McKay Christensen
From BR Bullpen
McKay Andrew Christensen
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
[edit] Biographical Information
McKay Christensen had a four-year major league career from 1999-2002, including a role on the division-winning 2000 Chicago White Sox.
Christensen was born in Upland, CA, one of seven major league players who have been born there. He attended Clovis West High School in the Fresno, CA area, and was a first-round pick (# 6 overall) at the age of 18 in 1994 by the California Angels. In high school, he was a star running back, scoring 44 touchdowns as a senior. When the Angels signed him, they agreed to let him go on a Mormon mission, which he did in 1995. He was on the mission when he was traded.
He was traded in the summer of 1995 to the Chicago White Sox, and played in the rookie league with them in 1996. He moved his way up the White Sox organization between 1996 and 1999, never hitting over .290, but getting some triples and stealing some bases.
In 1999, at the age of 24, he came up with the White Sox for 28 games, and hit .226 with 1 home run and 2 stolen bases.
Chris Singleton in 1999 was the 26-year-old rookie center fielder for the White Sox, and he hit .300 with 17 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He wasn't going to be dislodged.
The next season, 2000, McKay was back in Triple A, posting .264/.325/.368 with 28 stolen bases. It was good enough to get brought up for 32 games at the major league level. Jeff Abbott was the # 2 centerfielder, though, and he hit .274 that year, while Christensen had .105 in 19 at-bats.
Christensen appeared in one game in the division series.
The next year, 2001, Christensen was in a few games in Triple A and a few at the major league level and then was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for much of the season. With the Dodger affiliate in Las Vegas, he hit only .246/~.311/.368, but with the major league Dodgers in 28 games he had .327/.400/.429. Nevertheless, in April of the following year, he was selected off waivers by the New York Mets.
He had only 3 at-bats with the Mets in 2002, spending nearly all the season in Triple A with Norfolk of the International League, where he hit .284/.341/.416 with 20 stolen bases in 33 attempts. It wasn't enough to stick.
In 2003, in the Phillies affiliate in Triple A, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he posted .238/.294/.370 in 47 games.
In 2004, he had 5 games on the Cincinnati Reds Triple A team, Louisville in the International League, getting 5 hits. He made the decision at that point to move on from baseball. It was a surprise to manager Rick Burleson, who tried to talk Christensen out of it.
In 2005, Christensen had joined his family, successful developers in Utah. He was in Lehi planning the Traverse Mountain development.
He turned 31 on August 14, 2006.
"...most people don't understand what baseball is really about. It's consuming. It requires a huge sacrifice. It's hard to ever become anything other than a baseball player." - McKay Christensen
- An injured shoulder hampered his success, and he had to have surgery on it.
