Wife's name is Izaly...the couple has two sons (Michael Jr. and Liam)...Attended Troy State University.
2009
Batted .228 with 2HR and 14RBI in 41 games with Milwaukee, making 31 starts at C...the team went 19-12 in games he started, despite being 80-82 overall...Brewers pitchers had a 4.38 ERA in games he caught (271.0IP, 132ER) and a 4.83 ERA overall...threw out five of 23 potential basestealers (21.7%) without committing an error...was placed on the 15-day disabled list from 4/29-5/13 with a sprained left ankle...suffered the injury on 4/28 vs. Pittsburgh on a play at the plate (was slid into by Brian Bixler)...recorded his first career two-homer game and a career-high 5RBI on 8/13 vs. San Diego.
2008
Batted .306 with 1HR and 14RBI in 21 games for Milwaukee... made 15 starts (13 at C, two at 1B)...his starts at 1B were the first of his career...hit only home run of the season on 4/30 at Chicago-NL.
2007
Spent most of the season with Triple-A Nashville, batting .215 with 19HR and 61RBI in 96 games... had
his contract purchased by Milwaukee on 9/4... in 11 games with the Brewers, hit .231 with 2HR and 3RBI... made his only start on 9/29 vs. San Diego.
2006
Began the season at Triple-A Nashville, where he batted .296 with 10 HR and 46 RBI in 60 games and was a Pacific Coast League All-Star. ... Contract was purchased by Milwaukee on 7/6. Batted .268 with 6 HR and 24 RBI in 46 games with the Brewers, including 39 starts behind the plate. ... Threw out 8 of 47 runners attempting to steal (17%) ... Batted .290 (9-for-31) with runners in scoring position, .348 (24-for-69) at home and .192 (14-for-73) on
the road. ... Made his Brewers debut on 7/7 vs. the Cubs and homered off Ryan Dempster in his final at-bat (1-4, 1rbi). ... Started each of the last 10 games of the season, batting .333 (12-for-36) with 6 doubles, a home run and 10 RBIs. ... Prior to this season had played in 62 Major League games with Detroit (2001-02) and San Diego (2003).
2005
Joined the Sounds on May 21 and spent the remainder of the season at Triple-A Nashville...Hit .285 with 16 homers and 43 RBI for the Pacific Coast League Champion Sounds...Hit .327 with five home runs and 11 RBI in July...Played 55 games at catcher, three games at first base and appeared in three games as a pinch-hitter...Enjoyed a seven-game hitting streak from July 30 - August 12...Hit two home runs in a game twice, August 10 at Salt Lake and July 24 at Omaha.
2004
Opened the season at Triple A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox organization, appearing in 11 games before being claimed off waivers by the Oakland A's on April 22...Assigned to Triple A Sacramento by Oakland...Hit safely in 12 of 13 games from July 10 - August 15, batting .455 with eight runs scored, three doubles, two
triples, four homers and 11 RBI.
2003
Began the season at Class AAA Portland in the San Diego organization ... was recalled by the Padres on 4/17 ... made 16 starts at catcher and threw out two of 12 (16.7 percent) attempted basestealers ... Padres pitchers owned a 5.70 ERA (88 ER/139.0 IP) when he was behind the plate ... made season debut on 4/19 at Colorado, going
1-4 with a double ... hit a two-run home run on 5/8 at Montreal ... was optioned to Portland on 5/23 after hitting .170
(9-53) in 19 games ... was claimed by the White Sox off waivers from the Padres on 6/9 and assigned to Class AAA
Charlotte, where he batted .310 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI in just 68 games ... still ranked fourth on the Knights
in home runs and RBI ... played 36 games at catcher, 29 at designated hitter and four at first base ... batted .323
(53-164) vs. right-handers ... batted .343 (46-134) with eight home runs and 37 RBI on the road and .270 (30-111)
with four homers and 15 RBI at home ... hit .327 (17-52) in June, .326 (28-86) in July and .291 (30-103) with five
home runs and 22 RBI in August ... drove in 14 runs over his final six games ... scored a run in eight straight games
from 8/21-30 ... went 4-5 with two home runs and six RBI on 8/30 at Durham ... played in 39 games in the Puerto
Rican Winter League (22 with Santurce and 17 with Carolina), combining to hit .254 (33-130) with two home runs
and 23 RBI.
MINOR LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS
2002: Ranked fourth in the Tigers system with 20 home runs at Class AAA Toledo ... went 4-6 with two home
runs and seven RBI on 5/29 at Ottawa ... homered in three straight games from 6/14-16 ... hit nine homers in June.
2001: Was named the Tigers co-Minor League Player of the Year after hitting 33 home runs with 101 RBI at Class
AA Erie, both the fourth-highest totals among all Class AA players ... led the Eastern League in home runs and home
runs ratio (12.58) and ranked second in slugging percentage (.578) and RBI ... was named to the EL mid and
postseason All-Star Teams ... hit .324 (24-74) with eight home runs and 27 RBI in April, .292 (28-96) with eight
homers and 22 RBI in May and .307 (27-88) with 10 homers and 23 RBI in June ... had four multihomer, 34 multihit
and 27 multiRBI games, including six four-RBI efforts ... hit four home runs with 12 RBI in his first four games ...
homered in back-to-back games five times and three straight once.
2000: Combined to hit .254 (103-406) with 30 doubles, 13 home runs and 63 RBI between Toledo, Class AA
Jacksonville and Class A Lakeland ... named Topps Minor League Player of the Month for June after batting .390
with eight doubles, six home runs and 28 RBI ... was named Florida State League Player of the Week for 4/17-23.
1999: Was named to the FSL midseason All-Star Team at Lakeland with 14 homers and 72 RBI ... drove in six
runs on 4/24 at Tampa ... led all FSL catchers with 106 assists ... hit a two-run homer in the FSL All-Star Game.
1998: Ranked second in the Midwest League with 34 doubles at Class A West Michigan ... led the club in doubles
and ranked second in home runs (nine) and RBI (67) ... was named Best Defensive Catcher in the MWL by league
managers in
Baseball America's Best Tools survey.
1997: Made his pro debut and led the Gulf Coast League with 10 home runs, ranked second with a .565 slugging
percentage and tied for third with 36 RBI ... named to GCL All-Star Team.
2002
Began the season as Detroit's starting catcher ... went 2-4 with an RBI on Opening Day at Tampa Bay ... collected seven RBI in first eight games but just one in 19 games from 4/21-5/24 ... hit first career homer on 4/4 at Tampa Bay, a solo shot off Jorge Sosa ... compiled career-high six-game hitting streak from 4/10-21 (.333, 8-24)
... batted .246 (15-61) in April but fell to .179 (5-28) in May ... was optioned to Class AAA Toledo on 5/26 ... was
recalled on 9/7 and batted .233 (10-43) in September ... played for Carolina in the Puerto Rican Winter League.
2001
His contract was purchased by the Tigers on 9/10 ... made his Major League debut on 9/18 at Minnesota
as a defensive replacement ... made first start on 9/22 at Boston and collected his first hit on 9/27 at Kansas City with a third-inning single off Mike MacDougal.
2000
Batted .254 with 13HR and 63RBI in 107 games between Single-A Lakeland (64 games), Triple-A Toledo (four games) and Double-A Jacksonville (39 games)... was named the Florida State League "Player of the Week" for the period from 4/17-23, batting .526 (10-for-19) with 2HR and 10RBI... was named the Topps FSL "Minor League Player of the Month"
in June, hitting .390 with 6HR and 28RBI.
1999
Spent most of the season at Single-A Lakeland, batting .278 with 14HR and 72RBI in 104 games, leading the team in home runs and RBI... was named to both the Florida State League's midseason and postseason All-Star teams and hit a two-run HR in the FSL All-Star Game.
1998
Batted .275 with 9HR and 67RBI in 108 games with Single-A West Michigan... tied for fifth in the Midwest League in doubles (34)... was named the "Best Defensive Catcher" in the Midwest League by
league managers in Baseball America's "Best Tools" survey.
1997
Made his professional debut, batting .286 with 10HR and 36RBI in 47 games with the GCL Tigers... led the Gulf Coast League in HR and ranked among league leaders in slugging percentage (second,
.565), RBI (third), extra-base hits (third, 21) and total bases (fourth, 87)... named to the GCL All-Star team.