Michael Cuddyer

Michael Brent Cuddyer (born March 27, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets.

He batted and threw right-handed.

In 1996 and 1997, he was named to the United States national under-18 baseball team, where he played in the World Junior Baseball Championship.

Cuddyer was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and is a 1997 graduate of Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was a standout athlete in baseball, basketball, and football as well as student body president and National Honor Society member.

In 1997, he was named to the All-America First Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings.

Cuddyer was named Virginia's Player of the Year and Gatorade National baseball Player of the Year in 1997.

He was also a member of USA Today's All-Star and the USA Junior National teams in 1997.

Cuddyer was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round with the ninth overall pick of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign until August.

Cuddyer initially committed to play college baseball at Florida State but waited for the Twins' signing bonus offer to increase from $700,000 to $1.3 million before deciding to go professional.

Consequently, he did not make his professional debut until 1998 when he was assigned to the Fort Wayne Wizards in the Single-A Midwest League.

Showing the tools that made him a first round draft pick and regularly named to the Baseball America's top minor league prospects, Cuddyer made steady progress through the Twins' minor league system and made his Major League Baseball debut on September 23, 2001, after hitting .301 with 30 home runs and 87 RBI in 141 games at Double-A New Britain.

In his first career game, he went 1-for-2 with a walk in a 4–2 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

After hitting .309 with 20 home runs and 53 RBI in 86 games at Triple-A Edmonton, Cuddyer would be called back up with the Twins for the 2002 stretch drive and would be named to the post-season roster where he would hit over .300 against the Oakland A's and the Anaheim Angels.

Despite playing over half of his 676 minor league games at third base and another 166 games at second, prior to the 2004 season Cuddyer got most of his playing time as an occasional fill-in in the outfield.

During 2004, Cuddyer started to see more time in the majors in the infield, playing second and third base.

After the departure of veteran Twins third baseman Corey Koskie to the Toronto Blue Jays by way of free agency in 2005, Cuddyer became the Twins' starting third baseman.

However, he struggled at third base and was relegated to a reserve role for much of 2005, although he did hit .263 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI in 125 games.

Cuddyer underwent surgery to repair a tear in his right lateral meniscus in October 2005.

The Twins then extended his contract on January 21, 2006, giving him a one-year deal worth $1.3 million.

After beginning the 2006 season on the bench, Cuddyer emerged as a regular in right field and in the cleanup spot of the Twins batting order.

He finished the season batting .284 with 24 home runs and a career-high 109 RBI in 150 games.

Cuddyer finished second on the Twins in RBI and third in home runs.

On January 25, 2008, Cuddyer re-signed with the Twins with a three-year $24 million contract, with a $10.5 million club option for 2011.

On April 4, 2008, Cuddyer dislocated his right index finger after sliding headfirst into third base.

He also suffered a laceration on the knuckle after getting stepped on by Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon.

He was put on the 15-day disabled list the next day, and was activated on April 25 against the Texas Rangers.

On his second game after being activated, Cuddyer hit a three-run home run off Rangers' Scott Feldman, his first of the 2008 season.

On May 22, 2009, Cuddyer hit for the cycle in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Three months later, on August 23, 2009, Cuddyer hit two home runs in the same inning, the seventh inning of the Twins' game against the Kansas City Royals, becoming the 53rd player in Major League Baseball to accomplish this feat.

He is the only player in major league history to have performed both offensive rarities in the same baseball season.

During September and October 2009, Cuddyer moved back into the infield playing first base filling in for Justin Morneau.

For the 2009 season, he batted .276 with a career-high 32 home runs and 94 RBI in 153 games.

Cuddyer returned to the outfield at the start of the 2010 season, but also found playing time at first and third base.

He batted .271 with 14 home runs and 81 RBI in 157 games that season.

Cuddyer was a two-time MLB All-Star, and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2013, when he led the National League in batting average.

During his high school career, he played American Legion Baseball and was named the 2014 American Legion Graduate of the Year.

Cuddyer has given back to his hometown and high school many times during his career.

Cuddyer announced his retirement after the 2015 season.

He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame on August 19, 2017.

Primarily a right fielder, Cuddyer made starts at every defensive position except catcher and shortstop over the course of his career.