Mike Jacobs: Former Met Who Set Record Hitting Four HRs In His First Four Days in the Big Leagues (2005 / 2010)

Michael James Jacobs was born October 30, 1980, in Chula Vista California. 

The six-foot three-inch, left-hand hitter was originally selected by the New York Mets as a catcher in the 38th round of the 1999 draft. By 2003 he had developed into a power hitter (17 HRs) and won the Sterling Award as the Mets top prospect.

In 2004 he suffered a torn labrum while at AAA Norfolk and the next season learned how to play first base. 

In 2005 he hit 25 HRs with 93 RBIs at AA Binghamton, getting called up to the Mets in August, to replace Doug Mientkiewicz and help solve the first base problem.

Mets Career- HR In First MLB At Bat: On August 21st, Mike Jacobs made his MLB debut in a 7-4 loss to the Washington Nationals. He became the fourth Met in team history to homer in his first MLB at bat, hitting a 5th inning three run shot off Esteban Loiza. 

On August 23rd, in his third career game, Jacobs hit a 5th inning two run HR off Claudio Vargas
in a 14-1 Mets blow out win. 

First Player to Hit Four HRs in First Four Days In the Majors: On August 24th, as the Mets concluded their four-game sweep in Arizona, Jacobs hit two more HRs in the Mets 18-4 win. In the 2nd inning he hit a two-run shot off Russ Ortiz then added a 9th inning solo shot off Jose Valverde. In that game Jacobs set an MLB record hitting four HRs in his first four career games. Jacobs scored five runs in the game as well, the most since Edgardo Alfonzo in 1999.

On September 16th, 12 games after his last HR, Jacobs hit a two run HR off the Braves John Smoltz in a six hit Pedro Martines 4-0 shut out at Shea Stadium. The next day he hit a solo shoy in a Mets loss.

On September 25th the Mets entered the top of the 8th inning behind 4-3 to the Nationals. David Wright homered to tie the game & two batters later Jacobs hit a solo HR off Travis Hughes for what turned out to be the games winning run. 

Multi-Three RBI Game: The next night, Jacobs homered off the Phillies Brett Meyers & once again drove in the games winning run with an 8th inning sac fly. 

Walk Off Hit: On September 20th, he collected the Mets Walk off RBI single with a 12th inning base hit off the Marlins Brian Moehler in the 3-2 win.

On the final home stand, he once again homered in back-to-back games in wins over the Rockies. It was the fourth time he homered in back-to-back games in his short season. In his final 14 games he drove in 13 runs.

Mets Trivia: Jacobs in the third fastest Mets to reach ten HRs. He did it in his first 91 at bats,
behind Ron Swoboda 90 at bats & Benny Agbayani 88 at bats.

In only 100 at bats that season Jacobs hit 11 HRs with 23 RBIs. He hit .310 with a 1.085 OPS & .375 on base percentage.

He closed out the season with hopes of being the Mets first baseman of the future. There was a quick change of plans around Thanksgiving, when the Mets traded him along with Yusmeiro Petit & Grant Psomas to the Florida Marlins for slugger Carlos Delgado.

Post Mets Career: Jacobs spent three seasons in Florida hitting 69 HRs with 224 RBIs. In 2006 he hit 20 HRs with 37 doubles & 77 RBIs batting .262. He posted a .798 OPS & became one of the Marlins most popular young players.

In 2007 he hit 17 HRs with 27 doubles 54 RBIs while batting .265 in 114 games. The free-swinging Jacobs struck out 101 times on the season.

In 2008 he played a career high 141 games & had his biggest year. He hit 32 HRs with 27 doubles 93 RBIs & an .812 OPS but his average dropped to .247. He also struck out 119 times, for three straight 100 strike out seasons.

Marlins Religious Error: In an error of religious beliefs, the Marlins have a Jewish Heritage Day & gave out t-shirts with Jacob's image on them. The only problem was, Jacobs is not Jewish. Jacobs took it all in stride.

The Marlins needed a closer & on October 31st, 2008, they traded Jacobs to the Kansas City Royals for Leo Nunez. He struggled defensively in KC & found himself as the Royals DH. Jacobs batted a career low .228 with a .698 OPS& a career high 132 strike outs.

In 2009 he hit 19 HRs 16 doubles & 61 RBIs but hit just .228 in 128 games. He was let go to free agency at the end of the season.

Return to Mets: In 2010 he signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets & found himself as the teams Opening Day first baseman when Daniel Murphy went down with injury. 

But by April 18th, he was batting .208 & was designated for assignment. In just seven games he went 5-24, with one HR & two RBIs.

While playing at AAA Buffalo he hit 15 HRs batting .260 with 57 RBIs. On July 30th he was traded to the Toronto Blues Jays for a player to be named later.

In 2011 he was playing at AAA Colorado Springs hitting 23 HRs, but after he came up positive for using a human growth hormone, he was released by the Rockies organization.

In 2013 he signed with the Arizona D-backs & after hitting 18 HRs was given another big league shot. He got into 13 games batting .208 but was granted free agency after the season.

Career Stats: In seven career seasons he batted .253 with 493 hits 100 HRs, 116 doubles, 312 RBIs & 492 strike outs in 1949 at bats in 569 games.

Retirement: After playing two years in the Mexican League, Jacobs played one year in independent baseball for the Lancaster Barnstormers. 

From 2016-2021 he became a minor league manager in the Miami Marlins organization at the A-ball level. 

Family: In December of that year Mike got married to his wife Vanessa. Together they have four daughters & reside in Chula Vista, California.