd is a descendant of John Adams, the second President of the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Todd owns a Citation X jet.^{[citation needed]}

Zeile has the most home runs in Major League history for players whose last name begin with the letter Z.

Achievements

• 2004 career hits (244th in history)
• 253 home runs (tied for 189th)
• 1110 career RBI
• 11 straight seasons of 10 or more home runs
• 4 post-season home runs

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Todd Zeile at the Internet Movie Database
• Green Diamond Entertainment [us] at the Internet Movie Database
• Todd Zeile collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• centerfield maz: Former Met of the Day: Todd Zeile (2000-2001)