Michael Joseph (Mike) Baxter grew up in Whitestone, Queens...Played for Bayside Little League...Graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School (Queens) in 2002...Led his high school team to New York City's Catholic High School Athletic Association's City Championship as a senior...Attended Columbia University his freshman year before transferring to Vanderbilt...Attended Vanderbilt University where he was teammates with Tampa Bay's David Price...In 2005, he hit .375 as a junior earning him Team MVP honors...Received a state resolution in June, 2012 from Senator Tony Avella (Bayside) for his heroic actions during Johan Santana's no-hitter...Several days later received a proclamation from NYC from City Councilman Dan Halloran (Whitestone) for making his home borough proud.
2013
Made his second consecutive Opening Day roster with the Mets and split the season between New York and Triple-A Las Vegas…appeared in 74 games in three stints with the Mets, batting .189 with six doubles, a triple and four RBI... Had a season-long five-game hitting streak from May 5-12, batting 6-for-10 with a triple, double and three RBI... Picked up the first multi-steal game of his career on May 12 against the Pirates with two stolen bases... Batted .289 (54-for-187) with seven homers and 22 RBI in 53 games with Las Vegas... At Triple-A, batted .302 (49-for-162) with six of his seven home runs against right-handed pitchers…posted a .399 on-base percentage and a .543 slugging mark against righties... Claimed off waivers by the Dodgers on Oct. 17.
2012
Made his first Opening Day roster...Placed on the 15-Day DL, June 3 with a
displaced right collarbone and fractured rib cartilage next to the
sternum...Hurt himself on June 1, crashing into the leftfield wall in the
seventh inning to preserve Johan Santana's no-hitter...Reinstated on July 30...Finished with the best pinch-hit average in the majors, hitting .458 (11-24)
off the bench (minimum 20 PA) and the most doubles (six)...His eight RBI
as a pinch-hitter was tied for sixth in the majors...His pinch-hit average
was the third-highest in franchise history...Bruce Boisclair (12-21, .571,
1976) and Ed Kranepool (17-35, .486, 1974) are the only Mets ahead of
Baxter...Set a career-high with three hits on May 20 at Toronto...Made his first start of the season on April 23 in Game 1 vs. San Francisco
...Went 1-4 with a double and an RBI...Hit leadoff for the first two times in his career, May 22-23 at
Pittsburgh...Started the game at the top of the order 12 times in 2012,
with the Mets going 7-5 in those contests...Set a franchise record for a nine-inning game with five walks on August 4
at San Diego...Also matched the overall franchise record (Vince Coleman
vs. Pittsburgh, 1992, 16 innings)...The last NL player to walk five times in a
nine-inning game was Ryan Howard, May 30, 2006...Also became the third
rookie in the last 60 years to walk five times in a game...The Dodgers'
Greg Brock in 1983 and Cleveland's Jim Norris in 1977 also did it...Hit in a career-high eight straight (August 9-August 20, .367, 11-30)...Hit his first career leadoff home run on August 30 at Philadelphia (off Kyle
Kendrick)...Broke a 0-19 skid with a home run on September 20 vs. Philadelphia...Hit .327 (16-49) in 13 rehabilitation games with Buffalo (AAA) of the
International League, Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and St. Lucie
(A) of the Florida State League.
2011
Started the year in San Diego's organization, rehabilitating ligaments in his left thumb which was injured during Spring Training...Claimed off waivers by the Mets on July 22...Assigned to Buffalo (AAA) of the International League where he appeared in 11 games before an August 8 promotion to New York...Returned to Buffalo on August 29 and recalled again to New York on September 6...Made his Mets debut on August 8, and doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning...Drove in a run, his second career RBI...The double was the first extra-base hit of his career...Became the 36th player born in New York City to play for the Mets...Made his first career start on August 10 vs. San Diego...Started in rightfield and went 1-3 with two walks...Picked up his first triple and scored his first two runs on August 13 at Arizona...Drove in two runs with his first career home run on September 28, the final day of the regular season...Hit a sixth-inning home run off Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez in the Mets' 3-0 win at Citi Field...In 11 major league rehabilitation games with Lake Elsinore (A) of the California League, he hit .278 (10-36) with one double and two RBI.
2010
Spent the majority of the season with Triple-A
Portland...appeared in nine games for the Padres after having his contract selected 9/6...Made his Major League debut 9/6 vs. LAD as a pinch-hitter...did not start a game for the Padres, appearing as a pinch-hitter in eight games
and as a defensive replacement at first base in one game...Collected his first Major League RBI 9/24 vs. CIN with a sacrifice
fly...his first hit came two days later, a pinch-hit single off Francisco
Cordero 9/26 vs. CIN...Led the Beavers in nearly every offensive category, including games played, runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, home
runs, RBI, total bases (249) and walks...appeared in 80 games in the outfield, 46 at first base, three at third base and 11
as designated hitter...Ranked third in the Pacific Coast League with 10 triples...named PCL Batter of the Week for the week of 6/7-14.
2009
Split the season between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Portland, appearing in 133 games...Named to Texas League Mid-Season All-Star team as a starter...Named Padres Minor League Player of the Month as well as the Texas League Player of the Month for May...hit .426 (49-for-115) with 17 doubles, one triple, one home run, 26 RBI and 23 runs scored for San Antonio in May...hit safely in 24 of those 28 games, including a five-hit performance on May 22.
2008
Split the season between Single-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio...was also named to the Arizona Fall League All-Prospect Team.
2007
Spent the majority of the season at Single-A Lake Elsinore, also seeing his first Triple-A action...played 10 games for Portland.
2006
In his second professional season, spent the entire year with Single-A Fort Wayne...hit safely in a
season-best 15 straight games from 8/17-9/3, hitting .387 (24-for-62) with nine doubles over that span.
2005
Made his professional debut with Single-A Fort Wayne, hitting .219 (40-for-183) in 45 games.
