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Richie Sexson
Sexson with the Mariners in 2008.
First baseman
Born: December 29, 1974 (1974-12-29) (age 35) Portland, Oregon
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 14, 1997 for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
August 13, 2008 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.261
Home runs	306
Runs batted in	943
Teams
Cleveland Indians (1997–2000) Milwaukee Brewers (2001–2003) Arizona Diamondbacks (2004) Seattle Mariners (2005–2008) New York Yankees (2008)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star selection (2002, 2003)

Richmond Lockwood "Richie" Sexson (born December 29, 1974 in Portland, Oregon) is a currently inactive American first baseman. At 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) tall, he is the tallest position player in the history of Major League Baseball. Sexson most recently played in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees, who released him in August 2008. ^[1]

High school career

At Prairie High School in Brush Prairie, Washington, Sexson was an All-State performer in baseball, basketball, and football. He also set the school record for the most RBI and home runs in a career.

Baseball career

Cleveland Indians

Sexson was drafted in 1993 by the Cleveland Indians in the 24th round (671st overall) of the baseball amateur draft. He made his first appearance in Major League Baseball in 1997, when he played in 5 games for the Indians. He appeared in 49 games the following year, collecting 174 at bats. Sexson had a breakout year in 1999, playing 134 games while collecting 479 at bats, 122 hits, 31 home runs, and 116 runs batted in.

Milwaukee Brewers

In 2000, Sexson was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers with a player to be named later, for Bob Wickman, Steve Woodard, and Jason Bere. In 2001, Sexson played in 158 games for the Brewers, hitting 45 home runs (tying a team record at the time set by Gorman Thomas in 1979, a record since broken by Prince Fielder in 2007) with a .271 batting average, but also set the then single-season record for strikeouts by a Brewer player with 178, which was surpassed by José Hernández in 2002. In 2002, he represented the Milwaukee Brewers in the MLB All-Star Game which was played in Milwaukee. In 2003, Sexson played in all 162 games, hit .272 and blasted 45 home runs to tie his own record (and Thomas'), while earning a selection to the 2003 MLB All-Star Game.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Sexson was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2003 along with pitcher Shane Nance and a player to be named later (Noochie Varner) for infielders Junior Spivey, Craig Counsell, Lyle Overbay, catcher Chad Moeller, and pitchers Chris Capuano and Jorge de la Rosa. This trade proved to be disastrous for the Diamondbacks, as Sexson missed most of the 2004 season after twice suffering a reverse subluxation of his left shoulder while attempting to check his swing.

Seattle Mariners

Prior to the 2005 season, Sexson signed a four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $50 million. Sexson hit 2 home runs in his first game as a Mariner on opening day against the Minnesota Twins. Sexson played well in the 2005 season, hitting 39 home runs and 121 RBI. On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Sexson was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation. Sexson struggled mightily in the 2007 season, batting .205 with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs, and again in the 2008 season, hitting just .218 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs for Seattle.

Richie Sexson at bat, May 2005.

Richie Sexson playing first base, May 2005.

On May 8, 2008, in a game against the Texas Rangers, Sexson charged the mound towards Rangers starting pitcher Kason Gabbard and threw his batting helmet at him after Gabbard threw a head-high pitch over the middle of the plate, to which Sexson reacted as if it had hit him. Sexson later stated he was frustrated and had a lot going on in his head, including his son being in the hospital and his club's recent struggles. He was suspended six games for the incident. He later appealed the suspension, and it was dropped to five games.

On July 10, 2008, Sexson was released by the Mariners.

New York Yankees

On July 18, 2008, Sexson signed with the New York Yankees.^[2] Sexson did well in his Yankee debut, by collecting his first hit as a Yankee in the first inning with a single and also bringing in Bobby Abreu for the first run that inning. He went 1-3 with one RBI, one walk, and one strikeout. His first home run (a grand slam) as a New York Yankee came on August 5, 2008, against the Texas Rangers. Sexson was designated for assignment on August 15, 2008, after batting .250 with one home run in 22 games for New York.^[3] He was released on August 24, 2008.

See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube