Mike Lisetski

Michael D. Lisetski

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lb.

• School Rider University
• High School Northampton High School

• Born March 9, 1946 in Northampton, PA USA

Biographical Information

Mike Lisetski helped Team USA to one of their brightest moments of the 20th Century.

His father Mike Sr. was a long-time NFL referee. Mike Jr. was All-State in football in high school while his baseball team went unbeaten. He hit .341 and slugged .471 for Rider University in 1966; he set then-school records with 29 runs, 26 walks and 76 assists. The Kansas City Royals took him in the 23rd round of the 1966 amateur draft but he did not sign. The Chicago Cubs selected him in the 3rd round of the January 1967 draft but he did not sign. In 1967, he set school records for hits (49), RBI (31), steals (40) and again assists (94), hitting .336. Rider played in the 1967 College World Series, their only College World Series through 2018.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took him in the 2nd round of the secondary phase of the 1967 draft, one pick after Sandy Vance. Lisetski had four RBI, a homer, two doubles and a single for the US when they beat Team Canada in the 1967 Pan American Games.In the Gold Medal Game, they faced the Cuban national team and beat them in an international tournament finale for the only time in the 20th Century. With the score 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th and two aboard, he singled off Manuel Alarcón to load the bases, setting up the winning hit by George Greer. Through 2018, it is the US's only Gold in baseball in the Pan American Games.

Mike fell to .277 as a senior but became the second Rider player to top 100 career hits. The Chicago Cubs took him in the 3rd round of the January 1968 draft, three picks before Paul Reuschel. He hit .264/.356/.424 with 11 homers in 311 AB for the Quincy Cubs that summer, stealing 8 bases in 11 tries.

He hit well in 1969 as well, split between Quincy (.326/.394/.552, 11 HR, 54 RBI in 61 G) and the San Antonio Missions (.331/.394/.469 in 48 G). He was 6th in the Cubs farm chain in hits (130, between Rick Bladt and Aaron Pointer), 4th in doubles (27, between Jim Dunegan and Randy Bobb), 5th in home runs (13), 2nd in RBI (76, 43 behind Roe Skidmore), 4th in total bases (204, between Oscar Gamble and Bladt) and led Cubs farmhands (400+ PA) in average, slugging and OPS while placing second to Bill North in OBP.

While looking like a top prospect, things faded somewhat in 1970. He hit .320/.393/.720 with 9 RBI in 7 games for the Missions then went to the Cincinnati Reds chain and batted .264/.348/.385 for the Asheville Tourists. He ended his minor league career with a fine .288/.367/.449 batting line, 145 walks, 155 runs, 169 RBI, 63 doubles, 32 homers and 21 steals (caught 9 times) in 323 games. He fielded .948 in 188 games at 2B, .944 in 83 at SS and had 43 error-free chances in the outfield.

He was inducted into Rider's Hall of Fame in 2012.