Cats sign shortstop Marc Mirizzi
Published on December 21, 2005 under American Association (AA)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
The Fort Worth Cats have signed veteran infielder Marc Mirizzi to a contract for the 2006 season.
Mirizzi, 30, split the 2005 season between San Angelo and El Paso. He started the season as the Colts' shortstop and hit .295 with two homers and 34 RBI in 59 games. Mirizzi joined El Paso on July 21 and finished the season with a .284 average overall, playing mostly third base. He played in 87 games overall last season.
He was a 15th round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1997 and spent four seasons in the Yankees organization, including the 1999 campaign with Greensboro playing for current Cats' manager Stan Hough. Mirizzi made it as high as Double-A Norwich for parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He was released by the Yankees after spring training in 2001 and took that season off before returning to baseball in 2002.
That year, he batted .332 with nine homers and 56 runs batted in for San Angelo. His batting average was good enough for third in the league and he was first in runs scored that season with 82.
The following season, Mirizzi started the year with Sioux Falls in the Northern League and batted .286 with a career-high 12 homers in 59 games before his contract was purchased by the Texas Rangers on July 31, 2003. He played in 29 games with Class-A Stockton of the California League and hit .307 with four homers and 18 RBI to finish the 2003 season.
After being released near the end of spring training 2004 by Texas, Mirizzi returned to Sioux Falls where he batted .307 for the Canaries before being traded to St. Paul late in the season. He played in just 13 regular season games for the Saints, but lifted his team to a Northern League title with a bottom-of-the-ninth, game-winning grand slam in the fifth and deciding game of the 2004 Northern League championship series.
Mirizzi played college baseball at Southern California and now lives in San Angelo.
American Association Stories from December 21, 2005
- Espada retires to coach with Florida Marlins - Pensacola Pelicans
- Explorers most consistent starter from last season back - Sioux City Explorers
- Cats sign shortstop Marc Mirizzi - Fort Worth Cats
- Cagey holiday hats only $10 - Sioux Falls Canaries
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
