Mike Napoli

American baseball player & coach

Michael Anthony Napoli (born October 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and catcher who is currently the first base coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected in the 17th round (500th overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft, then played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians. Up to 2013, Napoli was primarily a catcher. He holds the all time single season records for most strikeouts by both a Red Sox player and an Indians player. In 2009 he led all American League catchers in errors, and in 2016 he led all AL first basemen in errors.

Napoli began his professional career with the rookie level Butte Copper Kings, batting .231, but sat out most of the year after suffering a lower back strain. He returned in 2001 with the High A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, batting .200, before transferring to Single A Cedar Rapids, where he batted .232. In 2005, he was promoted to Double A Arkansas, batting .237 with 140 strikeouts (3rd in the Texas League) in 439 at bats and 14 errors at catcher in 109 games,

Napoli continued to compete with Jeff Mathis for the leading catching spot in 2009. He also started 18 games at designated hitter while teammate Vladimir Guerrero was injured. Napoli set or matched career highs in games played (114), at bats (382), runs scored (60), hits (104), doubles (22), and RBIs (56). He also finished the season with a .272 batting average and hit 20 home runs for the second season in a row. On defense, he led AL catchers in errors, with eight, and allowed 74 stolen bases (fifth most in the AL).

In 2010, the Angels reduced Napoli's playing time at DH after signing Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui. Napoli went into spring training with a bigger glove and worked on fundamentals in hopes of getting more playing time as a catcher. Napoli wound up playing the majority of the 2010 season at first base. He made his first major league start at first base on May 30, after regular first baseman Kendrys Morales broke his lower leg in a walk off celebration. With the loss of Morales for the season, and the return of fellow catcher Jeff Mathis from the disabled list, Napoli started 70 games at first base, posting a .989 fielding percentage, as he was fifth in the AL with six errors.

On January 21, Napoli was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays along with outfielder Juan Rivera in exchange for outfielder Vernon Wells. Four days later, he was traded by the Blue Jays to the Texas Rangers in exchange for pitcher Frank Francisco. On May 29, Napoli was involved in a controversial game ending play at home plate in the ninth inning in a game against the Kansas City Royals. Napoli was at first and Elvis Andrus was up against Joakim Soria. Andrus hit a shot past Eric Hosmer that got into right field. Napoli was sent home by the third base coach. Hosmer threw the ball to the plate. Brayan Pena tagged Napoli on the upper shoulder, but Napoli was called safe by the home plate umpire, giving the Rangers a walk off win. Pena was enraged and arguing with the umpires with manager Ned Yost. Replays showed that Pena did not block the plate, but tagged Napoli, who got his feet in just before the tag. In Napoli's first season with the Rangers, he batted .320 with 30 home runs (10th in the American League) and 75 RBIs, while improving his defense (throwing out 36% of base stealers; fourth best in the league).

On December 3, 2012, Napoli agreed to a three year, $39 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, pending a physical examination. Following a six week period during which the status of the deal was in question after his physical showed signs of a hip issue, Napoli came to terms with the Red Sox on a one year, $5 million deal with incentives that could make the deal worth $13 million. The incentives were to stay on the active roster for at least 165 days (which Napoli achieved), or get up to 625 plate appearances with at least 120 days on the roster.

On April 22, 2013, Napoli hit his fourth career grand slam in a 9–6 win over the Oakland Athletics. On September 15, 2013, Napoli struck out for the 178th time of the season, passing Mark Bellhorn to become the new Red Sox franchise leader in strikeouts in a season. Upon his strikeout, Napoli threw his bat and helmet in frustration and argued with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa and was ejected for the first time in his Major League career. For the 2013 season, Napoli batted .259 with 23 home runs, 92 RBI, and struck out 187 times, fourth most in the AL and the most ever by a Red Sox player. In Game 3 of the 2013 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers, Napoli hit a solo home run off Verlander for the game's only run in a 1 0 Boston win. Although Napoli played more games at catcher than at any other position in each of his seasons with the Angels and Rangers, he did not catch a single game for the Red Sox in 2013, playing almost entirely at first base, with a few games as a designated hitter.

During 2014, Napoli dealt with injuries throughout the season. He broke his finger in an early season game vs the Chicago White Sox. Napoli returned, but finger problems and sleep apnea took him out of the lineup for much of the latter part of the season. Napoli finished fifth in the AL among first basemen, with eight errors. Manager Jeff Banister used Napoli against left handed pitching and played him in left field. He played 35 games for the Rangers in 2015, making 91 plate appearances and batting .295 with five home runs, 10 RBI and a .513 SLG. Between the two teams, in 2015 he batted .224.

On January 5, 2016, Napoli signed a one year, $7 million contract with the Cleveland Indians. During the season, Streetsboro, Ohio resident Nate Crowe coined the popular phrase "Party at Napoli's", creating a t shirt with the slogan that was gifted to Napoli. Upon wearing the shirt during a post game interview, demand for the shirts was high. Subsequent sales of the shirt raised over $200,000 for the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital. Napoli batted .239 while setting career highs with 34 home runs and 101 RBIs. He finished second in the AL in strikeouts, with 194—the most strikeouts ever, by an Indians player. Napoli led all AL first basemen in errors, with 13, in 98 games at first base.

On February 16, 2017, the Rangers announced Napoli was signed to a one year contract with a club option for 2018. In 2017 he batted .193.

Napoli signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians on February 28, 2018. The deal included an invitation to the Indians' 2018 spring training camp. He was released on March 22 in a procedural move to allow the Indians to avoid having to pay him a $100,000 retention bonus. Napoli was re signed by the Indians to a minor league contract on March 23. On April 19, Napoli announced that he would be out for the remainder 2018 season due to a torn ACL and meniscus. This occurred during a minor league game with the Columbus Clippers, the Triple A affiliate of the Indians. He batted .042 for Columbus. Napoli elected free agency following the season on November 2. Napoli announced his retirement from professional baseball on December 8, 2018.

On December 9, 2019, Napoli was hired by the Chicago Cubs as their quality assurance coach. He was promoted to the role of first base coach prior to the 2022 season.