page_title: Michael Young (baseball)
section_title: Texas Rangers (2000–2012)
hierarchical_section_title: Michael Young (baseball) / Professional career / Texas Rangers (2000–2012)
caption_attribution_description: English: Michael Young
context_page_description: Michael Brian Young is an American former professional baseball infielder who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Since 2014, Young has worked in the Rangers’ front office as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. Originally a second baseman, the versatile Young was a five-time All-Star at shortstop, once at third base, and once as a combination designated hitter / utility infielder. He was the 2005 American League batting champion.
  Young played baseball in high school at Bishop Amat Memorial High School and in college at University of California, Santa Barbara. He was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1994, but elected to return to college and was eventually drafted in 1997 by the Toronto Blue Jays. After spending several seasons in the minor leagues with the Blue Jays, Young was traded to the Rangers, where he spent over a decade. While with the Rangers, Young set several club records in offensive statistical categories, including runs scored and total bases. In 2016, Young was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. In 2019, Young's No. 10 was retired by the Rangers.
context_section_description: Young reached the Majors briefly in 2000, playing 2nd and getting two at-bats.  He hit .249 in 106 games as a second baseman in 2001. In 2002, Young placed second in fielding among second basemen with a .988 fielding percentage.  In 2003, Young was 3rd in the league in hits with 204, and led all second baseman with a batting average of .306. Young had a fielding percentage of .987.
   After signing a new contract, Young moved to shortstop, filling the hole left by the departure of regular Ranger's shortstop Alex Rodriguez in 2004, to make room for newly acquired second baseman Alfonso Soriano. He was second in the American League in hits with 216 and at bats with 690, fourth in runs with 114, and ninth in batting with an average of .313. He spent 89 games hitting in the leadoff spot, the last time in his career that he hit leadoff prior to 2013.
  Young won the AL batting title in 2005 with an average of .331, and was first in MLB in hits with 221. He was second in AL in at bats with 668, and his 114 runs were fifth-best in the AL. Young also established a career-high in home runs with 24. Young's 91 RBIs placed him second among all shortstops in the AL.
  On February 14, 2006, Young and Rangers teammate Mark Teixeira were selected to the United States roster for the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
  At the conclusion of the 2006 MLB All-Star Game held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Young was awarded the Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award after hitting a game-winning two-run triple in the ninth inning. Young led the American League in fielding percentage at shortstop with .981. Young also played all 162 games of the 2006 season, had 217 hits and topped 100 RBI for the first time in his career.
  In March 2007, Young agreed to an $80 million contract extension that would have kept him with the Rangers until 2013.
  Young finished the 2007 season with a batting average of .315, which led the Rangers and was 11th-highest in the AL. Young also led the Rangers with 94 RBIs and was second among all shortstops in the AL. Young was second on the team and tied a career high in stolen bases with 13. Young's 201 hits were 4th in the AL, and marked the 5th consecutive 200-hit season, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Wade Boggs as the only players to do so since 1940 and just the second middle infielder, along with Charlie Gehringer, to have accomplished that feat.
  Young played in the longest All-Star game in history. He drove in the game-winning RBI at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game after four hours and 40 minutes of playing time. Also, in 2008 Young won the Gold Glove at shortstop for the American League.
  In 2009, Young moved to third base to make room for shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus. The Rangers did not consult Young on this, and he requested a trade. He subsequently rescinded the request. On April 19, 2009, Young hit his first career walk-off home run, off Royals pitcher Kyle Farnsworth.  Young was voted on the AL 2009 All Star team by the players.
  On June 16, 2010, Young hit a ground ball up the middle to collect his 1,748th career hit, and pass Iván Rodríguez to become the Rangers' career leader in hits.  On defense, in 2010 he tied for the AL lead in errors by a third baseman, with 19, and had the lowest fielding percentage among them, at .950.
  During the 2010–11 offseason, Young said that the Rangers had "misled and manipulated" him and requested a trade.  The Rangers, having acquired free agent third baseman Adrián Beltré, planned to have Young be the team's primary designated hitter as well as a utility infielder, and see time at first base for the first time in his career. He was a 2011 American League All Star.
  On August 7, 2011, Young hit an infield single against Josh Tomlin of the Cleveland Indians for his 2,000th career hit.
  In 2011, Young batted .338 (3rd in the American League) with 11 home runs, primarily splitting his time between DH (69 games), third base (40 games), and first base (36 games).  He tied with Adrián González for the AL lead in hits (213), and was 5th in RBIs (106) and sacrifice flies (9), 8th in on-base percentag
caption: Michael Young on April 25, 2009
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