Ernie Young

For other people with the same name, see Ernest Young (disambiguation).

Ernie Young
Young with the USA Baseball in 2019
Outfielder
Born: (1969-07-08) July 8, 1969 (age 55)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: May 17, 1994, for the Oakland Athletics
NPB: June 7, 2002, for the Yokohama BayStars
Last appearance
NPB: September 15, 2002, for the Yokohama BayStars
MLB: September 24, 2004, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
Batting average.225
Home runs27
Runs batted in90
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Olympic
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team

Ernest Wesley Young (born July 8, 1969) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach for the United States national baseball team. He played in parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five different teams, primarily the Oakland Athletics. He also played one season in Japan for the Yokohama BayStars, and was a member of the United States' gold medal-winning baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. As a player, Young was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 190 pounds (86 kg); he bats and throws right-handed. On July 19, 2013, he was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions during his time with the Buffalo Bisons.[1]

Playing career

In his major league career, Young played in 288 games, had 179 hits, 27 home runs, 90 RBI, 10 stolen bases, and a .225 batting average. In 2000, he led the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds with 35 home runs (second in the entire St. Louis Cardinals organization to Jim Edmonds' 42) and 98 RBIs (third in the organization behind Troy Farnsworth with 113 and Edmonds with 108).[2] On June 12, 2006, he hit his 300th career minor league home run. As a member of the Oakland Athletics, in a game against the Tigers, Young started a triple play with a leaping catch in center field.

Minor league coach/manager

Following his retirement after the 2007 season,[3] Young became the hitting coach on the Chicago White Sox' rookie-level team, the Great Falls Voyagers. On November 21, 2008, he was named the manager of the Kannapolis Intimidators for the 2009 season.[4] In 2011, Young was tabbed to manage the West Michigan Whitecaps, the class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers,[5] a position he retained for the 2012 season, but not for 2013.

International career

As a player, Young won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Team USA in baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney, Australia.

After his playing career ended, Young managed the national team for the 2011 Baseball World Cup (fourth-place finish) and 2011 Pan Am Games (second-place finish).[6] Circa 2013, he served on the board of directors of USA Baseball.[7]

In August 2019, Young became a national team coach for the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament.[8] The team finished fourth in the tournament, and failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.[9] In April 2021, Young was again named as a coach for the national team, for the team's final efforts to qualify for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.[10] The team qualified, with Young serving as hitting coach and first base coach for the Olympics.[11][12] The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Ernie Young - Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame". Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame.
  2. ^ Cardinals' Media Relations, ed. (2001). St. Louis Cardinals 2001 Media Guide. Hadler Printing Company. pp. D-23.
  3. ^ Lisa Winston (January 9, 2008). "Young's 'retirement' won't be restful". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  4. ^ "Young to manage Intimidators in 2009". independenttribune.com. November 21, 2008. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  5. ^ "Former Tigers outfielder Ernie Young officially named Whitecaps manager". mlive.com. October 21, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  6. ^ "2011 Pan Am Team Roster". Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  7. ^ "Ernie Young — Recent Athlete (Secretary General)". Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  8. ^ "USA Baseball Finalizes Premier12 Coaching Staff". USA Baseball. August 13, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  9. ^ "Navarro singles in extras, brings Mexico to the 2020 Olympics".
  10. ^ "USA Baseball Finalizes 2021 Professional National Team Staff". USA Baseball. April 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Rhim, Kris; Speier, Alex (July 2, 2021). "Red Sox minor-leaguers Triston Casas, Jack Lopez named to US baseball team for Olympics". Boston.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  12. ^ "Olympic Team Roster". usabaseball.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  13. ^ "Baseball/Softball - United States vs Japan - Gold Medal Game Results". olympics.com. August 7, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.