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Steve Finley

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**Steve Finley**

Free Agent — No.
Center field
Born: March 12 1965 (1965-03-12) (age 43)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
April 3, 1989 for the Baltimore Orioles
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006)
AVG	.271
HR	304
RBI	1167
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (1989–1990) Houston Astros (1991-1994) San Diego Padres (1995-1998) Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2004) Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005) San Francisco Giants (2006) Colorado Rockies (2007)

Steven Allen Finley (born March 12, 1965, in Union City, Tennessee) is a Major League Baseball center fielder who is currently a free agent. In 2006, at the age of 41, Finley became the oldest player ever to play more than 100 games in center field. At the time of his June 17, 2007, release, of all active players, he was first in triples (124), third in games (2,583) and at-bats (9,397), fourth in hits (2,548), seventh in runs (1,443), eighth in total bases (4,157), and ninth in doubles (449) and stolen bases (320). He also had the fourth-most center field appearances in major league history. He was also the sixth-oldest player in the NL.

1 Early life
2 Career
- 2.1 College, Team USA, and minor leagues
- 2.2 Major leagues
3 Personal life
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Early life

Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984-87.

Career

College, Team USA, and minor leagues

In 1986 Finley was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 11th round of the draft, but did not sign, instead choosing to remain at SIU, where he was 2-time All-Missouri Valley Conference performer and a third-team All-American in 1986. He was a member of the 1986 Team USA squad that won a bronze medal during international competition in the Netherlands. In 1987 he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the draft, and did sign. In 919 at bats in the minor leagues, Finley batted .309 and stole 68 bases, while being caught only 18 times.

Major leagues

In January 1991, he was traded by the Orioles with Pete Harnisch and Curt Schilling to the Houston Astros for Glenn Davis. That year he was third in the league in triples (10), sixth in hits (170), ninth in stolen bases (34), and tenth in sacrifice hits (10). His 13 outfield assists tied Barry Bonds and Paul O'Neill for third in the league. In 1992 he led the NL in games played (162), was second in triples (13), third in stolen bases (44; a career high) and sacrifice hits (10), and seventh in hits (177). In 1993 he led the league in triples (13). He had been slowed in spring training by Bell's Palsy, a viral infection of a nerve in his upper neck, resulting in numbness that prevented him from closing his left eye. In 1994 he was second in the league in sacrifice hits (13), and tenth in triples (5). He appeared in only 94 games of an injury and strike-shortened season, missing nearly a month after being hit by a pitch on June 8th in Montreal, breaking the 3rd metacarpal bone in his right hand. In December 1994, he was traded by the Astros with Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and minor leaguer Sean Fesh to the San Diego Padres for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro A. Martinez, Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley. In 1995, Finley batted a career-high .297 and was third in the league in runs (104) and triples (8), and fourth in stolen bases (36) and hits (167). Finley also won his first Gold Glove Award. He was the only National League player to have 100 runs, 10 home runs, and 35 stolen bases. He stole a career-high 4 bases on August 12th vs. St. Louis. He was in the delivery room on September 1st when son Reed was born, and then headed to the ballpark and played in the 8th and 9th innings of San Diego's 6-3 win over the Phillies In 1996, Finley was second in the NL in runs (126; a career high) and doubles (45), third in extra base hits (84), fourth in triples (9), and sixth in hits (195). Finley won his second Gold Glove Award. He came in tenth in the MVP voting. He established Padres' records in runs, doubles, extra-base hits ,and total bases. He wrapped up 1996 by earning MVP honors on an 8-game Major League Baseball All-Star tour through Japan. In 1997, he hit three home runs in a game twice in the same season (May 19 and June 23. Finley was voted to the All Star team, and finished eighth in the league in runs (101). In 1998, Finley was tenth in the NL in doubles (40). In December 1998, he signed as a free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 1999, he hit three home runs and drove in 6 runs in a game on September 8, 1999. That season he had 34 home runs and a career-high 103 RBIs, and was seventh in the league in extra base hits (76). Finley also won his third Gold Glove Award. In 2000, he had 35 home runs and a career-high .544 slugging percentage, and was ninth in the league in sacrifice flies (9). He was also voted to the All Star team. Furthermore, Finley had 10 assists, and won his fourth Gold Glove Award. He was named the team co-Player-of-the-Year with Luis Gonzalez by the Arizona chapter of the BBWAA. In 2001, he showed the diversity of his skills on August 30 when he came in from center field to work an inning of relief in a blowout loss to the San Francisco Giants. He featured a knuckleball, walked a man and hit Jeff Kent, but escaped any damage by recording an inning-ending double play. In 2002, Finley had a career-high .370 on base percentage. In 2003, he led the league in triples (10), becoming the oldest player in Major League history to lead his league in triples. In July 2004 he was traded by the Diamondbacks with Brent Mayne to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Koyie Hill, Reggie Abercrombie, and Bill Murphy (minors). In 2004, he was eighth in at bats (628) and plate appearances (706), and was ninth in home runs (36; the third highest total ever for a 39-year-old in the Majors, behind Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron). Finley also won his fifth Gold Glove Award. He came in 14th in the MVP voting. He also tied Pete Rose's record of playing in 162 games at the age of 39.[1] He hit a game-winning, walk-off grand slam to cap a seven-run ninth inning on October 2nd against San Francisco that clinched National League Western Division championship for the Dodgers. In December 2004, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2005, he missed 18 games due to strained right shoulder, his first DL stint since 1997. In December 2005 he was traded by the Angels to the San Francisco Giants for Edgardo Alfonzo. On June 14, 2006, he became the 6th member of Major League Baseball's 300-300 club, for which the membership requirements are 300 career home runs and 300 career stolen bases. Also in 2006, he and Barry Bonds became the only then-current members of the 300-300 club to play for the same team in a game together (three other sets of players played together before one or more of them joined the 300-300 club). On August 18, 2006, he was awarded the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association's Heart & Hustle Award. In 2006, he was fourth in the league in triples (12), and was 7-0 in stolen base attempts. He played in the seventh-most games (139) of any 41-year-old Major Leaguer ever.[2] He ended the 2006 season as a career .272 hitter with 303 home runs, 1,165 RBI, 1,434 runs, 2,531 hits (5th of active players), 446 doubles, 124 triples (leads all active players), and 320 stolen bases in 2,540 games (4th of active players). On November 1, 2006, the Giants declined their option on Finley for the 2007 season, which made him a free agent. On February 24, 2007, Finley signed a minor-league contract with the Colorado Rockies. After an impressive spring, Finley made their Opening Day roster. During the 2007 season Finley set a Major League record by being the first player ever to play for every team within a five-team division. Finley has appeared for every team in the National League West. Pitcher Matt Herges tied this record on April 19, 2007. On June 5, 2007 the Rockies designated Finley for assignment, giving the Rockies 10 days to trade, release, or outright Finley to the minor leagues. Finley had batted .181 (17-for-94) with one home run and two RBIs in 43 games for Colorado.[3] He was released on June 17, 2007. Despite a disappointing 2007 for Finley, who will turn 43 on Opening Day in 2008, isn't ready to retire just yet. Finley asked his agent, Casey Close, to look for openings, and specifically expressed an interest in playing again for San Diego, where he lives.^[1]

Personal life

Finley is married to Amy Jantzen, and has three sons (Austin, 1993; Reed, 1995; and Blake, 1997) and two daughters (Franchesca, 2001; and Sophia, 2005).