Born April 18, 1959
St. Cloud, MN, USA
Involuntary tics and vocal outbursts forced him out of the Minnesota lineup in 1984, at twenty-five, when doctors could not identify the cause and the condition was wrongly treated as a psychological problem brought on by stage fright. He did not play a full major-league season again until 1987, once he was correctly diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and found medication that controlled it.
He then had one of the more productive second acts in the game: .289 across the rest of his career, .335 for the Phillies in a partial 1996 season, and a role on Philadelphia's 1993 pennant winner and Florida's 1997 World Series champion. Fifteen seasons gave him 1,160 hits, 221 doubles, 492 runs batted in, 105 stolen bases and a .290 average.
He became a public advocate for Tourette syndrome awareness after baseball and helped found a foundation for children with the condition. The 2004 ballot gave him three votes of 506.
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | MIN | 34 | 99 | 10 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 0 | .303 |
| 1983 | MIN | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| 1984 | MIN | 12 | 32 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | .219 |
| 1987 | KCR | 44 | 105 | 10 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 7 | 13 | 1 | .238 |
| 1988 | KCR | 82 | 202 | 26 | 44 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 31 | 9 | .218 |
| 1989 | KCR | 134 | 475 | 64 | 139 | 33 | 7 | 9 | 59 | 37 | 44 | 27 | .293 |
| 1990 | KCR | 142 | 496 | 61 | 139 | 29 | 7 | 5 | 51 | 42 | 51 | 12 | .280 |
| 1991 | KCR | 135 | 375 | 47 | 113 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 20 | 35 | 5 | .301 |
| 1992 | KCR | 113 | 353 | 31 | 95 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 24 | 36 | 11 | .269 |
| 1993 | PHI | 153 | 362 | 51 | 115 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 54 | 26 | 36 | 5 | .318 |
| 1994 | PHI | 104 | 290 | 42 | 87 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 43 | 33 | 31 | 6 | .300 |
| 1995 | PHI | 129 | 377 | 46 | 119 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 55 | 38 | 44 | 10 | .316 |
| 1996 | PHI | 113 | 338 | 45 | 122 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 41 | 31 | 32 | 11 | .361 |
| 1997 | FLA | 120 | 293 | 36 | 82 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 30 | 28 | 0 | .280 |
| 1998 | FLA/LAD | 105 | 191 | 21 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 36 | 6 | .215 |
| Career | — | 1422 | 3995 | 492 | 1160 | 221 | 39 | 52 | 477 | 324 | 435 | 105 | .290 |
St. Cloud, MN, USA
Jim Eisenreich made a major-league debut on April 6, 1982.
Jim Eisenreich played a final major-league game on September 26, 1998.
Image: Dealphungo, CC BY-SA 3.0