Early career Zeile broke into the majors in 1989 as a catcher and the Cardinals' most anticipated prospect of the year. Cardinals manager
Joe Torre wanted to make room for catcher
Tom Pagnozzi and believed Zeile would be a more productive hitter and would have a longer career if he moved from behind the plate, so Zeile moved, with some reluctance, initially to first base and then to third base in 1990.
Middle career Zeile spent most of the 1990s as a third baseman. He batted .268 with 20 home runs and 80 RBI in 134 games with the
Philadelphia Phillies in 1996 until he was acquired along with
Pete Incaviglia by the
Baltimore Orioles on August 29 of that year in a transaction that was completed when
Calvin Maduro and
Garrett Stephenson were sent to Philadelphia on September 3 and 4 respectively. He was traded from the
Los Angeles Dodgers to the
Florida Marlins along with
Mike Piazza in 1998 for five players, then was traded to the
Texas Rangers later that season. In 1999, Zeile was part of a historic Rangers team. Along with
Gregg Zaun and
Jeff Zimmerman, he was one of three players on the team whose last names began with "Z". Not since the 1916
Chicago Cubs, with
Heinie Zimmerman,
Dutch Zwilling, and
Rollie Zeider, had this occurred. In 2000, Zeile signed a contract with the
New York Mets and moved to
first base to replace
John Olerud, and participated in the
World Series that year. In 2002, he was traded to the
Colorado Rockies, where he moved back to third base. He led all
National League third basemen in errors in 2002, with 21, when he had the lowest fielding percentage in the league (.942).
Later career After one season with Colorado, Zeile became a free agent again and signed with the
New York Yankees in 2003. He was released mid-August and was signed by the
Montreal Expos three days later. Having decided 2004 would be his last season, Zeile returned to the Mets. He also voiced displeasure with the Yankees, saying that he has "no desire to play again for that organization", and that "I think some of the things that happen over there are different than any other organization in baseball. I have a pretty good track record to judge that." Zeile retired following the 2004 season. Having planned his retirement in advance (and with the Mets well out of the playoff race), Mets manager
Art Howe let Zeile once again start as a
catcher, his original position, on September 18, 2004. It was Zeile's first appearance there in 14 years. It was the second-longest span ever between appearances at the position.
Gabby Street caught a game in 1931 after last having caught in 1912. Zeile's span is now the third longest, with
Craig Biggio starting the penultimate game of his career at catcher in 2007 after not playing the position for 16 years. Zeile got one final start as a catcher two weeks later on October 3, 2004, in the season's final game, as the Mets' regular catcher,
Jason Phillips's foot hurt him and he could not play. In the 6th inning, in his final at-bat as a major leaguer, Zeile hit a three-run
home run to left-field off of Expos pitcher
Claudio Vargas. In the 8th inning, in his final play as a major leaguer,
Ryan Church popped up to him, as a catcher, in foul territory. It was also
John Franco's last out made as a Met pitcher. The Mets won the game, 8–1. Both games Zeile caught in his final season were started by
Tom Glavine. He also pitched an inning with the Mets when they didn't have any pitchers left, as he gave up 5 runs in the 8th inning in the Mets' 19–10 loss to Montreal on July 26, 2004. It was his second appearance as a pitcher, having also appeared in a game for the Rockies in 2002. On October 3, 2004, he became one of 69 players (as of ) ever to hit a
home run in his final at bat. Zeile's final home run also made him the last person ever to hit a home run off a
Montreal Expos pitcher. Following that game, which was the last of the season, the Expos moved to
Washington, D.C. and became the
Washington Nationals. Zeile ended his career having hit at least one home run for each of the 11 teams he played for over the course of his career, distinguishing him as the only player in major league history to have hit a home run for over 10 teams. ==Film work==