Mark Whiten

From SoSH

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Whiten's Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Transactions 5 External Links

Overall Career

Mark Anthony "Hard Hittin'" Whiten was the epitome of the journeyman ballplayer, playing for eight major league teams in his 11 year major league career. Mark debuted with Toronto in the summer of 1990, garnering 88 ABs in his first season. He retained his Rookie of the Year eligibility, and was voted 6th in the ROY voting of 1991, playing for Toronto for the first half of the season, and to Cleveland on June 27th. He would play for Cleveland in 1992 before being traded to St Louis prior to the 1993 season. Mark showed his power potential, hitting 25 HRs that season, including tieing a Major League record with 4 in one game. His 1994 season was derailed by injury (losing 3 months to the DL after a collision with Wilson McCutchan). When Baseball resumed in the Spring of 1995, Dan Duquette traded Cory Bailey and 2-time All-Star Scott Cooper to St. Louis for Mark (and pitcher Rheal Cormier).

Mark played nearly as much in Pawtucket for the Red Sox as he did for the parent club, playing in 28 games in Pawtucket (batting .284/.400/.451) and 32 games for the Red Sox (batting .185/.239/.241 with only one HR). Mark was traded in June to Philadelphia for Third Baseman Dave Hollins.

Mark would play for five teams over the next 3 season, putting up decent stats in part-time duty. He would play mostly in AAA in 1999 and 2000 for Cleveland, garnering only 14 games in his final 2 major league seasons. He would not play organized ball in 2001, but would return to AAA for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Las Vegas in 2002, but would only play 8 games. He would attempt another comeback in 2003, playing 17 games for the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League.

In 2005, Mark started his coaching career, becoming a hitting coach for a team he didn't play for, the Texas Rangers. In 2005, Mark was assigned to the Northwest League Spokane Indians. In 2006, he was transfered to the Rangers Rookie League club in the Arizona League.

Whiten's Moment in the Sun

• Had arguably the greatest day in Baseball History on September 7, 1993. Mark tied 3 Major League Records that day, hitting 4 HRs and having 12 RBI in the second game of a doubleheader. Mark also had an RBI in the first game, tieing the major league record of 13 for most RBI in a doubleheader.

Trivia

• If you watch "Bull Durham" closely, you can see a newspaper headline that reads "Hard-Hittin Whiten." It is a reference to Whiten's time in the South Atlantic League.

Transactions

January 14, 1986: Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 5th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed April 28, 1986.

June 27, 1991: Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Denis Boucher, Glenallen Hill, and cash to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Candiotti and Turner Ward.

March 31, 1993: Traded by the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Clark and Juan Andujar (minors).

April 9, 1995: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Rheal Cormier to the Boston Red Sox for Cory Bailey and Scott Cooper.

July 24, 1995: Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dave Hollins.

June 17, 1996: Released by the Philadelphia Phillies.

June 24, 1996: Signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.

August 14, 1996: Traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Seattle Mariners for Roger Blanco (minors).

December 7, 1996: Granted Free Agency.

January 9, 1997: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

August 15, 1997: Released by the New York Yankees.

May 6, 1998: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

October 30, 1998: Granted Free Agency.

December 8, 1998: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

October 15, 1999: Granted Free Agency.

February 18, 2000: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

October 18, 2000: Granted Free Agency.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• TheBaseballCube.com - Career Statistics and Analysis