{{short description|American baseball player (born 1961)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Mike Birkbeck |position=Pitcher / Coach |image=Mike Birkbeck.jpg |bats=Right |team=Kent State Golden Flashes |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1961|3|10}} |birth_place=Orrville, Ohio, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=August 17 |debutyear=1986 |debutteam=Milwaukee Brewers |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=June 11 |finalyear=1995 |finalteam=New York Mets |debut2league = NPB |debut2date=July 2 |debut2year=1995 |debut2team=Yokohama BayStars |final2league = NPB |final2date=July 16 |final2year=1996 |final2team=Yokohama BayStars |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=12–19 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=4.86 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=149 |stat2league = NPB |stat21label=Win–loss record |stat21value=2–2 |stat22label=Earned run average |stat22value=4.78 |stat23label=Strikeouts |stat23value=27 |teams= *Milwaukee Brewers ({{mlby|1986}}–{{mlby|1989}}) *New York Mets ({{mlby|1992}}, {{mlby|1995}}) *Yokohama BayStars ({{npby|1995}}–{{npby|1996}}) }} '''Michael Laurence Birkbeck''' (born March 10, 1961) is a college baseball coach and former baseball pitcher. He is the pitching coach at Kent State University.
Birkbeck attended Orrville High School in Orrville, Ohio and played college baseball at the University of Akron.<ref name="class">{{cite news |title=Mike Birkbeck Was In Class Of His Own |url=https://www.the-daily-record.com/story/lifestyle/health-fitness/1999/12/21/mike-birkbeck-was-in-class/19536348007/ |access-date=31 October 2022 |work=Wooster Daily Record |date=December 20, 1999}}</ref> Birkbeck's professional career was plagued by injury played for the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball. It was with Yokohama that Birkbeck suffered a broken fibula on a comebacker from Shane Mack which effectively ended his career. He retired as a player in 1996.<ref name="class" />
In six MLB seasons, Birkbeck had a 12–19 win–loss record, 54 games pitched (51 started), two complete games, {{frac|270|1|3}} innings pitched, 319 hits allowed, 158 runs allowed, 146 earned runs allowed, 27 home runs allowed, 93 walks allowed, 149 strikeouts, four hit batters, eight wild pitches, 1,196 batters faced, four intentional walks, 12 balks and a 4.86 ERA.
Birkbeck was hired as the pitching coach for the Kent State Golden Flashes in 1997<ref name="class" /> and was later promoted to associate head coach. In 2012, he was named the ABCA/''Baseball America'' Assistant Coach of the Year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.abca.org/ABCA/Awards/Assistant_Coach_of_the_Year/default.aspx |title=ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year |publisher=AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION |work=www.abca.org |accessdate=October 25, 2018}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=b/birkbmi01 |fangraphs=1000981 |brm=birkbe001mic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkbeck, Mike}} Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Baseball players from Wayne County, Ohio Category:Milwaukee Brewers players Category:New York Mets players Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan Category:Yokohama BayStars players Category:Canton-Akron Indians players Category:Richmond Braves players Category:Akron Zips baseball players Category:Kent State Golden Flashes baseball coaches Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from Orrville, Ohio Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:Beloit Brewers players Category:Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Category:Denver Zephyrs players Category:El Paso Diablos players Category:Norfolk Tides players Category:Paintsville Brewers players Category:Tidewater Tides players Category:Vancouver Canadians players Category:20th-century American sportsmen
{{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub}}