Ty Wigginton
| Ty Wigginton | |
|---|---|
 Wigginton while with the Baltimore Orioles |
|
| Philadelphia Phillies – No. 24 | |
| Utility Player | |
| Born: October 11, 1977 San Diego, California |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| May 16, 2002 for the New York Mets | |
| Career statistics (through 2011 season) |
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| Batting average | .265 |
| Home runs | 158 |
| Runs batted in | 548 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Ty Allen Wigginton (born October 11, 1977 in San Diego, California) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. He is known as a utility player, having platooned as an infielder and an outfielder during his career. He bats and throws right-handed. Wigginton resides in Chula Vista, California.
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[edit] High school years
Wigginton attended Chula Vista High School in Chula Vista, California, and was a student and a letterman in football and baseball. Wigginton graduated from Chula Vista High School in 1995.[1]
[edit] Baseball career
Wigginton attended UNC Asheville and played for three years from 1996–1998. Wigginton still holds the school's records for most home runs in a game, most runs in a season and most doubles in a season. Wigginton is the only UNC Asheville baseball player to have played in the major leagues.
[edit] New York Mets
The 6-foot (1.8 m), 200 pound Wigginton was selected by the New York Mets in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft.
Wigginton was brought up to the major league Mets for the first time in 2002 as a third baseman and had a promising partial rookie season with the Mets, batting .302 with a .354 on base percentage (OBP) and .526 slugging percentage (SLG) in 116 at-bats. He slumped somewhat in his first full season in 2003, with a batting line of .255/.318/.396 in 573 at-bats, but started the 2004 season hot. In his first 312 at-bats, Wigginton hit .285/.334/.487, hitting 12 home runs and 23 doubles with 42 runs batted in.
[edit] Pittsburgh Pirates
On July 30, 2004, the Mets traded Wigginton to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a six-player deal for pitcher Kris Benson. Wigginton slumped badly after he was traded before recovering somewhat in September. In 2004, he had the lowest zone rating of any NL third baseman (.731) for the second straight year.
He started at third base for the Pirates in 2005, but again struggled and was demoted to the minor leagues on June 4, putting his future with Pittsburgh in doubt. After winning the International League Batter of the Week for the week of August 15–21, "Wiggy" was called up to the Pirates on August 22, 2005. The utility infielder caught fire, hitting .365 over his last 22 games for Pittsburgh, but the Pirates still released him after the season.
[edit] Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Wigginton signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on January 10, 2006. He split his time between first base and second base in 2006, with a few starts at third base and in the outfield. He signed a three-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays after the 2006 season.
[edit] Houston Astros
On July 28, 2007, Wigginton was traded to the Houston Astros for pitcher Dan Wheeler. After his acquisition, Morgan Ensberg was designated for assignment, and Wigginton was announced to be the Astros' starting third baseman. When Astros outfielder Carlos Lee had his finger broken by a pitch on August 9, 2008, Wigginton made the majority of the starts in left field in Lee's place. Wigginton ended up having a monster month of August, hitting .379 and posting a staggering 1.200 OPS. On December 12, 2008 the Astros failed to tender Wigginton a contract and he became a free agent, a controversial move that upset many Astros fans.
[edit] Baltimore Orioles
On February 10, 2009, Wigginton signed a two-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
He hit very well during the early stages of the 2010 season, batting .272 through his first 60 games, and ranking eighth in the American League with 13 home runs.
Wigginton was elected to his 1st All Star Game in 2010 being the lone O's representative. Wigginton had started the season without a starting position in Baltimore. However, hot streaks at the plate eventually prompted the saying "Gettin' Wiggy with it" in a pun of the song "Gettin Jiggy with it"
He split games between third base and first base following the trade of Miguel Tejada.
[edit] Colorado Rockies
On December, 7, 2010, Wigginton signed a two year deal with the Colorado Rockies with an option for a third year.
On April 20, 2011, Wigginton collected his 1000th career hit, a home run off of Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants. The home run was his first as a member of the Rockies.[3]
On June 28, 2011, Wigginton and Troy Tulowitzki helped the Rockies win 3-2 in 13 innings. Ty Wigginton was up at bat against Chicago White Sox reliever Will Ohman. Tulowitzki, at first, was off with the pitch. Wigginton flared a ball into center that dropped for a base hit. Alex Rios picked it up as Tulowitzki tried to score the walk-off run. Rios threw a bullet to home. The throw to A.J. Pierzynski was off the line. Tulowitzki slid in to the plate just ahead of Pierzynski's tag to score the walk-off.
[edit] Philadelphia Phillies
On November 20, 2011, the Rockies traded Wigginton to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later or cash.[4]
[edit] Scouting report
Wigginton showed slightly below-average power for a major league third baseman in his early career, but over his last two seasons has compiled 46 home runs. He cut down on his strikeouts in 2004 and increased his number of walks, but his plate discipline is still no better than average. He hits fastballs well but struggles a little bit with good breaking balls. Wigginton has about average speed; he stole 12 bases in 2003, but has never duplicated that before (even in the minor leagues) or since. On the field, he is average at third base. He has played second base in the past, but is limited defensively at that position. He can play at first and the outfield corners and is decent at first but has struggled in very limited playing time in the outfield.
As of May 18, 2010, Wigginton has played in 943 major league games, and has hit .272 (887-for-3,256) with a .330 OBP, .46 SLG, 133 home runs, 190 doubles, 451 RBI, and 33 stolen bases.
Some experts compare the size and frame of Wigginton to The Simpsons' Chief Wiggum of the Springfield Police Department. This has led to fans giving him the affectionate nickname "Chief Wiggumton."
[edit] Personal life
On December 20, 2006, Wigginton was forced to handle the delivery of his son Cannon at home when his wife Angela went into labor unexpectedly. Following the instructions of an operator on 9-1-1, he delivered the baby in a bedroom closet of their North Carolina home and tied off the umbilical cord with one of his shoelaces.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "12 alumni to be honored by Sweetwater district". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2004-12-04. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20041204-9999-6m4hall.html. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
- ^ "Orioles sign Ty Wigginton," Baltimore Orioles Press Release, Tuesday, February 10, 2009.
- ^ "Wigginton's three-run blast," MLB.com video, Wednesday, April 20, 2011.
- ^ Miller, Doug (20 November 2011). "Phillies strike deal with Rockies for Wigginton". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111120&content_id=26014414&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ "Devil Ray performs under pressure", Marc Topkin, The St. Petersburg Times, published February 17, 2007, accessed February 20, 2007.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ty Wigginton |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
| Preceded by Eric Hinske |
Topps Rookie All-Star Third Baseman 2003 |
Succeeded by Chad Tracy |
- 1977 births
- Living people
- New York Mets players
- Pittsburgh Pirates players
- Tampa Bay Devil Rays players
- Houston Astros players
- Baltimore Orioles players
- Colorado Rockies players
- American League All-Stars
- Major League Baseball third basemen
- Baseball players from California
- St. Lucie Mets players
- Norfolk Tides players
- Indianapolis Indians players
- Durham Bulls players
- Round Rock Express players
- People from Chula Vista, California
- People from San Diego, California
- UNC Asheville Bulldogs baseball players
