Junior Spivey

From SoSH

Ernest Lee Spivey Jr. (born January 28, 1975 in Oklahoma City, OK) spent one season in the Red Sox' minor league system, playing for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox. He played in the majors for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals.

Contents 1 Minor Leagues 2 Arizona Diamondbacks 3 Milwaukee Brewers 4 Washington Nationals 5 Later Years 6 Spivey's Moments in the Sun 7 Awards 8 Trivia 9 Transactions 10 External Links

Minor Leagues

After graduating in 1993 from Oklahoma City (OK) Douglass High School, where he had played catcher, Spivey enrolled at Northwest Oklahoma State, where he was slated to play basketball. After redshirting due to injury, he transferred at the end of the first semester to Cowley County (KS) Junior College and began working out with the baseball team and learning to play the infield. He played second base for Cowley in 1995 and quickly gained the attention of MLB scouts. After his freshman season the St. Louis Cardinals made him their 28th-round pick (#771 overall) in the 1995 amateur draft. Spivey elected not to sign, returning to Cowley. Playing mainly shortstop as a sophomore, he led the Tigers to a 51-13 record in 1996. He was again chosen in the MLB draft, this time by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but slipped to the 36th round (#1,085 overall).

After signing, Spivey began his pro career that summer with Phoenix in the Arizona rookie league, leading the circuit with a .333 batting average and 11 stolen bases in 20 games. He was named the Diamondbacks' Organizational Player of the Month for June, and promoted to the Lethbridge Black Diamonds in the rookie-level Pioneer League. On a talent-laden team that hit a collective .314 with a .407 on-base percentage, Spivey put up a .336 average and .459 OBP.

Junior spent all of 1997 with high class A High Desert, hitting .273 with a .373 OBP with a 16-game hitting streak, but he also struck out 115 times. He repeated the league in 1998, improving his walk rate from every 8.35 PA to once every 5.51 PA while hitting .281 with a .416 OBP. Spivey was the Diamondbacks' Minor League Player of the Month for May, hitting .337 with seven RBI and 12 SB for the Mavericks. He was also selected for the California League All-Star Game, but did not play due to a sprained finger. Weeks later he was promoted to AA Tulsa, where he hit .311 with a .442 OBP. In 10 playoff games he hit .342 to help lead the Drillers to the Texas League championship. His combined 92 BB and 48 SB at both levels were tops that year among D-Backs minor leaguers.

Injuries marred Spivey's 1999 campaign at El Paso, Arizona's new AA affiliate. He missed the first six weeks with a torn thumb ligament, and played just 44 games after returning. He hit .293 with a .424 OBP before a broken left hamate bone ended his season. He returned to El Paso to begin the 2000 season, but was quickly promoted to AAA Tucson after going 8-for-19 with 5 doubles and a homer in his first 6 games. However the injury bug again bit Spivey, and he was sidelined five weeks by a strained left hamstring. He came back to play just five games before tearing the hamstring and ending his season. Overall he hit .258 with a .354 OBP in 28 games for the Sidewinders.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Spivey began 2001 back at Tucson and struggled to regain his form at the plate, batting just .232, though his ability to draw walks boosted his OBP to .326. Nonetheless, the Diamondbacks called him up to the majors, where he debuted June 2 as a 9th-inning pinch-runner for Mark Grace in a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres. His first at-bat came two days later when he grounded out off Gregg Olson of the Dodgers. In his first MLB start against L.A. on June 7, he batted second in the lineup and walked in the 1st inning against Darren Dreifort, scoring moments later on a homer by Erubiel Durazo. He walked again and scored in the 3rd inning.

Spivey got his first hit in the 6th inning, an RBI single off Olson that scored Chad Moeller. He capped off his performance with his first major league home run, an 8th-inning solo shot to left-center field off Jesse Orosco, finishing a 2-for-3 day with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. He reached base safely in his first 13 major-league starts and 25 of his first 26, hitting .337 (32-for-95)

On June 21, Spivey put on a show in Colorado, going five-for-six with 3 runs and 3 RBI against the Rockies. On August 12 in Atlanta, he went 5-for-5, including 4 straight hits off Greg Maddux, and scored 3 runs in a 9-1 win over the Braves. However, Spivey slumped after that game, going just 10-for-60 (.167) over his next 30 games, and it cost him a spot on Arizona's postseason roster as the Diamondbacks went on to beat the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.

2002 would prove to be the best pro season of Spivey's career, as he made the National League All-Star Team as a reserve. He led Arizona in average (.301), runs scored (103), hits (162) and doubles (34) despite being shifted amongst all nine spots in the batting order. With his plate-crowding stance, he was hit by a team-high 16 pitches. Junior also fashioned a team-best 18-game hitting streak that was sandwiched around a 25-day stint on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. At the All-Star break his .328 average ranked 4th in the NL behind Larry Walker (.350), Barry Bonds (.348) and Luis Castillo (.341). Among NL second basemen, his 47.5 VORP trailed only Jeff Kent (77.7) and Jose Vidro (59.5).

Two of his career-high 16 home runs were especially memorable. On May 18, he crushed a 461-foot walkoff homer in the last of the 9th off Jose Mesa to beat the [[Philadelphia Phillies|Phillies]. Then on June 9 in a 7-3 win over the Red Sox, he hit an 8th-inning gapper to Fenway Park's quirky center-field corner off Boston's Chris Haney, then raced around the bases for Fenway's first inside-the-parker since Toronto's Junior Felix turned the trick on June 2, 1989.

Spivey got his first and only taste of the postseason that fall, going 2-for-13 in the NLDS, as the Cardinals swept Arizona. In the first inning of Game 1, he singled off Matt Morris in his first postseason at-bat. His only other hit came off Chuck Finley in Game 2, also a first-inning single. That November, Spivey traveled to Japan as part of MLB's All-Star Tour.

In February 2003, the Diamondbacks signed Spivey to a two-year deal that bought out his first year of arbitration eligibilty. The deal paid him $432,000 in 2003 and $$2,367,500 in 2004.

As the 2003 season began, Spivey fell victim to the fabled Sophomore Slump. He started off in a 1-for-23 stretch batting in the third slot before being benched. He regained his form after returning to the lineup, going 25-for-73 (.342) with 7 homers, 19 RBI and 18 runs scored in 17 games between April 28 and and May 20. During that tear, he homered in three straight early May games in Atlanta, including a pinch-hit two-run shot off Ray King. On June 4 at Bank One Ballpark, he played center field for the first time in his career, entering a game against the White Sox in the 6th inning as a defensive replacement for Steve Finley. However, Spivey would miss five weeks after tearing an ankle ligament while running out a grounder at the Metrodome on June 14. After being activated he entered a 4-for-30 (.133) slump over 10 games. He finished out the year with a disappointing .255 average and .326 OBP.

Milwaukee Brewers

In early December, Spivey was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of an eight-player deal. After telling a reporter, "I'm devastated. I fell in love with the city (of Phoenix)," a headline in a Milwaukee newspaper implied that Spivey wanted no part of Wisconsin's largest city. What Spivey had meant was that it was difficult for him to leave an organization he'd spent his entire 8-year career with. Despite his efforts to clarify his statement, the controversy surrounded him throughout spring training.

On the field, his 2004 season was evocative of his 2003 campaign, including a 3-for-21 (.143) start followed by a 20-for-55 April stretch (.364 BA, .429 OBP). Once again his hamstrings were an issue, as a strained right hammy limited him to just one AB over 20 days in May. He was slow out of the gates on his return, going 10-for-35 (.143) over his first 10 games back, but then went on an 18-game tear in June with a .357 BA and .446 OBP. However a left shoulder injury sustained July 2 in Pittsburgh brought his year to an end after just 59 games. He underwent surgery July 30, as Dr. Lewis Yocum who placed three anchors in his labrum and debrided the sub-scapolaris muscle, a part of the rotator cuff.

That offseason, Spivey and his agent, ex-A's pitcher Dave Stewart, submitted a $2.6 million salary request in arbitration filings, while the Brewers offered $2 million even. The sides avoided arbitration and agreed to a new contract paying $2,125,000 in base salary and up to $475,000 in additional incentives based on games played. Though shoulder soreness and stiffness lingered for most of 2005 spring training, Spivey started tea season going 10-for-26 (.385) in his first five starts with a pair of homers and three 3-hit games. By late April, an 8-for-59 stretch (.136) with 21 whiffs and just 5 walks had sunk his average to .212.

Washington Nationals

On June 10, with Spivey carrying a .236/.308/.374 line, the Brewers cut their losses and traded him to the Washington Nationals for former Red Sox pitcher Tomo Ohka. On June 12, in his third game with the Nationals, Spivey clubbed a 2-run homer off Seattle's Ryan Franklin in the second inning that gave his team the lead for good in a 2-1 victory over the Mariners. But the change of scenery did little to improve Junior's game. Despite a 10-game hitting streak (14-for-36, .389 BA, .488 OBP), he would hit just .221 in 28 games with Washington.

On July 9, just before the All-Star break, Spivey suffered yet another injury when he broke his wrist during batting practice. While hitting off a tee into a net, the ball he hit richocheted off the net's metal frame, hitting him on the right forearm and fracturing his radius. Junior missed 63 games after undergoing surgery. He returned for five games in late September, but only appeared as a pinch runner. That December, he was non-tendered by the Nationals and became a free agent.

Later Years

Just before Christmas 2005, Spivey signed a 1-year, $1.2 million contract with the Cardinals. He hit just .138 in spring training along with 5 errors while struggling with more shoulder issues, and accepted an assignment to AAA Memphis. In 89 games for the Redbirds he batted just .200, though his 58 walks gave him a .347 OBP and he showed some power with 9 homers. Most of his plate woes came while batting in the leadoff spot (20-for-135, .148), but he hit a respectable 20-for-73 (.274) in the 2-hole. His bright spots included three straight 2-RBI games in July against Round Rock, and back-to-back 3-hit games in August against Iowa. But Spivey never hit well enough to warrant a recall to St. Louis and by season's end he was once again looking for a fresh start.

Spivey headed south for the winter, joining Aguilas in the Mexican Pacific League, but played only 9 games. On January 30, 2007, shortly after his 32nd birthday, he signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. However, they released him after he went 3-for-14 in just five spring training games. Spivey latched on with the Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League and found consistent success in the game for the first time since 2002, hitting .333 with a .440 OBP in 65 games.

His run gained the interest of Red Sox scouts looking to shore up their depth, and Boston signed Spivey to a minor league contract August 5. Assigned to AAA Pawtucket, he saw most of his action in the outfield, playing 10 games in left, 6 games in center and 9 games at second. He was hitting just .200 (16-for-80) entering the PawSox' final three games of the season, but Junior went 5-for-10, including a 3-for-4 final day, to raise his average to .241. That same day, September 3, he also clubbed his final home run as a pro. Unlike his Pawtucket teammate Royce Clayton, who joined Pawtucket weeks after Junior and played just 7 games, Spivey did not get called up to Boston in September.

Boston re-signed Spivey to another minor league contract for 2008. After going 1-for-3 with a single in two preseason games, the Red Sox released him on March 23, 2008. He returned home to Chandler, Arizona, where he lives with his wife, Tabitha, and son, Earnest Lee III. He remains an eligible free agent.

Spivey's Moments in the Sun

• The 2002 Season

Awards

• 2002 National League All-Star

Trivia

• With his pair of 5-hit games in 2001, he became just the fifth rookie since 1954 to achieve that feat, joining the Cardinals' Wally Moon (1954), the Cubs' Ken Hubbs (1962), Milwaukee's Rico Carty (1964) and the White Sox' Chris Singleton (1999).
• He’s a friend of the Henry family, which includes the New York Yankees first-round pick, C.J. Henry, and the class of 2009’s top-ranked shooting guard prospect, Xavier Henry.
• Spivey is also a close friend of NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb.
• Among Spivey's teammates at Cowley College was future Cleveland Indians slugger Travis Hafner. Hafner, along with future Red Sox pitcher Travis Hughes, would lead Cowley to back-to-back NJCAA World Series Championships in 1997 and 1998.
• Spivey is a co-owner of the web site proathletesonly.com, along with fellow pro athletes Edgerrin James, Santana Moss, Darcy Hordichuk, Kenny Kelly, Demetric Evans, Sam Marsonek and former professional tennis player Victoria Hunt. Developed by former sports agent Scott Helfand, the site bills itself as "the leading source for news, information and services directly relating to the lives of professional athletes," such as how to find a pediatrician, what neighborhood to live in, or where to go to church.
• According to New York Times writer Pete Thamel, who sat next to Spivey on a flight shortly after the Red Sox released him from spring training, Junior had nothing but praise for them. "He raved on and on about the class of the Red Sox organization."
• His son, nicknamed Tre to signify the third generation of a shared family name, was born February 7, 2005 -- less than 24 hours after the wives of Lyle Overbay and Craig Counsell also gave birth to baby boys. The three had formed a double-play combination in Arizona's infield, and they were all traded together to the Brewers.

Transactions

• June 1, 1995: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 28th round of the 1995 amateur draft, but did not sign.
• June 4, 1996: Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 36th round of the 1996 amateur draft. Player signed June 14, 1996.
• December 1, 2003: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks with Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Lyle Overbay, and Jorge de la Rosa to the Milwaukee Brewers for Richie Sexson, Noochie Varner (PTBNL) and Shane Nance.
• June 10, 2005: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Washington Nationals for Tomokazu Ohka.
• December 21, 2005: Granted Free Agency.
• January 5, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• October 2, 2006: Granted Free Agency.
• August 4, 2007: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis