MVP Profile: Kevin Mitchell, 1989

Outfielder, San Francisco Giants

Age:  27

3^rd season with Giants (second complete)

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’10” Weight: 186

 

Prior to 1989:

A San Diego native, Mitchell boxed and played football, in addition to baseball, in his youth. Signed by the New York Mets to a $600-per-month contract as an undrafted free agent in 1980, he was first assigned to Kingsport of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 1981 where the 19-year-old batted .335 in 62 games with 7 home runs and 45 RBIs while playing primarily at third base. Following a stop at Lynchburg of the Carolina League in 1982, Mitchell moved on to Jackson of the Class AA Texas League in 1983 where he hit .299 with 15 home runs and 85 RBIs. Moving up to Tidewater of the Class AAA International League in 1984, and apparently distracted by his brother’s gang-related shooting death back home in San Diego, Mitchell’s production dropped to .243 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs while he split time between third and first base. Called up to the Mets in September, he appeared in seven games and batted .214. Back with Tidewater in 1985, his average rose to .290 along with 9 home runs and 43 RBIs. Making it to the Mets in 1986, he was an infield backup and came to be platooned in left field. Appearing in 108 games, he hit .277 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs and had a key hit in the ninth-inning rally in Game 6 of the World Series against the Red Sox that helped propel the team to a championship. In the offseason he was traded to his hometown San Diego Padres as part of an eight-player transaction. Installed as the starting third baseman in 1987, he struggled and was hitting .245 with 7 home runs and 26 RBIs when he was dealt to the Giants as part of a seven-player trade. Taking over at third base for his new club, Mitchell fielded well and batted .306 the rest of the way with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs as the Giants won the NL West title. He hit .267 with a home run in the seven-game NLCS loss to St. Louis. Due to  the presence of second-year third baseman Matt Williams in 1988, he still saw plenty of action at third but also played 40 games in left field, which became his regular position in 1989. At bat he hit .251 with 19 home runs and 80 RBIs.

 

1989 Season Summary

Appeared in 154 games

LF – 147, PH – 6, 3B – 2

 

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

 

Batting

Plate Appearances – 640 [19]

At Bats – 543

Runs – 100 [4, tied with Brett Butler]

Hits – 158 [15, tied with Milt Thompson]

Doubles – 34 [7, tied with Lonnie Smith & Barry Bonds]

Triples – 6 [13, tied with eight others]

Home Runs – 47 [1]

RBI – 125 [1]

Bases on Balls – 87 [5, tied with Eddie Murray]

Int. BB – 32 [1]

Strikeouts – 115 [10]

Stolen Bases – 3

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .291 [8, tied with Jose Oquendo]

OBP - .388 [8]

Slugging Pct. - .635 [1]

Total Bases – 345 [1]

GDP – 6

Hit by Pitches – 3 [20, tied with seventeen others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [12, tied with nine others]

 

League-leading home runs were +11 ahead of runner-up Howard Johnson

League-leading RBIs were +8 ahead of runner-up Pedro Guerrero

League-leading int. bases on balls were +7 ahead of runner-up Spike Owen

League-leading slugging pct was +.076 ahead of runner-up Howard Johnson

League-leading total bases were +24 ahead of runner-up Will Clark

 

Midseason snapshot: HR –  31, RBI – 81, AVG –  .295, SLG –  .692

 

Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at NY Mets 5/21

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

HR at home – 22

HR on road – 25

Most home runs, game – 2 on six occasions

Multi-HR games – 6

Most RBIs, game – 4 at San Diego 4/3, vs. Cincinnati 8/9, vs. NY Mets 9/1

Pinch-hitting – 1 of 3 (.333) with 3 BB

 

Fielding

Chances – 320

Put Outs – 305

Assists – 8

Errors – 7

DP – 0

Pct. - .978

 

Postseason Batting: 9 G (NLCS vs. Chi. Cubs - 5 G; World Series vs. Oakland – 4 G)

PA – 38, AB – 34, R – 7, H – 11, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 3, RBI – 9, BB – 3, IBB – 2, SO – 6, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .324, OBP - .368, SLG - .588, TB – 20, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 1

 

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

Silver Slugger

All-Star (started for NL in LF)

 

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Kevin Mitchell, SF: 314 pts. - 20 of 24 first place votes, 93% share

Will Clark, SF: 225 pts. – 3 first place votes, 67% share

Pedro Guerrero, StL.: 190 pts. – 1 first place vote, 57% share

Ryne Sandberg, ChiC.: 157 pts. – 47% share

Howard Johnson, NYM: 153 pts. – 46% share

 

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Giants went 92-70 to finish first in the NL Western Division by 3 games over the San Diego Padres, while leading the league in batter strikeouts (1071) and slugging (.390). Led by the hitting of Mitchell and 1B Will Clark along with solid pitching and defense, the Giants were consistent and went 17-11 in September to hold off the surging Padres. Won NLCS over the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 1. Lost World Series to the Oakland Athletics, 4 games to 0, in a Series marked by an earthquake that necessitated a 10-day postponement in the action.

 

Aftermath of ‘89:

Mitchell signed a $2,083,000 contract for 1990 and, although hindered by bone spurs in his right wrist that necessitated offseason surgery, he batted .290 with 35 home runs and 93 RBIs. Limited by injuries to 113 games in 1991, his average dropped to .256, but he still hit 27 home runs with 69 RBIs. Traded to the Seattle Mariners in the offseason, he was overweight and still having wrist trouble combined with a stomach injury. Limited to 99 games in 1992, he batted .286 with 9 home runs and 67 RBIs. On the trading block once again in the offseason, Mitchell was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds where he rebounded somewhat in 1993 to .341 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs. The production was better during the strike-shortened 1994 season as he hit .326 with 30 home runs and 77 RBIs. He signed with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of the Japan Pacific League for 1995 and lasted just 37 games before leaving the club due to a dispute over a knee injury that eventually required surgery. He was back in the USA in 1996 where he signed with the Boston Red Sox. He played in just 27 games for the Red Sox until he was traded back to Cincinnati at midseason. For the year he appeared in 64 games and batted .316 with 8 home runs and 39 RBIs. Moving on to Cleveland as a free agent in 1997, he was released in June after hitting only .153 in 20 games. His major league career came to an end with Oakland in 1998 where he lasted until August before being let go. While he saw action in the Mexican League in 1999 and with independent minor league teams in 2000 and 2001, Mitchell’s playing career was effectively over. For his major league career, he batted .284 with 1173 hits that included 224 doubles, 25 triples, and 234 home runs. He scored 630 runs and compiled 760 RBIs. With the Giants he batted .278 with 614 hits, 351 runs scored, 109 doubles, 17 triples, 143 home runs, 411 RBIs, and a .536 slugging percentage. Appearing in 23 postseason games, Mitchell hit .288 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs. A two-time All-Star, he received MVP votes after three seasons, winning once. Following his playing career, he managed a couple of independent minor league teams.

 

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.