Highlighted Year: Dante Bichette, 1994

Outfielder, Colorado Rockies

Age:  29

2^nd season with Rockies

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 215 

Prior to 1994:

A Florida native, Bichette started out playing baseball in Little League. He made the Jupiter High School team as a junior. As a senior he played shortstop. Trying out for the unfamiliar position of catcher at Palm Beach Community College, Bichette’s bat earned him a spot on the roster thanks to a long home run that became something of a local legend. Very much a raw talent, Bichette drew interest with his power hitting. Selected by the California Angels in the 1984 amateur draft, he commenced his professional career with Salem of the low Class A Northwest League at age 20. In 64 games he batted .232 with 9 doubles, 4 home runs, 30 RBIs, and a .258 on-base percentage while playing as an outfielder/first baseman. Moving on to Quad Cities of the Class A Midwest League in 1985, Bichette hit .265 with 28 doubles, 4 triples, 11 home runs, 78 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, and a .297 OBP. In 1986 he refined his hitting at Palm Springs of the Class A California League, batting .272 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, 73 RBIs, a .324 OBP, and a .428 slugging percentage in 68 games before being promoted to Midland of the Class AA Texas League where he improved his production to .284 with 12 home runs, a .335 OBP, and a .514 slugging percentage in 62 games. In 1987 he moved up to Edmonton of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where, despite early struggles, he hit .300 with 13 home runs, 50 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .481 slugging percentage. Returning to Edmonton in 1988, Bichette batted .267 with 29 doubles, 10 triples, 14 home runs, 81 RBIs, a .304 OBP, and a .446 slugging percentage. Called up to the Angels in September he hit .261 in 46 at bats. Bichette started the 1989 season with the Angels and got off to a fast start in April before tailing off and being sent down to Edmonton at midseason. Following 61 games with Edmonton he returned to the Angels in September and his major league numbers for the year ended up being .210 with 7 doubles, 3 home runs, 15 RBIs, and a .240 OBP. Relegated to backup outfield duty with the Angels in 1990 following the arrival of veteran right fielder Dave Winfield in May, Bichette appeared in 109 games and batted .255 with 15 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .292 OBP, and a .433 slugging percentage. In the spring of 1991 he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for aging Designated Hitter Dave Parker. He platooned in right field with Darryl Hamilton and hit .238 with 15 home runs, 59 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, a .272 OBP, and a .393 slugging percentage. He proved to be strikeout prone, fanning 107 times in 445 at bats. Suffering a torn ACL in the offseason, Bichette was once again a part-time player in right field and batted .287 with 27 doubles while his home run total dropped to 5. He had a .318 OBP. Having caught the eye of hitting coach Don Baylor, who became manager of the expansion Rockies in 1993, Colorado swung a deal for Bichette who became the starting right fielder for the new club. While hindered defensively by his damaged knee, he batted .310 with 43 doubles, 5 triples, 21 home runs, 89 RBIs, a .348 OBP, and a .526 slugging percentage, despite missing the last 21 games due to a broken left hand. Benefiting from the thin air in “the Mile High City”, Bichette finally was reaching his potential as a power-hitting outfielder.

1994 Season Summary

Appeared in 116 games

RF – 116, PH – 3

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 509 [4]

At Bats – 484 [1]

Runs – 74 [13, tied with Matt Williams]

Hits – 147 [2, tied with Jeff Bagwell]

Doubles – 33 [5]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 27 [7, tied with Gary Sheffield]

RBI – 95 [3]

Bases on Balls – 19

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 70

Stolen Bases – 21 [14, tied with Reggie Sanders & Bip Roberts]

Caught Stealing – 8 [11, tied with seven others]

Average - .304 [20]

OBP - .334

Slugging Pct. - .548 [11]

Total Bases – 265 [3]

GDP – 17 [2, tied with Orlando Merced]

Hit by Pitches – 4

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 2

League-leading at bats were +9 ahead of runner-up Marquis Grissom

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 26, HR - 21, RBI - 77, AVG. - .303, SLG - .547, OBP – .328

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Pittsburgh 4/8, (in 5 AB) vs. Houston 6/22, (in 5 AB) at Chi. Cubs 7/6, (in 4 AB) vs. St. Louis 7/14

Longest hitting streak – 16 games

HR at home – 15

HR on road – 12

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Philadelphia 4/6, (in 5 AB) vs. Houston 6/22, (in 5 AB) vs. San Diego 6/27, (in 3 AB) at San Diego 7/27

Multi-HR games – 4

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. St. Louis 7/17

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 2 (.500) with 1 HR, 1 R,  4 RBI & 1 SF

Fielding

Chances – 223

Put Outs – 211

Assists – 10

Errors – 2

DP – 4

Pct. - .991 

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

14^th in NL MVP voting (19 points – 5% share)

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The Rockies went 53-64 to finish third in the NL Western Division, 6.5 games behind the first place Los Angeles Dodgers, at the point in August that a players’ strike prematurely shut down the season and eliminated the postseason. They led the NL in triples (39). The Rockies started off slowly during a 10-12 April which still had them in second place in the NL West at the end of the month. They managed to remain in contention despite playing their second (and last) season in Mile High Stadium, with short power alleys that adversely affected their league-worst pitching staff. At 36-43 and 5.5 games back at the end of June, the club broke even in July, but the loss of slugging first baseman Andres Galarraga caused the Rockies to finish 3-10 in the run-up to the season-ending strike. 

Aftermath of 1994:

The Rockies had a new ballpark in Coors Field in 1995 and Bichette hit a walk-off home run in the home-opening game, the first of a league-leading 40 for the year. He also topped the NL in hits (197), RBIs (128), slugging percentage (.620), and total bases (359) while batting .340 with 38 doubles and a .364 OBP. The Rockies reached the postseason as a wild card and lost to Atlanta in the NLDS. Bichette hit a home run and scored 6 runs in the series loss. He placed second in league MVP voting and in addition to being an All-Star for the second time, he was awarded a Silver Slugger. He took criticism due to the disproportionate degree of his power production at home as opposed to on the road, although he was a .300 hitter away from Coors Field, where he and other hard-hitting members of the lineup were known as “the Blake Street Bombers” due to the ballpark’s location. In 1996 Bichette remained productive by batting .313 with 198 hits, 39 doubles, 31 home runs, 141 RBIs, a .359 OBP, and a .531 slugging percentage. He also stole 31 bases despite his weakened knee. Since the arrival of right fielder Larry Walker as a free agent in 1995, Bichette had seen most of his regular defensive action in left field with good results. In 1997 his offensive production dropped slightly, but not significantly, as he hit .308 with 31 doubles, 26 home runs, 118 RBIs, a .343 OBP, and a .531 slugging percentage. Having put on weight during the offseason, Bichette’s home run total dropped in 1998 to 22 although he led the league with 219 hits and batted .331 with 48 doubles, 122 RBIs, a .357 OBP, and a .509 slugging percentage. It was revealed during the season that he was using a then-legal performance-enhancing supplement. He played one more season in Colorado, where he was a fan favorite, in 1999, hitting .298 with 38 doubles, 34 home runs, 133 RBIs, a .354 OBP, and a .541 slugging percentage. With a new GM seeking to rebuild the club in the offseason, Bichette waived his no-trade clause and accepted a trade to the Cincinnati Reds where he returned to right field in 2000 and, following a slow start, batted .295 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs until he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox at the end of August. In his 30 games with the Red Sox he hit .289 with 7 home runs. In 2001 with the Red Sox he was primarily the Designated Hitter and batted .286 with 30 doubles, 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, a .325 OBP, and a .460 slugging percentage. After initially signing a minor league contract with the Dodgers in 2002, Bichette chose to retire. For his major league career, he batted .299 with 1906 hits that included 401 doubles, 27 triples, and 274 home runs. He scored 934 runs and compiled 1141 RBIs, 152 stolen bases, a .336 OBP, and a .499 slugging percentage. With Colorado the numbers were .316 with 1278 hits, 665 runs scored, 270 doubles, 18 triples, 201 home runs, 826 RBIs, 105 stolen bases, a .352 OBP, and a .540 slugging percentage. His only postseason appearance occurred in 1995. A four-time All-Star, Bichette placed in the top 20 in league MVP voting three times. During his career he produced well above average in two-strike situations. He coached Little League following his playing career. His son Bo is a shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays and has been a two-time All-Star to date.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.