Inside the Article:
According to a report from MLive, former Detroit Tigers slugger Mike Ivie passed away on Friday at the age of 70. Ivie, who was selected by the San Diego Padres with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1970 MLB Draft, played for the Tigers for a total of 92 games between the 1982 and 1983 seasons.
The No. 1 Overall Pick Gets Traded
The San Diego Padres selected Mike Ivie as the No. 1 overall pick in 1970, but they quickly discovered his inability to play as a catcher due to his struggles with throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Consequently, before the 1978 season, they traded Ivie to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Derrel Thomas. During that season, Ivie shone by hitting four pinch-hit home runs, which included an MLB record of two pinch-hit grand slams. He experienced his best season in 1979 with the Giants, where he impressively hit 27 home runs and maintained a .286 average over 133 games.
Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson wanted Mike Ivie
According to MLive, at the recommendation of Manager Sparky Anderson, the Tigers recruited Ivie in the 1982 season. In response, Ivie hit 14 home runs in his 259 at-bats. However, after participating in just 12 games in 1983, Ivie decided to retire.
Ivie By The Numbers
In his career, Ivie played in a total of 857 games. During that time, he posted the following stats:
- 2,694 at-bats
- 81 home runs
- 411 RBIs
- .269 batting average
- .744 OPS
Key Points
- Ivie has passed away at the age of 70
- He was the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1970 MLB Draft
- During the 1982 season, he hit 14 home runs in 259 at-bats
- In his 11 seasons, Ivie hit 81 home runs
Bottom Line: Rest In Peace
Though Ivie never quite lived up to his hype coming out of high school, where he hit 21 home runs in 21 games while batting .550, he was able to play in the Big Leagues for 11 seasons. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Ivie during this most difficult time. Rest in Peace, Mike.
