Mike Devereaux

Mike Devereaux
Outfielder
Born: (1963-04-10) April 10, 1963 (age 61)
Casper, Wyoming, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 2, 1987, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
April 17, 1998, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics
Batting average.254
Home runs105
Runs batted in480
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Michael Devereaux (born April 10, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round of the 1985 amateur draft and made his debut on September 2, 1987. Along with the Dodgers, Devereaux played for the Baltimore Orioles in two separate stints, and the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers.

Early life

Devereaux was born in Casper, Wyoming. He went to Kelly Walsh High School in Casper.[1] He played collegiately at Mesa Community College and Arizona State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Finance.[2][3]

Career highlights

Devereaux was acquired by the Orioles from the Dodgers for Mike Morgan on March 11, 1989.[4] The peak of his career was from 1989 to 1993, with his best season coming in 1992 with the Orioles, when he played in 159 games, with 24 home runs, 107 RBIs and a .276 batting average. Devereaux won the 1995 NLCS MVP award with the Atlanta Braves by driving in the game-winning RBI in the 11th inning of Game One and hitting a three-run home run in Game Four against Cincinnati. The Braves went on to defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.

On July 15, 1989, Devereaux hit a walk-off home run in an 11-9 win against the California Angels.[5] The call was controversial, as the home run ball came extremely close to the foul pole. Angels manager Doug Rader argued the call with umpire Ken Kaiser the following day and was ejected prior to the start of the next game.[6]

Devereaux played his final MLB game with his original team, the Dodgers, on April 17, 1998. In 12 seasons, he had a .254 batting average, and hit 105 home runs with 480 RBIs, three grand slams, 635 strikeouts, 85 stolen bases, and 29 errors. He is second in career home runs by a player born in Wyoming (only John Buck has more).

In March 2021, the Baltimore Orioles announced that Devereaux had been elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame. He was one of four inductees honored with an on-field ceremony prior to the Orioles game on August 7, 2021.[7]

Post-playing career

Devereaux served as field coach for the Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles Class-A Affiliate, South Atlantic League) in 2010, replacing former third baseman Ryan Minor, who had been promoted to team manager.[8] Devereaux was the field coach for the Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles Class-A Affiliate, Carolina League) in 2011.[9] He was the hitting coach for the Asheville Tourists (Colorado Rockies Class-A affiliate, South Atlantic League) from the 2012 season[10][11] through the 2016 season, after which in 2017 he was assigned to the Boise Hawks, the Rockies' affiliate in the short-season Class A Northwest League.[12][13] For the 2018 season, he was the hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds Double A affiliate, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the Southern League.[14] Devereaux was the 2019 hitting coach with the single-A Dayton Dragons, a Reds affiliate.[15][16] As of August 2021, Devereaux was working as a roving hitting, outfield, and base running coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[17] Devereaux worked for the Orioles as a guest instructor at spring training in February, 2023.[18] He joined MASN as a part-time game analyst on Orioles telecasts on June 30, 2023.[19] He is scheduled to be a broadcaster on two Orioles home series in July and August 2023.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Mike Devereaux Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  2. ^ 1991 Topps baseball card # 758
  3. ^ King, Greg. "Mike Devereaux". SABR.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Wolf, Bob (March 12, 1989). "Dodger Notebook: Devereaux Is Traded to Orioles in Exchange for Pitcher Morgan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Box Score of Game played on Saturday, July 15, 1989 at Memorial Stadium". Baseball Almanac.
  6. ^ Gammons, Peter (August 7, 1989). "He's an Angel Now". Sports Illustrated.
  7. ^ Waldman, Tyler (March 26, 2021). "Orioles: Hardy, Devereaux, broadcaster Angel to enter team hall of fame". WBAL (AM). Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  8. ^ Kubatko, Roch (December 31, 2009). "School of Roch: Shorebird shuffling". MASN.
  9. ^ "Orioles Name Minor League Managers, Coaches And Staff". Orioles.com (Press release). Baltimore Orioles. January 28, 2011. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  10. ^ Ballew, Bill (December 14, 2011). "Rockies, Tourists reveal 2012 Asheville coaching staff". Asheville Tourists News. Asheville Tourists.
  11. ^ Maurer, Doug (January 21, 2016). "Tourists 2016 Coaching Staff Announced". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  12. ^ "Schaeffer to have new staff with him in Tourists' dugout in 2017". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina: Gannett. January 27, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  13. ^ "Boise Hawks' new coaching staff includes four former major-leaguers". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho: The McClatchy Company. January 26, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  14. ^ Buchanan, Zach (January 17, 2018). "Here are the Cincinnati Reds' minor-league coaching staffs". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  15. ^ Pendleton, Marc (January 9, 2019). "Bolivar returns as Dragons manager for third straight season". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Katz, Marc (November 14, 2019). "Former Red 'Gookie' Dawkins to manage Dayton Dragons next season". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  17. ^ Sayers, Tessa (August 6, 2021). "Celebrating the 2021 Orioles Hall of Famers". MLB.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Kubatko, Roch (June 3, 2023). "Devereaux on Mullins: "He's top of the line in my book"". MASN. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  19. ^ "MASN adds three new broadcasters to its air". MASN (Press release). June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.