Lastings Milledge

Baseball player (MLB and NPB)[7]

What is Lastings Milledge known for?

Lastings Darnell Milledge, born on April 5, 1985, in Bradenton, Florida, is a renowned American former professional baseball player and a proud alumnus of Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida. He is particularly remembered as the youngest player in the Major League Baseball's (MLB) National League during his rookie season in 2006.

Milledge began his professional career in the MLB on May 30, 2006, with the New York Mets. His tenure in the MLB also saw him play for the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago White Sox

Post his MLB stint, Milledge made his mark in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) playing for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 2012 to 2015. Over his MLB career, he boasted of an impressive batting average of .269, 33 home runs, and 167 runs batted in. His performance in the NPB was equally commendable with a .272 batting average, 39 home runs, and 129 runs batted in.

Beyond his professional career, Milledge showed promise from an early age. At the tender age of twelve, he played a crucial role in his Little League team's run as the national runner-up in the 1997 Little League World Series. He not only pitched and played third base for his team but also hit third. He, later on, led Team USA to a gold medal victory over Venezuela in the International Baseball Federation's AA World Youth Championships in 2001. Subsequently, he was named the best 16-year-old player in the United States by Baseball America.

Despite a few controversies in his amateur career, Milledge was selected as the twelfth overall pick in the first round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Mets, which was followed by a contract with a $2.2 million signing bonus. This marked the onset of his remarkable journey in professional baseball.