Mike Bordick: 2000 NL Champion Mets Short Stop (2000)
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Bordick attended the University of Maine, playing for the school’s team, the Black Bears. He signed with the Oakland A’s in 1986 spending four seasons in the minor leagues.
Oakland A's Career: He came up with the 1990 A.L. Champion Athletics, eventually taking over the shortstop position from Walt Weis the next year. Weis had been their main short stop starting 1988 taking over for Alfredo Griffin. Weis won three straight pennants & a World Series with the A's.
Bordick would spend the next seven years in Oakland, mostly as their main shortstop through the 1996 season.
1990 Post Season: In the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays he only hit .053 going 1-19 in six games. In 1992 he batted .300 with 151 hits 19 doubles 48 RBIs & 62 runs scored.
During those years with the Athletics he twice led the league in put outs, once in games played & assists. He was a consistent player and very solid defensively, always among the tops in the league at shortstop in fielding.
Orioles Career: In 1996 he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, taking over at short stop when Cal Ripken moved over to third base. Bordick played in Camden Yards as the main short stop for six seasons, getting to the post season in 1997.
1997 ALCS: in the loss to the Cleveland Indians he had three hits including two RBIs in the Game #2 loss.
As the league’s hitting numbers increased in the late nineties so did Bordick’s. He would hit 13 HRs in 1998 while leading the league in sacrifice hits with 15. In 1999 he batted .277 with 10 HRs & 77 RBIs.
season he also led all AL shortstops in fielding & assists. He also was in the top ten of getting hit by pitches three times, doing it 227 times in his career (#67 all time).
He had his best season in 2000 with career highs in HRs (20) RBIs (80) making his only All Star team, batting .285 with 30 doubles.
Mets Career: That summer, the Mets lost short their stop Rey Ordonez for the remainder of the season & had to make a move. Ordonez was an excellent fielder but was only batting .188 at the time he went down.
The only other short stop on the club at the time was the little used Kurt Abbott & the team was not confident enough in him to take over the role.
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In his first Mets at bat he hit a solo HR off Andy Benes tying up the game, welcome to New York Mike Bordick. The Mets went on to 3-2 win. On August 1st he singled to drive in a run in the 6th inning, the run turned out to be the game winner in the Mets 3-2 win & the eleventh victory of the year for Mike Hampton.
Bordick contributed to the Mets Wild Card chase with three HRs & 11 RBIs in the month of August keeping his average at .300. His average tailed off in September but he finished the year at .285.
2000 Post Season: With the Mets he played in his third post season. In the 2000 post season, he
was 4-33 (.123), never hitting above .200 in any of the three Series.
2000 NLCS: In the NLCS win over the Cardinals he was held hitless in the first four games. But in Game #4 he drew a 6th inning lead off walk. He would advance on a bunt & throwing error, then score when Piazza reached on an error by Fernando Tatis at third.
Ankiel threw two wild pitches in a row to Edgardo Alfonso who was batting while Mike was on base.
Retirement: In 2005 he was invited to the White House to honor the Little League Champions from Toms River, NJ. Bordick has worked as a minor league instructor for the Blue Jays & Orioles since his playing days.
Since 2012 he has worked as a commentator for the MASN network as a color analyst for Orioles games. He alternates that position with O's legend, Jim Palmer
Honors: In 2011 he was elected to the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
was 4-33 (.123), never hitting above .200 in any of the three Series.
2000 NLDS: In the Division series against the San Francisco Giants he had a hit in the first two games & walked in the first three games. Bordick also scored a run in each of those first three games, twice on hits by Timo Perez.
In the final Game #6 where the Mets clinched the pennant at Shea Stadium, he singled in the 5th inning. In the 7th inning he led off with a walk & would eventually score on Rick Ankiel's wild pitch.
2000 World Series: In the World Series he went 1-8 playing in the first four games. He collected one hit in the Mets Game #3 win.
The following season he went back to Baltimore, signing as a free agent. Bordick played two more seasons in Baltimore having his best defensive season in 2002, when he set the MLB records for fielding% (.998%), fewest errors (one), consecutive errorless games (110) and consecutive errorless chances (543).
He closed out his career in Toronto with the Blue Jays, hitting .274 in 103 games in 2003.
The following season he went back to Baltimore, signing as a free agent. Bordick played two more seasons in Baltimore having his best defensive season in 2002, when he set the MLB records for fielding% (.998%), fewest errors (one), consecutive errorless games (110) and consecutive errorless chances (543).
He closed out his career in Toronto with the Blue Jays, hitting .274 in 103 games in 2003.
In a 13 year career Bordick played in 1720 games hitting .260 with 1500 hits 257 doubles 30 triples 91 HRs 676 runs scored & 626 RBIs. Defensively he made 128 errors with 2606 put outs (64th all time) 4410 assists (65th all time) with a .982 fielding %.
Since 2012 he has worked as a commentator for the MASN network as a color analyst for Orioles games. He alternates that position with O's legend, Jim Palmer
Honors: In 2011 he was elected to the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
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