Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney, a former 5 time Major League Baseball All Star and 16 year MLB veteran, is a skilled motivational speaker.

Sweeney was drafted by the Royals as a catcher out of Ontario High School (Ontario, California) in the 10th round (262nd overall) of the 1991 MLB draft. He signed with the Royals on July 24, 1991; two days after his eighteenth birthday. Sweeney made his major league debut on September 14, 1995 as a catcher. He got his first major league base hit against Cleveland Indians' pitcher Paul Assenmacher at Jacobs Field in the final game of the season. While his ability with the bat impressed the Royals, they were less than enamored with his skills behind the plate. He hit his first home run off Seattle Mariners' pitcher Jamie Moyer on August 12, 1996. It was a three-run shot.

His big break came in 1999, when the Royals tried unsuccessfully to trade him during spring training. Riddled with injuries and with no other viable options, the Royals started using Sweeney as their regular designated hitter. After the sudden retirement of Jeff King, the Royals offered the first base job to rookie Jeremy Giambi. When Giambi showed reluctance, they gave the job to Sweeney, who responded by posting the highest fielding percentage by a regular first baseman in more than 20 years. His .322 batting average led the team and his 22 home runs and 102 RBI were second and third on the team, respectively. From July 18 to August 13, Sweeney had a hit in 25 consecutive games, collecting 42 hits total. The 25-game hitting streak is tied for third longest in Royals history with George Brett's 25-game streak in 1983, trailing only Brett's 30-game streak in 1980 and José Offerman's 27-game streak in 1998.

In 2000, Sweeney was selected to his first of five All-Star games. He joined Jermaine Dye to become the first pair of Royals to go to the Mid-Summer Classic since 1989

Sweeney had one of the best, if not the best, seasons of his career in 2002, hitting .340 for the second-highest batting average in the American League and the 2nd-highest in club history only to George Brett's .390 in 1980. He was in the hunt for the A.L. batting crown through the season's final weekend, before falling short of Boston's Manny Ramírez who hit a league-best .349. Sweeney was hitting .347 on September 24 before going 2-for-16 in his final four games.

On Tuesday, May 26, 2015, Mike Sweeney was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former Marlins manager Jack McKeon, broadcaster Dave O'Brien, New York Mets p.r. executive Shannon Forde, and Bill Murray, the comedic actor and owner of several minor league baseball teams.

After Mike finished his playing career in 2010 with the Philadelphia Phillies, he was hired by MLB Network as an on-air analyst. His dynamic personality and passion can be seen on MLB Network and can be shared at your church, conference or with your corporation. Mike has been sharing his Catholic Christian faith for 20+ years to audiences from 15 all the way up to 15,000 so no group is too large nor too small. He has spoken messages of Faith, leadership, and attitude at corporate meetings, churches and youth conferences all over the world and has shared powerful presentations to some of Hollywood's most famous actors and MLB's greatest athletes.