Ian Kinsler

Ian Michael Kinsler (born June 22, 1982, in Tucson, Arizona) is a Major League Baseball All-Star second baseman for the Texas Rangers.

Kinsler is known as a five-tool player, hitting for average and power, and exhibiting proficiency in baserunning, throwing, and fielding. While he was drafted in only the 17th round, Kinsler has risen to become the Rangers' starting second baseman and leadoff hitter, an All Star, a two-time Player of the Week, and a member of the Sporting News' 2009 list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. He also contributed a historic offensive performance in a game in April 2009, in which he had hits in all six of his at bats, and hit for the cycle.

Kinsler is Jewish, and has become a prominent figure in the Jewish community and likes the attention that he generates from the Jewish community. His father, who was a warden at the state prison on Tucson's Southeast Side, was his coach until high school and has been the greatest influence on him.

Kinsler graduated from Canyon del Oro High School in the Tucson suburb of Oro Valley, Arizona. He helped lead the baseball team to state titles in 1997 and 2000. He hit .380 as a junior, to earn second-team all-league honors, and .504 with 5 home runs and 26 stolen bases during his senior year, in which he was named first-team all-state and first-team all-league. Outfielder Brian Anderson of the Pawtucket Red Sox was his best friend and teammate in high school, and three other current major leaguers: Scott Hairston, Chris Duncan, as well as Shelly Duncan and Ryan Schroyer were all on his high school baseball team as well.

Kinsler was featured in the 2008 Hank Greenberg 75th Anniversary edition of Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards, published in affiliation with Fleer Trading Cards and the American Jewish Historical Society, commemorating the Jewish Major Leaguers from 1871 through 2008. He joins, among other Jewish major leaguers, Brad Ausmus, Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, Brian Horwitz, Gabe Kapler, Jason Marquis, Jason Hirsh, John Grabow, Craig Breslow, and Scott Schoeneweis. Kinsler was one of three Jewish players in the 2008 All-Star Game, joining Youkilis and Braun. Kinsler says that "Youkilis will always say something to me on the bases [referring to the fact that they are both Jewish]. 'Happy Passover,' he'll throw something at me." Through 2008, he had the ninth-highest career batting average (.290; directly behind Goody Rosen and ahead of Kevin Youkilis) of all Jewish major leaguers.

Texas Rangers (2006 - present)

2006: Rookie

With Alfonso Soriano having been traded in the off-season, Kinsler won the Rangers' starting second base job in spring training in 2006 over Mark DeRosa. "Ian Kinsler came as advertised," said Showalter.

He made his major league debut against the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day on April 3, 2006, and got his first major league hit in his first major league at bat, off Curt Schilling. Kinsler said "The crowd was full; I had the butterflies going, so to get that hit was huge. The family was in town.... To go out there and face one of the best pitchers of all time, you've got to be locked in. It's your first game, your first big league experience -- it was unbelievable to face that guy."

He was hitting .476 when he dislocated his left thumb sliding head-first into second base on April 11, 2006, and was placed on the disabled list. "I knew it wasn't good when I looked down and I saw the top part of the thumb pointing in at me," Kinsler said. Kinsler came back 41 games later on May 25, and went 3-4 with a single and 2 home runs, to lead the Rangers to an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics. "I hope the fans don't expect that much every night," he joked.

While Kinsler started off the season batting ninth in the lineup, in June Showalter moved him up to seventh. "I think as Ian's career progresses, he'll move up in the batting order", said Showalter. For the season, he ended up starting 31 games batting seventh, 30 batting eighth, 20 batting sixth, 19 batting ninth, 12 batting second, 3 batting leadoff, 2 batting third, and one batting fifth. On defense, in August he tied a team record by recording five double plays in one game.

Kinsler finished 2006 with a .286 batting average, 14 home runs, a team-leading 11 stolen bases, and 55 RBIs in 423 at bats. His .454 slugging percentage was the seventh-best by an AL rookie with at least 400 at bats in a season since 2000, and he led all AL rookies with 27 doubles. He batted .300 with runners in scoring position, and .300 when the game was tied. Defensively, Kinsler led all AL second basemen in both range factor (5.58) and errors (18). He was named Texas Rangers 2006 Rookie of the Year.

After Kinsler's successful rookie season, the Rangers let fellow second baseman Mark DeRosa walk in free agency.


2007: 20-20

During the 2006-07 off-season, Kinsler focused on building up his legs to help his speed, durability, and agility. In spring training in 2007, he hit .429, led the American League (AL) in RBIs (19), and was sixth in the major leagues in hits (27).

Kinsler was named the AL Player of the Week for the period ending April 15. He batted .476 (10-for-21) with four home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs scored, and a 1.095 slugging percentage. His nine home runs in April tied the team record for that month (shared by Ivan Rodriguez (2000), Alex Rodriguez (2002), and Carl Everett (2003)), and were the most ever in the season's first month by a Major League second baseman. Kinsler said: "I'm trying to put good swings on the ball, and if it goes out, it goes out." He was in addition voted the Rangers' Player of the Month for April by the club's broadcasters and traveling media, after also batting .298 with 22 RBIs for the month.

On July 2 Kinsler went on the disabled list with a stress fracture in his left foot; he didn't come back until July 31, and missed 26 games. On August 25 he had eight plate appearances in a nine-inning game (a 30-3 win over Baltimore), tying a major-league record.

In 2007, Kinsler had 20 home runs (leading all AL second basemen) and was 23-for-25 in stolen base attempts. He was one of only 6 batters in the AL to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, along with Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Grady Sizemore, B.J. Upton, and Curtis Granderson. He also became the sixth player in franchise history to reach the 20-20 plateau, joining Alfonso Soriano (2005), Ivan Rodriguez (1999), Rafael Palmeiro (1993), Bobby Bonds (1978), and Toby Harrah (1975 and 1977). He did it despite his stress fracture, which kept him under 500 at bats. His 23 stolen bases and 96 runs led the Rangers.

Kinsler finished the year seventh in the AL in power/speed number (21.4), ninth in sacrifice hits (8), and tied for tenth in bunt hits (5). He began to hit higher in the batting order, as he batted second in 48 games, leadoff in 26, seventh in 24, sixth in 19, ninth in 10, and eighth in 2. On defense, Kinsler led all major league second basemen in range factor (5.69), leading the league for the second straight year.


2008: All Star

In February 2008, Kinsler signed a five-year deal worth $22 million guaranteed, which will jump to $32 million if the Rangers exercise an option for 2013. It could buy him out of two years of free agency. He received a raise to $500,000 in 2008, and a $1 million signing bonus. The contract went to $3 million in 2009, and will go to $4 million in 2010, $6 million in 2011, and $7 million in 2012. If the Rangers choose not to exercise the $10 million option, Kinsler will receive a $500,000 buyout. If he is traded, both the buyout and option year would increase by $500,000. "It's a lot of money," Kinsler said. "I've never imagined being in this position in my life." With the option, the commitment would be the largest the Rangers have made to a player who they drafted and developed. "Ian represents the past, present, and future of this organization," said assistant general manager Thad Levine.

Asked about the impact that the money would have on him, Kinsler said:

"I'm going to play the same regardless of whether I'm making $5 or $1 trillion," he said. "It really doesn't make a difference to me. I'm going to go out there and play hard and money doesn't bring respect. The way you play the game brings respect. When I finish playing the game, it's not how much money I made that is going to be legacy. It's how I played the game and what I did on the field."


While initially reluctant, to Kinsler's delight Rangers manager Ron Washington committed to Kinsler being the team's leadoff hitter in 2008. "I didn't think he was the prototype leadoff hitter, but the guy proved me wrong," Washington said. "He'll take a walk or get one run for us with one swing of the bat. He can bunt, he can run, and he can hit the ball to the other side."

Through mid-May 2008, Kinsler had the best career stolen-base percentage (88.5%) of anyone in Rangers/Senators history with at least 40 attempts. "It's part of my game," said Kinsler. "It's not one of the first things I'm known for."

During a mid-June rain delay at Shea Stadium, Ian Kinsler hopped to his feet, raced from the dugout, and dove across the wet tarp covering the infield, as though it was a giant Slip 'n Slide. Four teammates followed, to a large ovation from the New York Mets fans. Shea Stadium security ushered them off the field, drawing a chorus of boos. "We had some good routines going," said Kinsler. "It was awesome."

Kinsler was a 2008 AL All Star. It was his most exciting moment in baseball up until that point.

Kinsler had a majors'-best 25-game hitting. The team hitting streak, belonging to Gabe Kapler, is 28.

Through July 28, Kinsler had been leading the AL in batting average (.331), runs (90), hits (145), total bases (232), extra base hits (55), at bats (438), and plate appearances (499). He was also second in doubles (37) and power/speed number (17.9), third in sacrifices (7), fourth in singles (90), sixth in sacrifice flies (6), seventh in stolen bases (25), triples (4), and on base percentage (.392), and eighth in OPS (.922). However, after last playing on August 17, in early September it was announced that Kinsler would have season-ending surgery to repair a sports hernia. "I really didn't have a decision," Kinsler said. "If I want to fix this injury, then I have to have surgery."

In 2008, despite missing the last 6 weeks of the season, Kinsler was fourth in the AL in batting average (.319) and power/speed number (21.3), eighth in runs (102) and OPS (.892), ninth in sacrifice hits (8), and tenth in stolen bases (26). He hit .413 with runners in scoring position. He was one of only 3 batters in the AL to have at least 18 home runs and 18 stolen bases in both 2007 and 2008, along with Alex Rodriguez and Grady Sizemore. In the field, he led all major league second basemen with a 5.77 range factor and 123 double plays, but also in errors with 18.

Kinsler was mentioned as an MVP candidate before his injury by writers at ESPN, the Dallas News, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. Kinsler could have conceivably rivaled Dustin Pedroia for MVP if not for the sports hernia that cut his 2008 campaign short by a month and a half. In the end, he received a single 10-place vote from Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.


2009

In 2009 he was named # 24 on the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, was polled to arrive at the list.

Kinsler married his high school sweetheart (Tess Brady) on November 18, 2006.  Their first child, Rian Brooklynn Kinsler was born December 5, 2008.

Kinsler's five strangest autograph requests were a diaper, neck brace, yarmulke, kids' arms, and giant baseball.