Derek Gauthier

Derek P. Gauthier

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 160 lb.

• School Northeastern University
• High School East York Collegiate High School

• Born July 2, 1972 in Toronto, ON Canada

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Derek Gauthier played for Team Canada and in the independent leagues.

He was a high school hockey and baseball star. The Los Angeles Dodgers took him in the 92nd round of the 1991 amateur draft; only two teams were still drafting at that point. He hit .318 as a college freshman and .274 as a sophomore then .326 with 15 homers as a junior, setting school records in home runs and RBI (54), winning America East Conference Player of the Year. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he started at second base for Canada, batting .261/.280/.696, hitting 3 of their 5 home runs of the tourney. He tied John Cann and Leon Carter for the team lead in runs (5) and led them in RBI (6, 2 more than Cann) and slugging (.140 ahead of Cann). He fielded .926 at second. He tied for 7th in the Cup in homers, trailing Antonio Pacheco among second basemen. He went deep off Japan's Tetsuo Kawajiri and Takayuki Matsushima in Canada's only win, as the otherwise 0-6 team stunned the Bronze Medalists, 9-7. He also homered off the Netherlands' Eelco Jansen.

As a college senior, he hit .302 to finish at .307 overall at Northeastern. He retired as the school career leader in doubles (41) and second in homers (30), RBI (122) and runs (127). He turned pro with the 1996 Johnstown Steal and produced at a .272/.380/.405 clip, fielding .959 at 2B. He improved to .302/.385/.549 with 75 RBI in 76 games in '97, fielding .973 at second. He tied Shane Britt and Mitch House for 9th in the Frontier League in runs (57), was second in doubles (26, 3 behind Darrell Fatzinger), tied Herb Goodman for 7th in homers (12) and led in RBI (one ahead of Morgan Burkhart). The All-Star second base honor went to Don DeDonatis instead.