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Doug Mirabelli
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Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970 in Kingman, Arizona) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (-), Texas Rangers , Boston Red Sox (2001-), and San Diego Padres before returning to the Red Sox (2006-). He batted and threw right-handed.
In an eleven-year career, Mirabelli was a .231 hitter with 58 home runs and 206 RBI in 566 games. While with the Red Sox, he was well-known as the personal catcher for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He was part of the Red Sox' World Series championship teams in and .
r leading Valley High School in his hometown of Las Vegas to two state baseball titles, Doug Mirabelli was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 6th Round (159th overall) of the Major League Baseball amateur draft, but did not sign.
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Encyclopedia
Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970 in Kingman, Arizona) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (-), Texas Rangers , Boston Red Sox (2001-), and San Diego Padres before returning to the Red Sox (2006-). He batted and threw right-handed.
In an eleven-year career, Mirabelli was a .231 hitter with 58 home runs and 206 RBI in 566 games. While with the Red Sox, he was well-known as the personal catcher for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He was part of the Red Sox' World Series championship teams in and .
High school and college
After leading Valley High School in his hometown of Las Vegas to two state baseball titles, Doug Mirabelli was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 6th Round (159th overall) of the Major League Baseball amateur draft, but did not sign. Mirabelli chose to attend Wichita State University instead, and was part of the 1989 College World Series championship team which included future major leaguers Eric Wedge, Mike Lansing, and Pat Meares.
In , Mirabelli was selected in the MLB draft again, this time by the San Francisco Giants in the 5th Round (131st overall).
Minor leagues
Mirabelli began his minor league career in 1992 with San Jose in the California League. Over the next four seasons, he also spent time with the Giants' AA club in Shreveport and the AAA team in Phoenix.
In 1996, Mirabelli started the year in AA, putting together an impressive season hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 70 RBI, earning a promotion to AAA. He bounced back to the AA level before earning a surprising promotion to the big leagues in August of that year. Mirabelli made his major league debut on August 23, 1996, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
San Francisco Giants: 1996-2000
In the late 1990s, the Giants teams often utilized a platoon at the catcher position, relying on different veterans to split time for most of the season. When Mirabelli reached the majors, he saw limited time and spent most of his season in AAA with Phoenix. In , he finally made the promotion to the majors permanent when he split time with veterans Brent Mayne and Scott Servais.
The following season, Mirabelli platooned with Bobby Estalella, but neither catcher hit above .230 or played well enough to earn the starting job.
Texas Rangers: 2001
During spring training of 2001, the Giants signed veteran catcher Benito Santiago, who took over the starting role. Mirabelli's contract was sold to the Texas Rangers, who made him the backup to All-Star catcher Iván Rodríguez. Mirabelli struggled, barely hitting above .100.
Boston Red Sox: 2001-2005
Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek was off to a great start in 2001, but a broken left elbow ended his season on June 7. The Red Sox acquired Doug Mirabelli on June 12 and he split time with Scott Hatteberg for the rest of the season. The change in scenery helped Mirabelli, who hit .270 with 9 home runs for the Red Sox.
After the season, the Red Sox traded Hatteberg and, in , Mirabelli found himself as the designated catcher for veterans Darren Oliver and Frank Castillo. However, neither one lasted in the rotation and Mirabelli soon found himself partnered with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. On July 23, 2002, Wakefield returned to the starting rotation after serving as a reliever for most of the season; Mirabelli made the start at catcher. The partnership seemed to work as Wakefield went 8-2 down the stretch and Mirabelli caught him each time.
Over the next three seasons, Wakefield and Mirabelli became an effective battery. As Wakefield solidified himself in the starting rotation, Mirabelli made almost every start for him as well as spot starts in relief of Varitek. Offensively, Mirabelli provided an occasional spark; he would become the only player in Major League Baseball history to hit six or more home runs in six consecutive seasons of fewer than 200 at-bats (from 2001 to 2006).
In 2005, Mirabelli hit just .228 and struck out in more than a third of his at bats. He also missed nearly a month due to a left wrist injury. Following the season, the Red Sox traded Mirabelli to the San Diego Padres for second baseman Mark Loretta.
San Diego Padres: 2006
For the first time in his major league career, Mirabelli was going to be given a chance to be a starting catcher. However, in early February, General Manager Kevin Towers decided to sign veteran catcher Mike Piazza and installed him as the starter instead. Mirabelli made just a handful of starts, hitting .182 with no RBI through April. Upset over Piazza's arrival and his subsequent lack of playing time, Mirabelli asked Towers to work out a deal that would send him back to Boston.
Return to Boston: 2006-2007
Mirabelli was reacquired by the Red Sox on May 1, 2006, in exchange for catcher Josh Bard, setup man Cla Meredith, and $100,000 cash. This reacquisition occurred because Bard had trouble catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball, committing 10 passed balls in just 7 games. The day the trade occurred, the Red Sox were to play their first game of the year against their rivals, the New York Yankees, at Fenway Park, and Tim Wakefield was scheduled to start. It took a private jet and a Massachusetts State Police escort to get Mirabelli to the field in time. His plane from the West Coast touched down at Logan Airport at 6:48 pm, he arrived at Fenway Park at 7:00 pm, and took his place behind the plate just in time for Wakefield's opening pitch at 7:13 pm. In an effort to conserve every second possible, the Red Sox sent a uniform along with the police escort for Mirabelli to change into while en route to Fenway Park from Logan Airport. The special glove (which is actually a woman's softball catcher's mitt) which Mirabelli had used in previous years to catch Wakefield had been left in Boston for Mirabelli's replacement; Bard had left it waiting for Mirabelli's arrival. Soon after, the New York Yankees admitted they had tried to acquire Mirabelli just to keep him from the Red Sox.
The acquisition did not pay off in 2006. Mirabelli hit under .200 for the rest of the season and battled an ankle injury late in the year; Wakefield pitched just over .500 before suffering an injury in July and missing almost two months. Mirabelli re-signed with the Red Sox for the 2007 season (one year, $700,000 contract), but his offense did not improve as he hit just .202, once again battling leg injuries late in the year.
In January , Mirabelli agreed in principle to a one year contract to return to the Red Sox for the 2008 season. The deal was reported to have a base salary of $550,000 with incentives. However, on March 13, 2008, Mirabelli was released by the Red Sox when the team elected to use Kevin Cash as its backup catcher.
Coaching career
On January 5, 2009, Mirabelli was named the new head baseball coach at St. Francis High School (Traverse City, Michigan).
Controversy
On April 25, 2007, while Boston was visiting the Baltimore Orioles in the teams' first match up of the season, a controversy arose when Orioles' play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne alleged during the fifth inning of his telecast that Mirabelli had told him years ago that Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the Red Sox's 2004 championship run was only a publicity stunt. "... That famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking, nah. It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR," said Thorne. Mirabelli initially vehemently denied so much as talking about the incident to Thorne, and the comments by both individuals rekindled a controversy on a national level which had been dormant for years. Although Red Sox management refused to comment on the situation, Mirabelli faced the media the following day to try to quell a situation that had clearly gotten out of hand. While also making a point to affirm that the substance on Schilling's sock was undoubtedly his own blood, he did acknowledge that there was likely a misunderstanding in a past dialogue with Thorne after the commentator had also accepted as much. Mirabelli's alleged statement later proved to be unfounded; Schilling's bloody sock now resides in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Mirabelli and his wife Kristin have two daughters: Molly and Emma, and a son, Joseph. He graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1989.
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