Lastings Milledge

From BR Bullpen

Lastings Darnell Milledge

Bats	Throws
Right	Right
Height	Weight
6' 1"	185 lb.
School
Lakewood Ranch High School, Northside Christian High School
Drafted	Debut
2003: 1st Round (12th)^[1]
Born
April 5, 1985 in Bradenton, FL, USA
BR Pages
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Outfielder Lastings Milledge was selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the 2003 amateur draft, the 12th overall pick.

1 Amateur career
2 Controversy
3 Minor league career
4 Major league career
5 References
6 Related Sites

[edit] Amateur career

At age 12, he was a star on a Little League baseball team that was national runner-up. He hit over .500 as a high school freshman and sophomore. In the 2001 World Youth Championship, Milledge hit .522 with 3 HR and 10 RBI to help lead the team to a Gold Medal. He homered twice in the semifinals against Australia and made the All-Tournament team. In 2002, he was one of only two juniors to be named to the Baseball America High School All-America first team, after hitting .569 with 57 runs, slugging 1.128, driving in 71 in 109 AB and swiping 30 bases. Three days after the state finals (which the team lost), Milledge was expelled by Northside Christian High School. The expulsion was rescinded three weeks later. Lastings had admitted to having marital relations outside of marriage with his 15-year-old girlfriend. He went into a juvenile arbitration program including community service to avoid prosecution.

The next year, Milledge again was a first-team High School All-American and he hit .414, slugged .818 and stole 43 with a decline year after transferring to Lakewood Ranch High from Northside Christian High. Milledge was walked intentionally frequently, leading to his move to the leadoff spot so that he could run.

[edit] Controversy

After the Mets drafted Milledge in the first round, it became known that there were allegations of sexual relations with 12- and 13- year old girls during the 2001-2002 school year. Other teams stated that they knew of these before the draft, while New York denied knowledge. They halted talks with Lastings and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College offered him a shot. As the incidents had been investigated by the local sheriff's department and no charges had been filed, the Mets decided that they would sign Milledge after all.

[edit] Minor league career

Milledge signed for a $2,075,000 bonus and was initially assigned to the Kingsport Mets, where he hit .231/.323/.308 and stole 5 in 6 tries in 7 games. Baseball America rated him the #21 outfield prospect in baseball. In 2004, he spent most of the season with the Capital City Bombers, where he hit .340/.399/.580 and stole 23 in 29 tries in 65 games. He also played for the St. Lucie Mets, batting .235/.319/.432 and stealing 3 of 5 in 22 outings there. He was rated as having the best outfield arm in the South Atlantic League by Baseball America, which rated him the #2 outfield prospect in baseball, behind Delmon Young and just ahead of Jeff Francoeur and Grady Sizemore. The same publication picked him as the third-best SAL prospect behind Young and Ian Stewart.

In 2005, he split the year between St. Lucie (.302/.385/.413, 18-31 in SB) and the Binghamton Mets (.337/.392/.487, 11-16 in SB). He feasted on left-handed pitching, batting .410 against Florida State League southpaws and .377 against lefties while with Binghamton. He went 0 for 1 as a backup for the USA in the 2005 Futures Game. He was rated the #3 prospect in the FSL by Baseball America (behind Andy LaRoche and Justin Verlander) and #2 in the Eastern League (behind Francisco Liriano and ahead of Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis and Jonathan Papelbon).

Milledge played for the USA in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, batting .302/.348/.581.

In 2006, he played 84 games with the Norfolk Tides where he hit .277/.388/.440. Baseball America named him the most exciting player in the International League and #2 prospect, behind Delmon Young.

[edit] Major league career

Also in 2006, he was the youngest player in the National League, where he struggled at .241/.310/.380 for the 2006 Mets with only 1 steal in 3 tries in 56 games as a corner outfielder. He drew criticism from some in the system when he high-fived fans along the right field line a half-inning after a home run.

While on the disabled list in 2007 for strained ligaments, Milledge was discovered to have use sexist language in a not-yet-released rap CD. The Mets issued a statement that "We disapprove of the content, language and message of this recording, which does not represent the views of the New York Mets." Newsday report on CD Milledge said "I'm going to be me. This is how I'm going to be for the next 20 years, or however long I play the game. But the thing I did grow on is how to handle myself, how to handle the media. I'm a grown man." After his rehab from the injury, Milledge was called up by the Mets in mid-July to replace a man 26 years his senior on the roster, Julio Franco. New York said they planned to make him the starting left fielder until Moises Alou was healthy.