Dmitri Young

Dmitri Young
Young with the Washington Nationals
First baseman/Left fielder/Designated hitter
Born:(1973-10-11)October 11, 1973 Vicksburg, Mississippi,U.S.
Batted:Switch Threw:Right
MLB debut
August 29, 1996, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
July 11, 2008, for the Washington Nationals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.292
Home runs	171
Runs batted in	683
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals(1996–1997) Cincinnati Reds(1998–2001) Detroit Tigers(2002–2006) Washington Nationals(2007–2008)
Career highlights and awards
2×All-Star(2003,2007) NL Comeback Player of the Year(2007)

Dmitri Dell Young(born October 11, 1973) is an American formerprofessional baseballplayer. He played all or parts of 13 seasons inMajor League Baseball(MLB) as aleft fielder,first baseman,anddesignated hitter,for theSt. Louis Cardinals,Cincinnati Reds,Detroit Tigers,andWashington Nationalsfrom 1996 through 2008. He is a two-timeAll-Starand winner of theNational League Comeback Player of the Year Award.His younger brother,Delmon Young,also played in MLB.

High school career

Young attendedRio Mesa High SchoolinOxnard, California.He never hit below a.400 batting average while playing in high schooland earnedUSA TodayHigh School All-American honors in his senior season.

Young initially committed to playcollege baseballfor theMiami Hurricanes.

Minor leagues

TheSt. Louis Cardinalsselected Young in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, in the1991 Major League Baseball draft.Early in his professional career, Young's weight raised concerns. In 1994, a Cardinalsfarmdirector told theLos Angeles Timesthat the organization worried he might "eat himself out a major league career." At the time, he weighed 240 pounds (110 kg).

In 1995, Young punched a fan who had been heckling him and calling him racial slurs, which earned him a suspension from theTexas League.

Finally, in 1996, he had a big year atTriple-ALouisville,batting.333, being chosen as a Triple-A All-Star first baseman and the St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year. He was called up at the end of the season and played a few games with St. Louis in the majors.

Major league career

Cardinals and Reds: 1996–2001

Young's first full season in Major League Baseball was with the Cardinals in 1997, in which he hit.258. After the season, he was traded to theCincinnati RedsforJeff Brantley.Eight days later, he was selected by theTampa Bay Devil Raysin theexpansion draft,then traded back to the Reds forMike Kelly.While with the Reds, Young hit over.300 in each year (finishing second in doubles in 1998, and hitting 21 home runs in 2001). During those years, he played primarily the outfield and at first base.

Tigers: 2002–06

After the 2001 season, he was traded by the Reds to theDetroit TigersforLuis PinedaandJuan Encarnación.In 2003, he hit.297, with 29 home runs, and 7triples(10th in the league). He was the Tigers' lone representative at the 2003MLB All-Star Game,although he did not make an appearance on the field or in the batter's box.

On May 6, 2003, Young went 5–5 against theBaltimore Orioleshitting two homers and two triples, and asingle.When he came up to bat in the ninth, he was a double short of thecycle.Instead, he hit his second triple of the night offBuddy Groom."It crossed my mind, but since the game was close, my individual accomplishment took a back seat," Young said. "The run is the important thing."

On April 4, 2005, Young joinedGeorge BellandTuffy Rhodesas the only players to hit three home runs onOpening Dayin Detroit's 11–2 win over the visitingKansas City Royals.Young, along with Tigers first basemanMiguel Cabrera,former Royals Designated HitterKendrys Morales,and Mariners third basemanKyle Seager,are the only players to hit three home runs in one game atComerica Park—one of the more difficult home run stadiums.He was also known as "Da Meat Hook" and "The Big D" to Tigers fans.

Young appeared atWorld Wrestling Entertainment(WWE)'sSurvivor Series 2005in an interview segment withEdgeandLita.Edge made fun of the Detroit Tigers, saying that they sucked, while Young cracked jokes at Edge concerning his failures on capturing a World Title.

2006

In 2006, Young went through a divorce, and was treated for alcohol and substance abuse and depression. He pleaded guilty to assault after an argument inBirmingham, Michigan.

On May 17, 2006, theDetroit Free Pressreported that Young faced amisdemeanordomestic violencecharge.Young subsequently voluntarily spent 30 days in a rehabilitation facility, Promises Malibu, and three weeks working out with minor league teams. On June 13, 2006, Young failed to appear for a pretrial hearing on this matter and abench warrantwas issued for his arrest.Ten days later, he pleadedno contestto the domestic violence charges.

On June 30, 2006, Young revealed that he had been battling several illnesses that resulted in him self-medicating withalcohol,which limited his physical fitness and kept him from appearing in all but a small fraction of Tigers games during the season. He made a statement to the press in which he asserted that he had been making progress overcoming it with the help ofAlcoholics Anonymous,whose logo has been tattooed on his hand as a gesture of thanks. He returned to action on July 21, 2006, versus theOakland Athletics,starting atdesignated hitterand ending the game with twohitsand 2 runs batted in during the Tigers' 7–4 win. Before the game started,FSN Detroitaired a video of Young apologizing to the fans and saying how he will continue to struggle against alcohol and drugs for the rest of his life.

On September 6, 2006, with less than a month to go in theirAmerican League Championship season,the Tigers gave Young his unconditional release in a move that surprised both teammates and fans alike.

The day afterThanksgiving,an ambulance took him to a hospital, where he endured a three-day stay in the intensive care unit as his doctors diagnoseddiabetes.Since then, Young has taken steps to get his diabetes in control and is encouraging others to do so. He has recentlyappeared ondLifeto talk to people about how he has lived with diabetes.

Nationals: 2006–07

In late 2006, theWashington Nationalslost their first basemanNick Johnsonfor nearly a year due to a broken leg. The following spring, the Nationals invited a number of first basemen to camp, including Young, who won the starting role. In his first game with the Nationals, on opening day, he hit two doubles. He went on to have a sizzling first half, reaching the All-Star break batting.340, third in the league, and he was selected to his second All-Star game—the Nationals' only representative. He singled in his onlyat-batwith two outs in the bottom of the ninth and scored on anAlfonso Sorianohome run.

Young received his Detroit Tigers 2006 American League Championship ring when the Tigers played the Nationals in an interleague series atRFK Stadiumin June 2007.

On July 4, Young hit agrand slamagainst the visitingChicago Cubs.It was his sixth career grand slam. He finished the year batting.320, the highest of his career, and ninth in theNational League.Towards the end of the month, Young signed a two-year, $10 million extension with a vesting option.Upon the season's close, Young won thePlayer's Choice National League Comeback Player of the Yearaward.

On March 29, 2008, the Nationals confirmed that Johnson would open the season as their starting first baseman over Young,although on June 24, 2008, the Nationals announced that Johnson would have season-ending wrist surgery and named Young as the starting first baseman. On September 17, Young was declared officially out for the season due to his diabetes.

2010–Retirement

After spending the 2009 season in the minor leagues, Young announced hisretirementon March 18, 2010. On the same day, he was introduced as the Vice President and Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations and Special Hitting and Fielding Instructor of theOakland County Cruisersminor league baseball team. After the 2011 season, Young announced he was attempting a comeback, but was not signed by any team.

Post-retirement life

Young began collectingbaseball cardsin 2000 when he and Reds teammateDanny Graveswere offered $2,000 to appear at a card show. Young saw aPete Roserookie cardand asked for it in lieu of the cash payment.In 2002, Tigers teammateRobert Fickintroduced Young to Dave Bailey, a memorabilia collector, and the two eventually amassed perhaps the greatest collection of rookie cards in the world.He estimated that he spent $5 million of the $52 million he earned as a baseball player on his card collection.

In 2010–11, Young co-hostedCard Corner Club Radio,a weekly sports card and collectibles show.

In 2012, Young put nearly 500 of themint conditionrookie cards up forauctionwith plans to use the proceeds to open a baseball school andnonprofitfoundation inVentura County, California.The cards were auctioned individually and the collection ultimately fetched $2.4 million in total (equivalent to $3.19 million in 2023).His 1955ToppsRoberto Clementecard fetched the highest price, setting a post-World War IIrecord by selling for $432,690 (equivalent to $574,244 in 2023).Overall, six different cards in the collection sold for six figures.

At his heaviest during his playing career, Young weighed 295 pounds (134 kg) and was the third-heaviest player in MLB history.As of July 2014,he had lost more than 100 pounds (45 kg) from his peak weight.

Dmitri is currently the President of The Dmitri D. Young Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization providing baseball and life choices camps for student athletes in Southern California, in particular in Ventura County and with this alma mater, Rio Mesa High School. His foundation is awaiting IRS section 501(c)(3) status.

In August 2020, Young was named the head baseball coach atAdolfo Camarillo High SchoolinCamarillo, California.

Personal life

Dmitri's younger brother isDelmon Young,thefirst overall draft pickin the2003 Major League Baseball Draftand runner-up for the 2007American League Rookie of the Year Award.Delmon made his major league debut on August 29, 2006, exactly ten years after his older brother.

On July 6, 2010, Young was arrested at theCentral Illinois Regional Airporton charges of possession drug paraphernalia and marijuana inBloomington, Illinois.

Young's sister, DeAnn, playedcollege softballfor theOregon State Beavers.

Dmitri and Delmon's father, Larry Young, from Mississippi, was one of theUnited States Navy's first African AmericanF-14fighter pilots.He later worked as a pilot forDelta Air Lines.

External links

• Career statistics and player information fromMLB,orESPN,orBaseball Reference,orFangraphs,orBaseball Reference (Minors)
• Sportsnet player stats