Ian Kinsler
Ian Michael Kinsler (Hebrew: איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 14 seasons for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres. Kinsler was a four-time All Star, two-time Gold Glove winner, and a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Ian Kinsler | |||||||||||||||
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Kinsler with the Detroit Tigers in 2016 | |||||||||||||||
Second baseman | |||||||||||||||
Born: Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | June 22, 1982|||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
April 3, 2006, for the Texas Rangers | |||||||||||||||
Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
August 12, 2019, for the San Diego Padres | |||||||||||||||
MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
Batting average | .269 | ||||||||||||||
Home runs | 257 | ||||||||||||||
Runs batted in | 909 | ||||||||||||||
Teams | |||||||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Despite having been drafted in the 17th round out of college, Kinsler rose to become a four-time All-Star and a member of the Sporting News' 2009 list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. He was known as a five-tool player, hitting for average and power, and excelling in baserunning, throwing, and fielding.
Kinsler twice hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases in the same season (2009 and 2011), and is one of 14 ballplayers in major league history who have had multiple 30–30 club seasons. In 2011, he also joined the 20–20 club for the third time, one season shy of the major league record for a second baseman. He hit for the cycle in a game in 2009, while getting hits in all six of his at bats.
Through 2013, Kinsler led the Texas Rangers, all-time, career-wise, in stolen bases and power-speed number. In November 2013, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder. He has been awarded both a Fielding Bible Award (2015) and two Gold Glove Awards (2016 and 2018). Through 2019, on defense Kinsler had the best career range factor of any active second baseman in MLB, while on offense among all active players he was 3rd in power–speed number and in career runs scored, and 5th in career doubles. He retired following the end of the 2019 season with 1,999 career hits.
In 2021, he played for the Israeli national baseball team in the 2020 Summer Olympics. He was the manager of Team Israel at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.