Ryan Hanigan
Hanigan during Reds Spring Training 2009
Cincinnati Reds – No. 29
Catcher
Born: (1980-08-16) August 16, 1980 (age 31) Washington, D.C.
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 2007 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through April 26, 2012)
Batting average	.278
Home runs	16
Runs batted in	97
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2007-present)

Ryan M. Hanigan (born August 16, 1980 in Washington D.C.) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Cincinnati Reds.

Hanigan made his debut at the end of the 2007 season as a September call-up. He debuted on September 9 as a pinch hitter, and recorded his first major-league hit in that at-bat. Previously, his 2007 season had been split between time with the Reds' Triple-A and Double-A affiliates, the Louisville Bats and Chattanooga Lookouts.

He is the first regular player from Rollins College since Clay Bellinger to appear in the Major Leagues.^{[citation needed]} He was called up to the Reds on August 12, 2008. He and Emmanuel Burriss are the only players currently in the majors born in Washington D.C.

Major League Career[link]

On April 3, 2011, Ryan broke two of his personal records by hitting more than one home run in a single game and getting 4 hits in a single game. Hanigan is also known for having a very good throwing arm behind the plate, he has a career 37% caught-stealing percentage.

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

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Corky Miller
Miller with the Reds in 2009
Cincinnati Reds – No. 37
Catcher
Born: (1976-03-18) March 18, 1976 (age 36) Yucaipa, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 2001 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.188
Home runs	11
Runs batted in	59
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2001-2004) Minnesota Twins (2005) Boston Red Sox (2006) Atlanta Braves (2007-2008) Chicago White Sox (2009) Cincinnati Reds (2009-2010)

Corky Abraham Phillip Miller [1] (born March 18, 1976 in Yucaipa, California) is a Major League Baseball catcher. His real given name is Corky and he was given two middle names (Abraham and Phillip).

College career[link]

Miller was drafted by the California Angels in the 23rd Round (629th overall) of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft, but he did not sign, opting to attend the University of Nevada, Reno.

First stint with Reds[link]

Miller signed with the Cincinnati Reds as an undrafted free agent in 1998. He made his major league debut in 2001, staying with the Reds through 2004.

Minnesota Twins[link]

Miller played for the Minnesota Twins in 2005.

Boston Red Sox[link]

He was signed by the Boston Red Sox on April 25, 2006, and added to the Pawtucket Red Sox Triple-A roster. Miller was promoted to Boston on August 5, 2006, but his tenure in Boston would not last long. After appearing in just one game (a 7-6 defeat against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on August 6, 2006), Miller would be designated for assignment on August 14, 2006, to make room for Craig Breslow, who was promoted from Pawtucket.

Atlanta Braves[link]

Miller with the Braves in 2008.

Miller was granted free agency after the season and signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves.

On July 31, 2007, the Braves called up Miller to fill up the backup catcher role after previous backup catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was traded that day. He made his debut on August 2, hitting a pinch-hit infield single. On August 5, Miller hit a game-tying RBI double, his first extra-base hit since 2002, against the Colorado Rockies. On September 15, Miller hit his first home run since 2002.

On August 1, 2008, Miller was designated for assignment, and was eventually sent outright to the minors. He returned to the Braves active roster on September 1.

Chicago White Sox[link]

Miller became a free agent following the 2008 season and signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.^[1]

As a non-roster invitee to White Sox spring training, Miller impressed enough to be awarded the back-up catcher's role to A.J. Pierzynski. In his first regular season game for the White Sox on April 11, 2009 (vs. the Minnesota Twins) Miller went 2-4, with 2RBI and a run scored. The game finished in a 8-0 Sox win.

Second stint with Reds[link]

On June 26, 2009 Miller was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Norris Hopper. On August 25, 2009 Miller was called up to the Cincinnati Reds from the Louisville Bats. He became a free agent following the season, but resigned to a minor league deal. Miller started the 2010 season not on the Reds 40-man roster, but after the injury of Ryan Hanigan, he was placed on the active roster and took over backup duties to Ramon Hernandez. He continues to fill the backup role, now with Hanigan and Hernandez switching spots on the disabled list. His starts come mostly as catcher for the Reds' young arms, such as Travis Wood and Matt Maloney, since he caught them in Louisville. He was outrighted back to Louisville on July 22, 2010, after Hernandez came back from the DL.

Miller was called up on September 1. The Reds outrighted him from the roster in the offseason and he refused his assignment, becoming a free agent. They resigned him to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Corky Miller

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Corky Miller: What's in a name (Minnesota Public Radio).

Nyjer Morgan
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 2
Outfielder
Born: (1980-07-02) July 2, 1980 (age 31) San Francisco, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 1, 2007 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics (through May 23, 2012)
Batting average	.284
Home runs	8
Runs batted in	114
Stolen bases	110
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2007–2009) Washington Nationals (2009–2010) Milwaukee Brewers (2011–present)

Nyjer Jamid Morgan (born July 2, 1980, in San Francisco, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Morgan also played ice hockey, reaching the Major Junior level with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League in 1999–2000. Following that season, Morgan turned his focus exclusively to baseball and was drafted by the Pirates in the 33rd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft.^[1]

Early life[link]

Morgan was born on July 2, 1980 in San Francisco, California. When Morgan was seven years old, he became interested in playing ice hockey after watching the ice hockey tournament at the 1988 Winter Olympics on television.^[2] After playing in numerous tournaments across the United States and Canada, Morgan was recruited by the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) when he was sixteen.^[3] Although Morgan did not make the Vipers' team after participating in its training camp, he played two games with the team during the 1996–97 season as an affiliate player in which he recorded ten penalty minutes.^[4][5] He spent the remainder of the 1996–97 season with the North Okanagan Knights of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.^[6] The following season, Morgan played for the Nelson Leafs of the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League.^[7] During the 1998–99 season, Morgan again played for a new team, this time for the Delta Ice Hawks of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.^[8] The following season, Morgan made the transition from the junior "B" Ice Hawks to the major junior Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL). In seven games with the Pats during the 1999–2000 WHL season, Morgan score two goals and recorded twenty penalty minutes.^[9] Both of his goals were scored in his first career WHL game, after which he was named the first star of the game.^[10] Following his seven games with the Pats, Morgan was released and joined the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL for three games in which he scored one assist and fifteen penalty minutes.^[10]

Major league career[link]

Pittsburgh Pirates[link]

2007[link]

On September 1, 2007, Morgan made his major league debut for the Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers as a late-season call-up. On September 14, 2007, Morgan made a catch in Minute Maid Park's center field that proved the difference in a 4–3 Pirates win. Houston Astros manager Cecil Cooper said of the catch "That's probably the best catch I've seen this year.".^[11] The catch garnered references to Willie Mays' The Catch on SportsCenter the following day.^[12] Morgan also showed his tools against the San Diego Padres on September 20, going 2 for 3 with a triple, two runs scored, two stolen bases, and an outfield assist throwing out Scott Hairston.^[13] Morgan's first home run came September 25 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[14]

2008[link]

Morgan was expected to make the 2008 roster as the Pirates' starting center fielder, but lost the position battle to Nate McLouth during spring training.^[15] After a poor start to the season, he was optioned to the Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians. Morgan made several appearances for the Pirates, but spent most of his season in Indianapolis until a productive September call up to the parent club.

Morgan batting for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009.

2009[link]

Morgan overcame an unimpressive spring training in 2009 to claim the job of starting left fielder.^{[citation needed]} Building on his positive second half of 2008, he proved himself to be a defensively-gifted fan favorite, often referring to left field as "Morgantown".

Although he stole 42 bases in 2009 (second in the league), he was caught 17 times—tied for the most in the majors.

Washington Nationals[link]

On June 30, 2009, Morgan was traded to the Washington Nationals along with pitcher Sean Burnett in exchange for outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Joel Hanrahan. Morgan fractured his hand sliding into third base on August 27, 2009, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 28.^[16] In 2009, he was third in the league in steals (34), and led it in caught stealing (17).^[17]

On July 22, 2010, Morgan became the first Nationals player to steal three bases in one game.^[18]

Incidents[link]

Morgan with the Washington Nationals in 2009.

On August 25, 2010, Morgan was given a seven game suspension for allegedly throwing a ball at a fan during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park; Morgan appealed the suspension and was cleared of wrong doing.^[19]

Just one week later, on September 1, 2010, Morgan was involved in an on-field brawl with Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad. On the previous night Morgan ran into Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, separating Hayes' shoulder. On the following night Morgan was hit by a pitch in the 4th inning. Later that night Volstad threw behind Morgan. Incensed by the pitch, Morgan charged the mound, taking a swing at Volstad before being clotheslined by Marlins first-baseman Gaby Sanchez, leading to a bench clearing fight. ^[20] MLB gave Morgan an eight-game suspension and an undisclosed fine as a result of his actions.^[21] The suspension from the September 1, brawl was upheld and Morgan started serving his eight game suspension on September 17. The league also gave him a $15,000 fine in addition to the eight game suspension. The incident came just days after Morgan ran into St. Louis Cardinals backup catcher Bryan Anderson in spite of the fact that the Cardinals catcher didn't have the ball and had stepped away from the plate.^[22]

On May 22, 2010, Morgan was on the wrong side of a historic inside-the-park homer. Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles hit it back against the wall and Morgan made a failed jumping attempt to catch it, Jones made it safely all the way home after Morgan threw down his hat and glove in disgust upon believing the ball cleared the wall.^[23]

Milwaukee Brewers[link]

On March 27, 2011, Morgan was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for prospect Cutter Dykstra (son of baseball player Lenny Dykstra).^[24] Morgan fractured his middle finger in the 8th inning on a sacrifice bunt against Jonny Venters. After two separate stints on the disabled list, he joined Carlos Gomez in a platoon in center field with Gomez in the lineup versus left-handed pitchers and Morgan in the lineup versus righties. On June 8 against the New York Mets, Nyjer hit his first walk-off with a double down the right field line at Miller Park to win the game 7–6. After the game Morgan was interviewed and was very excited, claiming that he didn't even know it was a walkoff until he saw his teammates running out onto the field. On October 7, Morgan had a series-clinching walk-off base hit in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers won the game 3–2, giving the Brewers their first playoff series win since 1982.

In 2011, he batted .304 and was third in the NL in hit by pitch (14) and sacrifice hits (15).^[17]

On January 16, 2012, Morgan signed a one-year, $2.35 million deal during his first run-through of arbitration eligibility.^[25]

Personal life[link]

Morgan frequently refers to himself as Tony Plush which he states is his "name on the field" or his "gentleman's name." Under his nickname, Morgan will occasionally make a hand signal to look like a "T" after reaching base. In 2011, Nyjer created his own Twitter account, where he publishes wacky pictures such as him dressed as a cowboy. With over 80,000 followers, Morgan often tweets after games using his catchphrase "AAAAAHHHH GOTTA GO!" He is the owner of an adopted cat named "Slick Willie."^[26] Morgan also has one daughter, Niah, who was born in Regina, Saskatchewan during his tenure with the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats. Morgan chose to relinquish custody of Niah in order to pursue his athletic career. ^[27]

On February 1, 2012, Morgan took the opportunity to join an on-ice practice with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. Of the experience, Morgan proclaimed that it was "dream come true", and he received high praise from All-Star player Joe Thornton who stated that Morgan was "actually a pretty good skater".^[28]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nyjer Morgan

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Profile at Yahoo! Sports

Eric Bruntlett
Utility player
Born: (1978-03-29) March 29, 1978 (age 34)
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 27, 2003 for the Houston Astros
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 2009 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Career statistics (through 2009)
Batting average	.231
Home runs	11
Runs batted in	72
Stolen bases	31
Teams
Houston Astros (2003–2007) Philadelphia Phillies (2008–2009)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2008) Unassisted triple play (August 23, 2009)

Eric Kevin Bruntlett (born March 29, 1978, in Lafayette, Indiana) is a former Major League Baseball player most notable for his years as a reserve infielder on the Philadelphia Phillies. Bruntlett also played for in the Houston Astros organization and the New York Yankees organization. He retired from baseball in November 2009 to spend more time with his family.

Early Years[link]

Bruntlett is a 1996 graduate of William Henry Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Indiana where he was a two-time All-Indiana selection in both baseball and football. He attended Stanford University. During his tenure as a Cardinal, Stanford made 3 appearances in the College World Series.

Minor Leagues[link]

Bruntlett was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 9th Round of the 2000 Amateur Entry Draft. He was assigned to the Martinsville Astros. He quickly progressed through the minor league system and reached the major leagues in 2003 with Houston.

Major leagues[link]

Houston Astros[link]

Throush his first years with the Astros, Bruntlett primarily served as a backup to shortstop Adam Everett but also played second base, third base, and the outfield. His best season was in 2006 where he hit .277 in 73 games. During that season, he posted a .412 batting average as a pinch hitter. On November 7, 2007, Bruntlett was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Brad Lidge for Geoff Geary, Michael Bourn, and Mike Costanzo.^[1]

Philadelphia Phillies[link]

2008[link]

Bruntlett hit .217 with 46 hits, 2 home runs, and 15 RBIs.

His biggest mark was left in the post-season. He hit a home run in Game 2 of the World Series followed by a game winning run in Game 3 of the World Series. Bruntlett would cap off his World Series performance by scoring the series-clinching run in Game 5, allowing the Phillies to win their first World Series since 1980 and second overall.

2009[link]

Bruntlett batting for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009.

Bruntlett performed the fifteenth unassisted triple play of the modern era in the bottom of the ninth inning on August 23, against the New York Mets at Citi Field, when he caught a line drive from Jeff Francoeur, tagged second base to double off Luis Castillo, and tagged Daniel Murphy as he was running to second base. Both Castillo and Murphy had reached base on misplays by Bruntlett.^[2] It was the second game-ending unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history and the first in the National League, preserving a 9–7 Phillies win.^[3][4] Rather than accepting an assignment to Triple-A, Bruntlett was released by the Phillies on November 16.

Final Season[link]

2010[link]

On December 28, 2009, Bruntlett signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals. He also received an invitation to Spring Training.^[5] He was reassigned at the end of Spring Training to minor league camp.^[6] He was released on June 2, 2010. On June 17, 2010, Bruntlett signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees; he was granted free agency on November 6, 2010. He decided to retire from baseball and be a stay-at-home dad rather than spend another year in AAA.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube