Major league career

In 1993, his first year with the Phillies, Eisenreich put together one of his best years, batting .318 and helping the Phillies to win the National League pennant. As the Phillies began their slide the next season, Eisenreich was one of the team's few bright spots, batting .361 for the last place Phillies in 1996.

Eisenreich was part of a "blockbuster" baseball trade on May 14, 1998. He was traded from the Florida Marlins, with Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, and Manuel Barrios, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Todd Zeile and Mike Piazza.

Eisenreich was noted in Los Angeles for his longtime success against Dodger pitching staffs, despite those staffs being among the best. His .405 batting average and .620 slugging percentage greatly exceed his other career numbers and rank among the most successful of any one player against any team.

Personal life

Eisenreich has Tourette syndrome (TS), which caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while undergoing treatment. Eisenreich was replaced on the Twins roster by Kirby Puckett. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle in life.

He also is an inductee of the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals.

Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area and runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome whose goal is to help children with TS to achieve personal success.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]