Michael Young

Michael Brian Young (born October 19, 1976 in Covina, California) is a Major League Baseball shortstop currently playing for the Philadelphia phillies.

Young was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 25th round of the 1994 draft but did not sign. He did sign three years later, when the Toronto Blue Jays signed him in the fifth round of the 1997 draft. He was traded in 2000 with pitcher Darwin Cubillan to the Rangers for Esteban Loaiza.

Young attended the University of California at Santa Barbara. Young is currently signed to a $80,000,000 contract that will keep him with the Texas Rangers until 2013.

Major league career
In 2002 Young placed 2nd in fielding with a .988 percentage.

In 2003 Young was 3rd in the league in hits with 204 and led all second baseman with an average of .306. Young narrowly missed his first gold glove with a fielding percentage of .987. At the end of the 2003 season Young moved to shortstop after Texas traded Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for Second baseman Alfonso Soriano

In 2004 Young was second in the American League in hits with 216 and at-bats with 690. Was 4th in the league in runs at 114. He was 9th in the American League in batting with an average of .313. Young finshed second in RBIs by a shortstop with 99.

Young won the AL batting title in 2005 with an average of .331 and was first in MLB in hits with 221. He was 2nd in AL in at-bats with 668 and his 114 runs were 5th best in the AL. His 40 doubles were the 8th 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.

Young was elected as a member of 2006 World Baseball Classic roster.

In the 2006 MLB All-Star Game held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Young was rewarded with the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP award after hitting a game winning 2 RBI triple.

At the end of the 2006 season Young was 13th in the AL in batting with an average of .314. He was second in the Majors in hits, with 217, doubles, at 52, and at-bats, with 691. Young set a career high and led all Shortstops in RBI with 103. Young was 1st in the AL in fielding percentage at Shortstop with .981. Young also played all 162 games of the 2006 season. Young became the 29th player to accumulate 200 hits, 50 doubles, and 100 RBIs in a season. Young became just the 5th player in Major League history to collect 215 hits in three consecutive seasons.

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 his 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.

In 2008, Michael Young had an injury plagued season, suffering from multiple finger fractures and groin issues. Despite his ailments, Young spent no time on the disabled list, but had his worst offensive season in 6 years, finishing the season with 155 hits and a .284 batting average. Young made up for his offensive numbers with stellar defense, posting a .984 fielding percentage. Young's defense led to his first career Gold Gloce award.

Young was invited back to the All-Star game, and again had the game winning RBI. The 2008 MLB All-Star Game was the longest All-Star game in history. He drove in the game-winning RBI with 2 out in the 14th inning after four hours and fifty minutes of play.

Personal life
Young was born and raised in Covina, California to Anna and Fred Young. His mother Anna is of Mexican American descent. Young married the former Cristina Barbosa, also of Mexican descent, in 2000. The couple have one child, Mateo.