Ernie Young

Ernest Wesley Young

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• School Lewis University
• High School Mendel Catholic Preparatory High School
• Debut May 17, 1994
• Final Game September 24, 2004
• Born July 8, 1969 in Chicago, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Ernie Young was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the tenth round of the 1990 amateur draft. He was the 1993 MVP of the Hawaii Winter League with the Kauai Emeralds. He had cups of coffee with the A's in 1994 and 1995 before spending the 1996 season as their regular centerfielder. He slashed .242/.326/.424. He showed decent pop, launching 19 home runs in 462 at bats. He split the 1997 season between the A's and AAA Edmonton Trappers; his batting average for the Trappers was exactly 100 points higher than his average in Oakland. (.323 vs. .223.)

He was purchased by the Kansas City Royals in spring training in 1998 and spent most of the season with their AAA club, the Omaha Royals. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for the 1999 season but only appeared in six games at the top level, and was released in November.

Young won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He spent the rest of the year with the Memphis Redbirds in the St. Louis Cardinals chain. In 2001, he was with the Portland Beavers in the San Diego Padres organization. He began 2002 back in the Diamondbacks chain, but was released in July and finished up the year with the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Central League in Japan, where he slashed .173/.258/.418 in 32 games.

In 2003, he began the year with the Toledo Mud Hens in the Detroit Tigers system, but was called up to Detroit in June and on June 11th played his first Major League Baseball game since October 3, 1999. He went 0-for-3 with a walk against the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Tigers' DH. He moved on to the Cleveland Indians chain in 2004, and had one final cup of big league coffee in September.

He wasn't done with professional baseball, though. He remained in the Indians system in 2005, playing the entire year for the Buffalo Bisons. He played two more years, both of them with the Charlotte Knights in the Chicago White Sox chain. On June 12, 2006, he hit his 300th minor league home run. He ended his career with 319 minor league home runs and a slash line of .281/.377/.504. In the big leagues, he hit .225/.310/.378. Between the majors, the minors, and Japan, he played exactly 2,000 professional games.

Young was the hitting coach for the Great Falls White Sox in 2008. He moved up to manage the Kannapolis Intimidators in 2009. In 2013 Young became a coach for the Arkansas Travelers.

He managed Team USA in the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament, in which they tied Venezuela for third and won spots at the 2011 Pan American Games and 2011 Baseball World Cup. He remained their manager for those two events.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2009	Kannapolis Intimidators	South Atlantic League	82-57	1st	Chicago White Sox	Lost in 1st round
2010	Kannapolis Intimidators	South Atlantic League	65-74	9th (t)	Chicago White Sox
2011	West Michigan Whitecaps	Midwest League	70-69	7th	Detroit Tigers
2012	West Michigan Whitecaps	Midwest League	72-68	6th	Detroit Tigers