Lastings Milledge

Infobox MLB player

---

width=300
name= Lastings Milledge
position=Outfielder
team=Washington Nationals
number=44
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1985|4|5
debutdate=May 30
debutyear=2006
debutteam=New York Mets
statyear=September 25, 2008
stat1label=Average
stat1value=.265
stat2label=HR
stat2value=25
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=111
stat4label=Runs
stat4value=106
stat5label=Stolen Bases
stat5value=28
teams=
*New York Mets (2006-2007)
*Washington Nationals (2008-present)

Lastings Darnell Milledge (born April 5 1985) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals. He was the youngest player in the National League during the 2006 season. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/Youngest_leagues.shtml Year-by-Year League Leaders for Youngest Player] ]

Early life

Milledge was born in Palmetto, Florida. Milledge was given the name Lastings as his mother knew he would be her last child. [cite web| url=http://www.portfolioweekly.com/Pages/InfoPage.php/iID/1491 | title=Major League Dreams | last=Denton | first=Jake | work=Portfolio Weekly| date=2006-05-16] At the age of twelve, he pitched and played third base and hit third for the Manatee East Little League team that was the national runner-up in the 1997 Little League World Series. He received the win on the mound in the semi-final game of the regional, giving up only one run on a solo home run to Matt Rigney in a win against Mississippi. [cite news
last =Ramker
first =Matt
title =Manatee East 1 win away from World Series berth
work =Tampa Bay Tribune
pages =
language =
publisher =
date =1997-08-14 |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampatribune/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=milledge&datetype=6&frommonth=08&fromday=13&fromyear=1997&tomonth=08&today=15&toyear=1997 | accessdate = ] In 2001, he led Team USA to a Gold Medal game victory over Venezuela in the International Baseball Federation's AA World Youth Championships. Later that year, Baseball America named Milledge the best 16-year-old player in the United States. He graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida in 2003 after leading his team to the state 5A title his senior year.

Amateur draft

Prior to the 2003 amateur draft, he was expected to be among the top three selections, but as draft day approached, press reports from 2002 resurfaced regarding Milledge's expulsion from Northside Christian High School after his junior year for allegedly having sex with a minor. [cite web| url=http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/18/Sports/School_expels_Milledg.shtml | title=School expels Milledge | last=Cotey | first=John | work=St. Petersburg Times| date=2002-05-18] cite web| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/05/17/2007-05-17_lastings__mets_hit_bitter_notes-2.html | title= Lastings & Mets hit bitter notes: Milledge faces Omar's music | last=Begley | first=Ian | work=New York Daily News| date=2007-05-17] He subsequently transferred to Lakewood Ranch High School where he finished his education and amateur baseball career.

As a result of the incident, Milledge was passed over in the 2003 amateur draft until the Mets selected him as the twelfth overall pick in the first round. The Mets began contract negotiations with Milledge, but the talks were interrupted in early August 2003, when the Mets learned of allegations of additional sexual misconduct against Milledge during his time at Northside. The Mets completed a private investigation of the matter and, satisfied with the results, signed Milledge to a contract with a $20.2 million dollar signing bonus.

Minor league career

The delay in signing Milledge prevented him from beginning his professional career until shortly before the end of the minor league season in 2003. He appeared in only seven games, hitting .231 for the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League. In 2004, he was slated to start the year with the class A Capital City Bombers, but he suffered a fractured metacarpal on his right hand in spring training, missing the first six weeks of the season. In 65 games with the Bombers, he hit .337 with 13 home runs, 58 RBI and 23 stolen bases, earning him a promotion to the St. Lucie Mets in August. In 2005, he continued his minor league success hitting .302 with St. Lucie in the first half of the season and .337 with the AA Binghamton Mets in the second half. He began the 2006 season leading off and playing right field for the AAA Norfolk Tides.

Major league career

Rookie season

Milledge made his major league debut on May 30, 2006 as the starting right fielder for the Mets in a 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He went 1 for 4 with a double off Arizona pitcher Miguel Batista. Milledge was 21 years, 55 days old on the day of his debut - the exact same age as former Met Darryl Strawberry when he made his 1983 debut. In his three separate stints in the majors in 2006, Milledge hit .241 with 4 HR and 22 RBI in 56 games.

On June 4, by|2006 against the San Francisco Giants, Milledge hit a solo home run off Giants closer Armando Benitez to tie up the game 6-6 in the bottom of the tenth inning (this was Milledge's first career home run). When the Mets returned to the field the following inning, Milledge, still excited, high-fived the Shea faithful as he returned to his position, inciting the ire of his manager and some teammates, not to mention the national sports media. [cite web| url=http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/gamecenter/recap/MLB_20060604_SF@NYM | title=Feliz's RBI single in 12th thwarts Mets' dramatic rally | publisher=Associated Press| work=CBS SportsLine.com| date=2006-06-04] In late September, one of Milledge's Mets teammates placed a sign on his locker which read, "Know Your Place, Rook!" [cite web| url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets205101521feb20,0,6974530.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines | title=Milledge gets a cleaner slate | last=Lennon | first=David | work=Newsday| date=2007-02-20] The sign-placer was identified in published reports as Billy Wagner. [cite web | url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/05162007/sports/mets/let_the_record__reflect__milledge__is_still_immature_mets_jay_greenberg.htm?page=0
title=LET THE RECORD REFLECT, MILLEDGE IS STILL IMMATURE| last=Greenberg |first=Jay |work=New York Post| date = 2007-05-16]

2007

After having an impressive spring training both on and off the field, Milledge was named to the Mets' opening day roster. He saw very limited game action, and was subsequently optioned down to AAA New Orleans after the game on April 12 to create room on the roster so that starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey could be called up and make his season debut in the following day's game.

In May, it was reported that Milledge appeared in a rap song, "Bend Ya Knees," by Manny D, a childhood friend. The song contained the words "bitch", "ho", and "nigga". The Mets organization responded by saying, "We disapprove of the content, language and message of this recording, which does not represent the views of the New York Mets."

Upon his recovery from a foot injury, Milledge was called up to the major leagues after the All-Star break on July 12. Veteran Julio Franco was designated for assignment to make room for Milledge.

Washington Nationals

On November 30, by|2007, Milledge was traded to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071130&content_id=2314337&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym&partnered=rss_nym/ The Official Site of The New York Mets: News: Mets land Church, Schneider from Nats ] ]

Milledge is the everyday starting center fielder for the Nationals. Up until the end of June, he had been batting third in the lineup in place of the injured Ryan Zimmerman, posting a .245 average, 7 home runs, and 32 RBI for the season. However, on June 28, he suffered a groin strain, and he was placed on the disabled list the next day. Roger Bernadina was called up to take his place. On July 24, the Nationals activated Milledge from the DL and designated Johnny Estrada for assignment. It took Milledge a few days to get going again after he came back from the disabled list. He went only 2 for 18 in his first five games after his return. However, since then he has really caught fire. In the month of August, he batted .336 with 6 HR and 16 RBI.

Career statistics

Baseball stats|name = Lastings Milledge|update = September 25,2008 [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/millela02.shtml Lastings Milledge's stats from baseball-reference.com] ] |g=250|ab=865|r=106|h=229|2b=40|3b=5|hr=25|rbi=111|sb=28|ba =.265|obp=.331|slg=.409|

References

External links

* [http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=451186 Lastings Milledge Minor League Splits and Situational Stats]
* [http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/20/sports/20collapse-600.jpgMilledge photo]

succession box
title = Youngest Player in the
National League
years = 2006
before = Matt Cain
2005
after = Justin Upton
2007