Mickey Tresh felt pressure early in his pro career, something that seemingly came with major leaguers as both his father, Tom Tresh, and his grandfather, Mike Tresh, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote.
In the midst of his third pro season in 1989, though, Mickey told The Sun-Sentinel he'd worked to put those expectations aside.
"When I was 17 years old, dad brought me to Yankee Stadium for an old-timers game and I stood there and looked around in awe," Mickey told The Sun-Sentinel. "At that time I was sure I would make it, but if I don't there won't be too much disappointment."
Mickey spoke to The Sun-Sentinel as a member of the single-A Fort Lauderdale Yankees. He went on the next year to play with the Tigers at high-A Lakeland. He didn't make it higher.
Mickey Tresh's career began in 1986, signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent out of the Miami University of Ohio.
Tresh was sometimes credited by his given name, Mike Tresh, named after his grandfather, who'd played in 12 major league seasons, mostly with the White Sox. His nickname then came from one of his dad's old 1960s teammates with the Yankees, Mickey Mantle.
Tresh played his first season with the Yankees in 1987 between single-A Prince William and AA Albany-Colonie. He saw six games at AA, where he went 2 for 15. He hit .242 in 103 games on the year.
He then returned to Prince William for all of 1988. He hit .265 in 111 games there and started 1989 at single-A Peninsula. He hit .269 in 65 games at Peninsula, before he moved to Fort Lauderdale. He hit .219 by early May, when he spoke with The Newport News Daily Press.
"I'm getting better and better as I play more and more, believe it or not I used to be worse," Tresh laughed to The Daily Press. "One of the major things you have to learn in baseball is that things go wrong all the time."
Tresh then hit .263 in 67 games at Fort Lauderdale, his last stop with the Yankees. He signed with the Tigers for 1990. He expressed optimism at the year's start to The Tampa Bay Times.
"I felt like the Tigers gave me a fair spring training. Hopefully they'll take notice," Tresh told The Times.
Assigned to high-A Lakeland, Tresh got into 122 games and hit .268 to end his career.
- Newport News Daily Press, May 7, 1989: Tresh struggling to emulate father
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 24, 1989: Talking Tresh
- Tampa Bay Times, April 16, 1990: Tigers give Mickey Tresh a fresh start at 25
Made the Majors:1,261-33.9%
Never Made Majors:2,456-66.1%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:522
10+ Seasons in the Minors:309
No comments:
Post a Comment