Full name MICHAEL SHANE SPENCER...Resides in Tampa, FL...Wife's name is Heidi...Graduated from Granite Hills
H.S. (CA) in 1990 where he was a high school teammate of former Indian Brian Giles...Was selected by New York
in the 28th round of the June 1990 free-agent draft...Was signed by Tim Schmidt.
2002
Spent his 13th and final season in the New York Yankees organization, his 5th at the big league level...Has
appeared at first base 25 times in his professional career and just once (8/2/98 @SEA) at the big league level...Hit .247 (71-288) in 2002 with 15 doubles, 6 HR & 34 RBI in a career-high 94 games...It was the most at bats (288) that Spencer has ever received in a single season with the Yankees...Made 42 starts in right field (55G), 34 starts in left field (40G) and one at DH for the AL East champs, hitting .267 (20-75) off LHP.
Went 3 for 4 w/a double on April 1 at Baltimore, returning to the opening day line-up (2nd career OD start) after starting the 2001 season on the DL recovering from right knee surgery in July of 2000...Was 3 for 4 w/a HR and a season-high 4RBI on June 10 vs. Arizona, including his 4th career grand slam in the 8th inning off Bret Prinz that erased a 4-3 D-Backs lead and propelled them to a 7-5 win...Had six 3-hit games on the year as his season-high hitting streak was 5 games...Missed 5 games from June 28 to July 3 with a sprained right wrist.
He was limited to just 3 games and 8 at bats in September due to a strained left hamstring, but was on the Yankees' Division Series roster vs. Anaheim...Suffered the left hamstring strain on August 31 at Toronto and missed the next 16 games before returning on Sept. 18 at Tampa Bay...Eventually left that game after aggravating the injury and missed the next 9 games...Started in RF on the season's last day on Sept. 29 at Baltimore...He was not tendered a 2003 contract by the Yankees on December 20 and was granted free agency...Since 1998 when Spencer HR'd in a game, the Yankees were 35-6.
2001
Hit .258 (73-for-283) with 10HR and 46RBI in 81 games (36 starts in LF, 23 starts in RF, 14 starts at DH)...Was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on 6/12...Tore anterior cruciate ligament in right knee while fielding double in first inning on 7/9/00 at Shea Stadium vs. the Mets and was placed on 60-day D.L. on 7/12/00...Was reinstated on 4/14/01 and assigned to AAA Columbus for rehab assignment...On 4/29 Spencer was reinstated from the D.L. and optioned back to Columbus...Replaced Knoblauch in LF in third inning of 6/14 win vs. Montreal and was 1-for-2 with solo HR (#1) and 1BB in his first appearance since 7/9/00 at New York Mets...Started in RF the following day and batted fourth in 6/15 win vs. the Mets, hitting his second solo-HR in as many games...Had season-high 4 H, going 4-for-5 with a solo-HR and 4RBI in 6/27 win vs. Cleveland...Had career-high 6RBI in 7/ 26 win vs. Detroit, going 3-for-5 with 1R, 2 doubles, three-run HR (#6)...Was 3-for-4 in 8/1 win vs. Texas and had gone a career-high 37 plate appearances without striking out before fanning in the first inning...Hit .229 (8- for-35) with 1 HR and 2 RBI in 15 post-season games...Hit his first career World-Series home run in Game Four.
2000
Missed the entire second half of the season and postseason with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee...Made 68 starts (33 at DH, 31 in LF and 3 in RF)...Made his second straight Opening-Day roster and first career Opening-Day start on 4/3 at Anaheim, going 1-for-3 with a solo home run in the 3-2 victory...Recorded his first career stolen base on 4/23 vs. Toronto...Recorded his first career triple on 5/3 at Cleveland...Had a career-high eight-game hitting streak from 5/13-27...Tied his career high of 4 RBI in a game on 4/15 vs. Kansas City, 6/19 at Boston and 6/24 at Chicago (now done six times)...Tore the ACL in his right knee while fielding a double in a 2-0 loss on 7/9 at New York (Mets)...Was placed on the 60-day disabled list on 7/12, ending his season.
1999
Spent majority of the season with the Yankees...Made only two starts in left field for the Yankees before being optioned to Columbus on 4/29...Was recalled from Columbus after hitting .324 (11-for-34) with 10 R, 1 HR and 4 RBI in nine games...On 5/11 vs. Anaheim, hit 11th home run in only his 81st career at bat, establishing the Major League record for fewest ABs to reach 11 home runs (previous record held by Dave Hostetler in 90 AB)...Hit Yankees' first pinch-hit home run of the season in the ninth inning of 5/29 win at Toronto...Hit game-winning, ninth-inning home run on 6/25 at Baltimore...Homered for the third time in four games on 6/29 vs. Detroit...Left 7/2 game vs. Baltimore in the seventh inning due to dizziness, ending his season-high seven-game hitting streak...Was sent to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for testing and evaluation...Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 7/3 with atrial fibrilation (irregular heartbeat)...Was activated from the 15-day D.L. on 7/27 and was 1-for-2 after pinch running for Ricky Ledee in the second inning of 5-3 win at Chicago...In the ALCS (the only playoff series in which he was activated), was 1-for-9 in three games played.
1998
After nine years in the minors, Spencer burst onto the scene to play a key role in the Yankees' historic season...In four stints with the Yankees, he batted .373 with 10 HR and 27 RBI in 27 games...Made 15 starts (7 in LF, 6 in RF, 1 at first base and 1 at DH)...Was originally recalled on 4/7, when Chili Davis was placed on the 15-day disabled list...Made his Major-League debut in a 17-13 win on 4/10 vs. Oakland (announced for Strawberry in the eighth)...Made his first Major-League start on 4/17 at Detroit, going 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly as the DH...Was optioned back to Columbus on 4/26 to make room for Luis Sojo on the 25-man roster...Was recalled on 6/9 and played one game before being optioned back to Columbus, making room for Derek Jeter on the 25-man roster...Was recalled for the third time on 7/27...Collected his first Major-League hit on 7/28 at Anaheim, a pinch-hit single off Greg Caderet in a 9-3 win...Hit his first two Major-League home runs in the second game of a doubleheader on 8/7 vs. Kansas City (solo shot off Tim Byrdak and two-run homer off Matt Whisenant)...Was 5-for-5 with 4 R, 2 doubles and 3 RBI in the 14-2 win, becoming the first Yankee rookie to collect five hits in a game since Bernie Williams on 10/5/91 vs. Cleveland...Was optioned back to Columbus on 8/17, when Chili Davis returned from the DL...Was recalled for the final time on 8/31...Belted his first career grand slam in a 15-5 win on 9/18 at Baltimore (off Jesse Orosco)...Went 5-for-7 with 3 RBI in a doubleheader sweep on 9/22 vs. Cleveland, including his second career two-homer game in Game 1 off Dave Burba...Hit his second career grand slam in a 5-2 win on 9/24 vs. Tampa Bay, becoming the first Yankee rookie to hit two slams in one season since Yogi Berra did it in 1947...Hit his third career grand slam (and second of the week) in an 8-3 win on 9/27 vs. Tampa Bay...Became only the seventh Yankee to hit at least three grand slams in a single season (also Mattingly, Henrich, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ruth and M. Stanley)...Was named the American League's Player-of-the-Week for 9/21-27...Hit eight home runs in September, establishing a Yankees' rookie record for the month (previous record of six was held by Ben Paschal in 1925 and Joe Gordon in 1938) and tied major league record with 3 grand slams in one month...Was named to the post-season roster after hitting .421 with a team-leading 8 HR and 21 RBI in September...Batted .500 (3-for-6) with 2 HR and 4 RBI in the Division Series vs. Texas...Homered in his first career post-season at-bat, belting a solo shot off Rick Helling in the second inning of the Yankees' 3-1 victory in Game
2 of the Division Series at Yankee Stadium...Hit a three-run homer in the Yankees' 4-0 victory in Game 3 of the Division Series at Texas...Batted .263 with 2 HR and 4 RBI in six post-season games overall...His .322 average at Columbus was 4th in the IL and his .570 slugging % was 5th.
