Randy Messenger

Randall Jerome Messenger (born August 13, 1981 in Reno, Nevada) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. He is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall and weighs 265 pounds (120 kg), and made his Major League debut on June 22, 2005, for the Florida Marlins. Messenger graduated from Sparks High School in 1999.

Messenger is nicknamed Big Mess.^[1] He is well known for giving former teammate Scott Olsen a black eye while he was with the Marlins in 2007.^[2] Despite the confrontation Messenger still considers Olsen a friend claiming that Olsen's anger derives from his upbringing.^[3]

Professional career

Florida Marlins

He was drafted in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft in the 11th round, 326th overall, by the Florida Marlins.^[4] In 1999 Messenger went 0-3 with a 7.52 ERA in 13 outings, including two starts, for Gulf Coast League Marlins. He also spent the 2000 with the GCL Marlins going 2-2 with a 4.83 ERA in 12 starts.

Messenger went 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA in 14 relief outings for the Class-A Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League. He also was 7-4 with a 4.08 ERA in 18 starts for the Class-A Advanced Brevard County Manatees of the Florida State League.

In 2001 Messenger set a career high in wins with a record of 11-8 while posting a 4.37 ERA in 28 outings, including 27 starts, for the Class-A Advanced Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League.

He was promoted to the Double-A Carolina Mudcats in 2003. Messenger went 5-7 with a 5.46 ERA in 29 outings, including 23 starts. In 2004 he stayed with the Mudcats going 6-3 with a 2.58 ERA and 21 saves in 58 relief outings.

Messenger went 4-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 39 relief outings for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in 2005. He posted a 5.29 ERA in 29 relief outings for Marlins in his first stint on the Major Leagues.

In 2006 Messenger went 2-7 with a 5.67 ERA in 59 relief outings for Marlins. He gave up three runs on one hit in four relief appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque. He tossed a scoreless inning for Class-A Advanced Jupiter.

Messenger went 1-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 23 relief appearances for Marlins in 2007.

San Francisco Giants

On May 31, 2007, Messenger was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Benítez. He did not allow an earned run in his first seven relief outings for Giants, spanning 8  ¹⁄₃ frames and finished the season with the Giants 1-3 with one save in 37 outings.

On March 5, 2008, he was optioned down to Triple-A Fresno.^[5] He was released on March 12, but signed a new minor league deal with the Giants a few days later.

Seattle Mariners

Messenger with the Seattle Mariners

After being released by the Giants, Messenger signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners on July 11, 2008, and was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers going 6-0 with one save and a 2.38 ERA in 12 outings with Tacoma. He was called up on August 25 where in 13 games he had a 3.55 ERA.

Messenger was released by the Mariners on January 28, 2009.^[6] He re-signed with the team to a minor league deal two days later.^[7] On October 29, he was outrighted off the 40-man roster.^[8] On November 9, 2009 he was granted free agency.

Hanshin Tigers

Messenger signed with the Hanshin Tigers on December 9, 2009.^[9] Although Messenger received interest from MLB teams to return to the MLB for the 2014 season, Messenger instead inked a three-year extension to remain with the Hanshin Tigers. In his combined four years in Japan, Messenger accumulated a win-loss record of 39-32 with an E.R.A. of 3.03.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference
• MLB daily update