New York Mets In
Amazin',
Peter Golenbock's oral history of the New York Mets, Hall of Fame catcher
Gary Carter said he gave Mitchell the nickname "World" for his ability to play in the infield and outfield. Carter spoke fondly of Mitchell's talents. Mitchell made his major league debut on September 4, 1984, against the
St. Louis Cardinals, appearing as a pinch hitter and flying out in his only plate appearance. He batted .214 with an
RBI in seven games to finish the
1984 season. After spending the 1985 season in the minor leagues, Mitchell returned to the Mets in , batting .277 with 12
home runs and 43 RBI in 108 games. The Mets went on to win the game and series, giving Mitchell his only World Series ring. In a July 2007 radio interview with San Francisco sports talk radio station
KNBR, Mitchell disputed that he was out of uniform at the time, and stated that he never wore a cup, even when playing infield. When asked why he never wore a cup, Mitchell responded, "I couldn’t find one big enough for my junk." The interviewer then commented that maybe the increased mobility helped Mitchell to make the famous 1989 barehanded catch of
Ozzie Smith's fly ball. Mitchell played for the Padres for the first half of , batting .245 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 62 games.
San Francisco Giants On July 4, 1987, Mitchell was traded to the
San Francisco Giants as part of a multi-player trade that also sent pitchers
Dave Dravecky and
Craig Lefferts to San Francisco in exchange for third baseman
Chris Brown and pitchers
Keith Comstock,
Mark Davis, and
Mark Grant. While Dravecky was initially considered to be the key to the trade for the Giants, it was Mitchell who emerged as a star player. He hit .306 with 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 69 games with the Giants following the trade. Mitchell was named to his first
All-Star team, and also led the majors in
slugging percentage (.635),
on-base plus slugging (1.023),
total bases (345), and
intentional walks (32). Mitchell hit safely in every game of the
1989 World Series, batting .294 with a home run, two runs scored, and 2 RBI in the
Oakland Athletics' four-game sweep.
Remainder of Giants tenure Mitchell made another All-Star team in , and finished the season batting .290 with 35 home runs and 93 RBI in 140 games. In , Mitchell hit .256 with 27 home runs and 69 RBI in 113 games. Mitchell arrived at
spring training 30 pounds (14 kg) overweight, and struggled to begin the season, batting just .222 with two home runs and 20 RBI through the end of May. Starting on June 1, Mitchell rebounded and batted .337 the rest of the way along with seven home runs and 47 RBI in his last 54 games. He had a resurgence in two seasons with the Reds, batting .341 with 19 home runs and 64 RBI in just 323 at-bats in 1993 and .323 with 30 home runs and 77 RBI in the
strike-shortened 1994 season. where he became the highest-paid player in Japanese history. In Japan, he incurred the displeasure of team management when he chose to travel to the U.S. in mid-season for treatment of knee problems against the team's wishes. He spent only two months with the team. It was discovered later that he did indeed need surgery on his knee. On March 8, 1996, Mitchell signed with the
Boston Red Sox as a free agent. He hit .304 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 27 games with Boston before being traded back to the Reds in exchange for infielder
Roberto Mejía and pitcher Brad Tweedlie on July 30. Mitchell batted .325 with six home runs and 26 RBI in 37 games for the Reds to close the season. In May, after teammate
Chad Curtis objected to lyrics of a
rap song Mitchell was playing in the clubhouse, and shut off the clubhouse stereo, Curtis exchanged punches with Mitchell, who threw Curtis over a ping pong table. Curtis sustained a bruised right thumb in the fight, and was placed on the 15-day
disabled list. Mitchell was designated for assignment on May 24. At the time, he was batting just .153 with four home and 11 RBI in 20 games. On August 4, Mitchell was released by Oakland following their game that night. He batted .228 with two home runs and 21 RBI in 51 games with the Athletics. Since his retirement, Mitchell lives in
San Diego, and plays in the San Diego Adult Baseball League for the championship team, the San Diego Black Sox. ==Arrests and suspension==