Terrmel Sledge, also known as Terrence Melvin Sledge (born March 18, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the former assistant hitting coach of the Chicago Cubs. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Yokohama BayStars. Prior to being hired by the Cubs, he was the hitting coach for the Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League.
| Terrmel Sledge | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Sledge with the Yokohama BayStars in 2010 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: March 18, 1977 Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: April 6, 2004, for the Montreal Expos | |
| NPB: March 20, 2008, for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |
| Last appearance | |
| MLB: October 1, 2007, for the San Diego Padres | |
| NPB: June 13, 2012, for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Home runs | 25 |
| Runs batted in | 100 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 96 |
| Runs batted in | 315 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
Amateur career
editSledge attended John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, California and played college baseball at Long Beach State. In 1997, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[1]
Professional career
editSledge's major league career began in 2004 with the Montreal Expos. He batted .269/.336/.462 with 15 home runs and 62 runs batted in in his rookie year. On September 29, 2004 he was the final out at the last Expos home game when he popped out to third base in 9-1 loss to the Florida Marlins On October 3, 2004, he recorded the final hit and RBI in Expos history when he drove in Jamey Carroll on an RBI single in a game against the New York Mets.[2]
Sledge moved with the team to Washington, D.C. the following season as the Expos relocated, and hit the first-ever home run for the Washington Nationals. He was traded to the Texas Rangers along with fellow outfielder Brad Wilkerson and Armando Galarraga for second baseman Alfonso Soriano on December 7, 2005. He was subsequently traded to the San Diego Padres in a six-player deal on January 6, 2006.
On November 29, 2007, Sledge was granted permission by the Padres to sign with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional League.
On December 17, 2009, Sledge signed a contract with Yokohama BayStars for the 2010 season.
In October 2003, while training with the USA Olympic baseball team, Sledge became one of the first MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs.[3] Sledge was not subject to discipline by MLB as the substance was not barred under league rules at the time.[4]
Coaching career
editSledge retired after the 2012 season and spent 2015 as the assistant hitting coach for the Eugene Emeralds. In 2016, he was named hitting coach for the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Texas League.[5]
In late 2018, the Chicago Cubs hired Sledge as assistant hitting coach for the 2019 season.[6] He took over the position held by Andy Haines, who was hired to be the Milwaukee Brewers' hitting coach.[7] The organization did not tender Sledge a contract to return for the 2021 season.[8]
Personal life
editSledge is half Korean and half African American; his mother is Korean and his father is black. According to his father, his name is a combination of Terrence and Melvin, two names his parents had considered naming him when he was born. Sledge has two children.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ "Player Stats". Cape Cod Baseball League. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
- ^ "Montreal Expos vs New York Mets Box Score: October 3, 2004". baseball-reference.com. Sports-Reference, LLC. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ^ "TRACK AND FIELD; 3 Face Bans After Positive Drug Tests". The New York Times. January 14, 2004.
- ^ "USA Baseball Still Wants Pro Players". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 2004.
- ^ Tulsa Drillers (January 14, 2016). "Dodgers Announce 2016 Drillers Coaching Staff". milb.com. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
- ^ "Cubs Name Tommy Hottovy Their New Pitching Coach". 670 The Score. December 6, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- ^ Bastian, Jordan (November 29, 2018). "Source: Sledge to be Cubs' asst. hitting coach". mlb.com. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- ^ Gonzales, Mark (October 23, 2020). "Assistant hitting coach Terrmel Sledge not returning to the Chicago Cubs in 2021". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
External links
edit- Career statistics from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet